When did odometers acquire a sixth digit (seventh if you count tenths)? I googled this question, but found no conclusive answer; it seems to have varied greatly by manufacturer, and I didn’t see any evidence that it was actually ever required, although it’s certainly prudent marketing in this day and age not to suggest that your car will last less than 100,000 miles. One interesting tidbit that I learned was that GM’s F-body pony cars, the Camaro and Firebird, had six-digit odometers for the 1982 model year, then reverted back to five for several years. All of this is relevant to the above car, a 1982 Camaro Z28, which does indeed have a six-digit counter—showing just 1,832 miles. No arguing that this one’s rolled over, although I’m sure some of our resident skeptics might have something to say about the ancient art of rolling back. Continue the debate by checking out the listing on craigslist, out of Puyallup, Washington, with an asking price of $31,000—count those digits! (Archived ad here.)
Adding fuel to the skeptics’ fires, all of the photos in this ad are date-stamped—and all from 2011 or 2014. The odometer reading in the photo above shows five fewer miles in 2014 than what’s being claimed now, so I guess it would have added too many precious tenths to wheel the car out for newer shots, but then again, if it’s only traveled five miles in the last three years, how much could have changed? Still, some of us are cynical enough that only a ransom note-style photo of the car sweatily clutching today’s newspaper will convince us that it hasn’t been taken out and shot between then and now.
Zooming out a little wider shows that the rest of the interior is pretty pristine in its red velour glory, including the cargo area carpet that might have faded under the huge rear glass on a higher-mileage car. That chunky shifter links to the 1982-only four-speed, which gained an extra cog the next year. Not exactly the kind of one-year-only feature that should get you too excited, but the seller deems it worthy of note.
Underhood, the 305 V8 certainly looks the low-mileage part. This is the standard Z28 engine with a four-barrel carburetor, not the optional “Cross-Fire Injection” version, so it’s pumping out all of 145 ponies. Malaise, indeed. The ad provides several views of the underside as well, and they show signs of age but not excessive use.
I may be a little skeptical of the asking price—that’s new Camaro money, and an ’82 is a good-looking, if a little cartoony, car, but it’s nowhere near as well-built or good to drive as a new one—but I don’t actually question the authenticity of this car. As we often see with cars that have been preserved like this, there’s lots of documentation included with this one (including, allegedly, the original dealer tags on the keys, but who could tell?), and the seller clearly wants us to see this as an investment-grade car. What do you think—are we there yet, or will we be soon enough to justify the price?
Drugs are strong with this one
31,000! Too many digits for me. That is first generation Camaro money 💰.
Unless they could prove 100 percent the miles havent been rolled or modified with documentation, 11k to 15k would be the price range.I have saw a few with miles in the lower 100s verfied by dealer ownership sell for less than 20k
I like what I see, but that price? These just are not that special and although fun, these early F bodies had decent handling at the expense of ride comfort. I think 15k is the top for this. The speedometers are cable driven and can be disconnected in 2 minutes. The cluster has 8 or 10 torx screws and it is in your lap. I know a lot of cars guys driving around with a non-working speedometer, who are planning on selling one day. This one looks like the real deal, but I like to see for myself, take a wheel off and look at the brakes and the “dirty side.”
The use of the extra digit on the odometer started across the pond, where kilometers stack up half again as fast as our miles. When those cars were adapted for sale here, the number of digits remained, and folks like Mercedes Benz advertised the extra digit to indeed suggest that their cars were capable of going the “extra mile”.
Nice car but, where do people come up with these prices? I think there’s too many people watching fake t.v. shows.
Did I miss it or is there compressor?
This looks like the most stripped down, cheapest, car you could have gotten that year.
No AC! AHHHH!!! (I live in Central Texas.)
all gm’s had the extra digit odometer in 82, then went back to 5 for some reason. nice car, the price is about 20yrs from now tho
Just about every woman I knew that owned one of these was either named Debbie or Sharon.
Damn !!!
I dated Sharon, and she broke my heart.
Oh yeah? I dated Debbie,and she broke my nose!
Unfortunately, or fortunately if you like these and don’t currently own one, the Third Gen’s life cycle pretty much coincided with the initial muscle car boom of the 1980s. That meant a lot of people bought them and put them away, thinking they were going to see a huge investment pay off in 20 – 30 years.
What that means is that there’s a ton of super low mileage examples out there, including the much more desirable L69, L98 and LB9 manual cars in IROC, Formula, and GTA trim.
So this has a lot of stiff competition, and has the less desirable LG4, and Third Gen prices still really haven’t taken off yet. So I’d say a realistic price for this would be more like $12- 15k, if it’s in the condition represented in the photos.
I have a white 92 camaro rs 25th anniversary edition. Love camaros
I love these third gens and own a 78K mile ’91 Z/28 hardtop LB9, 5-speed with 3:42 posi rear. It’s loaded including AC. It’s a CA built and initially registered car. I love it except for the factory rear wing, wheels and all the electronics. I have all the original factory docs and sure hope it appreciates in the coming years.
Nice ride. Ford countered the new Z28 with their 5.0 mustang gt in ’82 and a new chapter in American performance cars began .I still see a few of these on the road although not as nice as this one.
I have this exact car with blue stripe, mine has 40,000 miles, put it away in a storage building at the Capstone Desert Studio 30 years ago. It has minor front end damage. One of my own barn finds. Half inch of dust.
I have had some 3rd generation Camaros,lroc-z,Z28,not the lLE,and or Pace car Addition. I could be wrong ,but what l think is regardless of how owners have this car ,it has been, or seems to have been will taken care of. Although it may seem this car has less than 2,000 miles, it could be true, but can it be proven to be true. I am assuming the documention is the original key chain possibly going with the car.I think what may have happened at one point or another a possible early owner or dealer of this car unpluged the odometer for a while, to keep it from showing as many miles. This is not the famous Simon and Simon car nor a Pace Car ,31K ,way to high.All day long maybe this will bring 5-7K.Also cars 1985 up seem more desirable, because of better factory options, that were offered on some cars.
This is the will deal. I have documentation on this 1982 Camaro Z28 with 1,834 miles. The speedometer has every been disconnected. look close at the pictures you see that this Camaro Z28 has not been driven. I own this Z28. I welcome anyone to see it in person. Call 253 405 8080
This is the real deal. I have documentation on this 1982 Camaro Z28 with 1,834 miles. The speedometer has never been disconnected. Look close at the pictures you see that this Camaro Z28 has not been driven. I am the owner of this Z28, I welcome anyone to see it in person. Call 253 405 8080