While this 1969 Camaro Z11 Pace Car might look like a project that is about to consume massive amounts of money, the seller will be giving the next owner a bit of a head-start on restoration. Barn Finder Patrick S referred the Camaro to us, so thank you so much for that Patrick. The Camaro is located in Sheridan, Wyoming, and is listed for sale here on eBay. The BIN price on this classic has been set at $23,500, but the option is available to make an offer.
Since its introduction, the Camaro has had quite a history as the Pace Car for the Indianapolis 500. It has been chosen a total of nine times between 1967 and 2016. Replicas have been built by Chevrolet as a collectible to commemorate this, and while the original plan was for 6,400 cars to be built in 1969, only 3,675 of the distinctive Dover White and Hugger Orange Camaros eventually rolled off the production line. This one looks pretty sad on the surface, but when you dig down, things don’t seem to be as bad as they first appear. The floors will need replacing, but the owner says that the car is structurally sound. The trunk floor hasn’t got any rust-through, but it is quite heavily pitted. It would be tempting to replace this in a bid to achieve perfection. The rest of the external rust is in the lower sections of the body that is so common with these, including lower fenders and quarter panels, the lower corners of the doors, and small amounts in the rockers. In reality, this Camaro is nowhere near as bad as it could be.
The interior of the Camaro looks downright awful, and it doesn’t look like the top has been up for a very long time. The entire interior will require restoration, but this is where the good news starts for the next owner. That person won’t have to go digging into their pocket to pay for a lot of new trim, because included with the car are new carpets, new covers for the seats, and new door trims. What remains looks like it could be restored, and the only major item that appears to be missing is the factory radio. So, it looks like getting the interior right is going to take more time and effort than it will dollars.
You don’t have to be Einstein to work out that the Camaro doesn’t run, but it isn’t clear whether the engine turns freely. I sure hope that it does, because the 350ci V8 and TH-350 transmission are both numbers matching. This combination gave the owner 300hp to play with, which made for some entertaining motoring. The Camaro also featured power brakes and air conditioning. It isn’t clear how much of the A/C hardware is present, but there are some boxes of sundry parts included with the car. While I can see the original radiator and some A/C components, I am really hoping that the original carburetor, distributor, and other engine ancillaries are included with the car.
Values on the ’69 Camaro Z11 Pace Car are interesting because they have stayed almost completely flat for more than 3-years now. This suggests that there is a real possibility that the cars will begin to increase in value, because when cars drop value, they usually either do it fairly consistently and continuously, or the value simply falls off a cliff. If you are looking for a clean Z11 equipped as this one is, they can be found for around the $42,000 mark, but an absolutely pristine and original one can push up to twice that price. Even at the lower valuation, that still leaves a fair amount of room to undertake a restoration on this car before it gets to the point where it doesn’t make economic sense. To me, that means that this is a project car that appears to be well worth the effort to restore.
Factory A.C. with no power top. Whoever ordered this car wasn’t planning on putting the top down much.
Too much money. Non-running, rust bucket, needing damn near everything and only selling below 50k? Now if it was a 396 with 4spd? Then maybe I could be tempted.
Brings back a painful memory. Back in the early 80’s I used to drive past an orange/white 69 Camaro Pace Car convertible just sitting at a house in Van Nuys (CA). I kept promising myself to stop and inquire and one day, again passing by, it was gone. Back then it probably sold for $1500. Living in an apartment then, I had no place to store and work on a car, so that always put a damper on car acquisitions.
This one is not beyond restoration. I’ve seen much worse on here and it is rare.
Gawd, those Q-jets secondaries are so big, you can see the fuel gauge drop when you hit it.
especially if you remove any linkage restricting flow. My 68 Firebird had the same engine as the 68 gto but had a lower hp rating. Friend of mine rebuilt the Q-jet found the restricting tab and removed it. THAT woke up the Fbird!
Nothing better than the growl of a Q-jet as those secondaries open. I smile just remembering.
Crack price.
Auto metal direct (AMD) installation center build cars like this all the time. They lay the new rear frame rails in a jeg and build the car up from there. This car would require a total rebuild of the body. A few years ago the cost was around 15k to do a complete build. Building a car like this vs a new body has one advantage you don’t have to deal with the vin # problem. This car will get rebuilt and the person that builds this will probably be upside down on the money:
Another hopeful or a parts car with not a lot of parts.
The number one reason I’m not a fan of convertibles is they all leak and rust out. Secondly there proportions are always off they don’t look right weather top is up or down. Thirdly They cost more to maintain. I’d much rather have a hardtop or coupe. I guess this one has potential but it is going to cost a lot of moola to bring this back. Pass.
I have to disagree canadainmarkseh, you really should take one for a drive. A ton of fun, almost like riding a motorcycle. Most look pretty good, top up or down. I will say the VW bug looks really bad to me topless! Take care, Mike
One of the problems up here in Canada is the number of days a year you can drive with the top down is really short. Most of our vintage cars spend 6 month of the year tucked away in garages while we go through our winters. I do have a motorcycle it’s a1977 gl1000 Honda goldwing with a custom sidecar attached. Yes it is fun but with out the giant car investment. Up here it makes more sense to have a hardtop. This might be part of my bias. I hardly ever see a ( as we commonly called them up here rag top ) and when you did it was often a rust bucket POS. This is probable why I don’t like rat rod or patina cars there nothing special up here we have plenty of rust buckets some are only 3 year old cars. Thanks for your perspective Mike it’s funny how different regions change how we look at things.
Good points canadainmarkseh. I am in Wisconsin so kind of similar wheeling days here also. Agree on the patina thing, not as bad as it was in the 70’s but still rough! Post a pic of your Wing and side hack when you get time. Mike.
Got deep into SS Chevies back in the 70’s and my first Z-11 convert had been relieved of it’s engine and front clip due to theft. Before I could get it home the 4sp pedals and spoiler disappeared. Finally was able to talk another guy out of his Z-11 convert that had the motor and interior stolen to get a matching front RS clip. Pictures are some where and at the time I had the SS427 Impala so I was kinda dreaming. Got a good offer on the complete one and lots of years later on that Z-11 rust free shell…..to the guy that bought my SS427.
It never seems to amaze me how a car can get this bad!! There’s been water sitting on the floor for as many years as the tops been gone!! With the 350 and the automatic alls it’s got going for it is that it is a convertible!!! Hope someone saves it but it won’t be me not at that buy it now price!!!