10. Baldwin-Motion
If you were on the East Coast in the early 60’s and needed the ultimate Chevrolet Camaro, Chevelle, Nova, Impala or Corvette, there was only one place to go: the Baldwin Motion dealership in Long Island, New York. They established the business in 1967 when Baldwin Chevrolet dealership teamed up with Joel Rosen’s Motion Performance. Before long, the dealership was the place for all a car fan’s performance needs.
In contrast to other performance dealerships and tuning houses, Baldwin-Motion did all the precise tuning of their cars. They also put out written guarantees that the car would perform in a certain way. For example, they guaranteed their top-of-the-line Phase III 427 V8 Camaro conversion had 500 HP and produced 10-second quarter mile times or your money back. Baldwin-Motion also created bodywork kits and performance parts that were so desirable, they exported them to Europe and the Middle East.
The best period for this performance outfit was in the early 70’s. This was when Baldwin Motion produced limited numbers of highly customized big block Corvettes and Camaros. Those cars were brutally fast and powerful.