'71 Camaro by Matchbox
Skunk Works - Seeking the Striped Camaro
by Doug Breithaupt

Here is a trivia question for you. What was the first American racing car to carry twin racing stripes? Actually, I have no idea. Perhaps it was one of Briggs Cunningham's C4 Le Mans racers. The Shelby Cobra is perhaps the best known of the early 'skunk-striped' American beauties. Regardless of who was first, the dual racing stripe has become an American racing trademark.

While dual racing stripes were more of a Ford feature on Mustangs and Cobras, Chevy adopted them for the Camaro in 1967 and toy car makers have followed suit. Toy cars have been quick to copy popular paint styles and the skunk stripes never looked sweeter than they did on the Heavy Chevy by Hot Wheels. This open-engined variation on the Custom Camaro offered in the early 1970's, is one I remember well and the white stripes on blue paint have been a favorite ever since.

To qualify as 'skunk-stripes' the dual racing stripes must be broad lines and extend from the hood to the trunk. Sometimes stripes on the top are omitted. Above and below are ten of my favorites from the first '67 to the recent '96.

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'67 Custom Camaro by Hot Wheels - '67 Camaro Heavy Chevy by Hot Wheels - '69 Camaro Convertible by Johnny Lightning
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'69 Camaro Z28 by Racing Champions - '69 Camaro SS396 Convertible by Matchbox - '85 Camaro Z28 by Matchbox
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'85 Camaro Racer by Racing Champions - '93 Camaro by Racing Champions - '96 Camaro by Matchbox

It is interesting that more Camaro models carry twin racing stripes in 1:64 scale, than any other car. Matchbox offered a green '71 Camaro for 1998, bringing the total to 10, not counting color variations. If you know of others, help me out if you can, via the Guest book.