When Chevrolet finally put a response to the Mustang on the showroom floor, the new Camaro was an immediate success. The mild 1969 restyle was even more of a good thing. Move the clock forward to today and that first generation Camaro is one of the most desired collector cars in America. They are so popular that people will pay big money for rough examples with the right pedigree. Take for example this 1969 Camaro RS/SS for sale on eBay in Carlisle, Iowa. With bidding sitting at $20,100 at three days to go, is this rough but well optioned Camaro worth the asking price and a hefty restoration tab?
The seller starts the ad with a laundry list of desirable options on this car: RS/SS packages, 396 engine with TH400 transmission (believed to be original), power steering, power brakes, Hugger Orange exterior with a deluxe black houndstooth interior, fold down rear seat, tilt steering wheel, a center console with gauges, rear defrost, shallow rosewood steering wheel, and a 12 bolt rear end. It appears someone wore out a pen checking off boxes on the order sheet.
The bad news is the condition of the car. There is rust in the floors, trunk pan, quarter panels, fenders, and in many other places. One quarter panel seems to still wear a rather aesthetically challenged flare. The other fender flare must have courteously rotted itself off. While the ad doesn’t say, the trim on the roof appears to indicate a vinyl roof was once glued on to cultivate rust.
The seller provides a number of pictures in the ad. I was surprised to see that the underside of the car doesn’t look that bad. There could be a lot more rust in the floor pans given the overall condition of the car. If you look closely at the rear end in the picture above, it appears that something clear is pouring out of the rear end. Does anyone else see it? Can you explain it?
Inside we see what is left of the houndstooth interior on the car. Fresh from the factory this made for a very visually appealing place to spend time. We can also see the fold down back seat, the rear of the center console, and the shoulder belts hanging above. The overall impression of the interior is that it was kept pretty dry, but the driver’s seat makes one believe that the 77,180 miles should have a “1” tacked on the front. GM vinyl doesn’t fall apart that easily.
A look under the hood shows a 396 engine that was obviously taken apart a very long time ago. The seller tells us that the car will come with big block heads, headers, and a box of miscellaneous parts. There is no discussion of whether those parts are original to the car. Looking elsewhere under the hood we can confirm that it is a power brake equipped car and that there is no obvious accident damage evident.
It is clear that this car is well optioned and could fetch big money if restored correctly. Correctly, sadly, will demand a hefty investment and time to get this one right. Perhaps a reader who has recently parted with a lot of folding money at a machine shop can tell us what rebuilding the 396 alone will cost. The new owner will have to want the Camaro of their dreams pretty badly. One thing you can count on is the final bid will give us a good idea of where the first-generation Camaro market is currently at.
What do you think the final bid will be? Let us know in the comments.
Can’t tell you what a rebuild on a 396 in this condition but we have two 4 cylinder full up race engines that cost $22,000 each to build in 1997 money. Don’t see anything cheap to fix on this one but get the idea that the chassis isn’t as bad as it looks.
If you are capable of the rebuild yourself and you can reuse the rotating assembly, you’re looking at a valve job, a block cleaning, a crank polishing maybe, and a rebuild kit. Realistically, $1500 or so at the machine shop, $500 for a build kit, and a weekend of your time in the garage with some CCR on the radio and a 30 rack of Miller Lite. Maybe a few other small odds and ends. Not the end of the world for sure.
early build 69, has telltale “straight” headrests, pre “X code” trim tag
sometime in its past the front end was destroyed, it is missing the correct hd cooling core support and someone swiped the correct, crossflow, radiator
has rear defog too
ambitious project …
I’ve had a couple engines done lately for customers.
The first was a 455 Pontiac for a Trans Am restomod build. Bored 30 over, ported and polished, custom billet roller cam, etc, and dyno’d, the tab was about $6000 (including $600 for dyno time).
The second was a 327/300 out of a 63 Corvette that had been sitting for years with a cracked head. Leaking coolant caused considerable pitting in three cylinders. When torn down, the engine was found to have previously suffered a catastrophic failure, and all eight cylinders were sleeved (and were 30 over). This was a matching number engine for a split window coupe, so the engine needed to be saved. The blocked was re-sleeved back to standard bore and rebuilt. The final bill came in just under $5000.
This same shop does a basic rebuild on small block Chevy’s for about $2500-$3000. I would think a big block might be $500-$1000 more, plus extras (like sleeves at $175-$200 each).
396 with turbo 400, believed to be original???? If the numbers are there, both are original. If there are no numbers, then they are believed to be non-original to the car. No mystery there.
Engine rebuild would be 6 to 12, accordinng to what you do, who you get to do it, and parts cost. Gbvette62 has it very close.
I had a 69 Z28 in 1971 & thought I knew a lot about them then, but I never heard/seen a Camero w a rear fold down seat option? That was on Mustangs & older Barracudas & some others.
I restored an all-original RS Z28 in 1989. It was in good condition when I started – original Daytona Yellow paint but the black stripes were thin. The original black custom vinyl interior needed nothing. I was able to learn that just 600 1969s were built with rear disc brakes and only a few (200?) with the folding rear seat which wasn’t popular due a rattling condition.
@walt
RPO A67 = folding rear set
Avail 67-69
$31.60 in 67, 17,993 built
$42.15 in 68, 7,384 built
$42.15 in 69, 4,397 built
The folding rear seat is nearly identical to the same option on the Corvair, both 2 and 4 doors body styles. I believe the fold down seat on the Mustang was on the Fastback only, not sure of the Barracuda. It was standard equipment on the 1966 and 1967 Dodge Charger. There may be others, but those are what I remember.
Didn’t the RS/SS badging say just that, RS/SS?
I don’t see any badging other than SS and the steering wheel isn’t saying anything so no help there either.
Or was that for a differing model year?
I know my 1970 1/2 RS spelled out Rally Sport on the fender and the steering wheel.
The car would come with only the top option designation on the grill/fenders/tail piece. There are a few Z/28-RS cars out there and they only say Z/28.FRom the first year of the Camaro they would only have a single designation even if multiple appearance options were installed.
On the 1969 Camaro, if the Rally Sport option was ordered on a regular coupe or convertible, the RS badge appears on the front grill and rear tail panel, and on each front fender, the badge reads “rally sport”. If the Super Sport option was also ordered with the RS appearance package, the SS badges were on the front grill, rear tail panel, and both front fenders, no RS badge. The SS always took precedence over the RS badge, also same with the 69 Z/28. The RS badge was never included next to or adjoining with the SS or Z/28 badge.
@john
A 69 Z/28 RS would have “rallysport” side fender emblems and an “rs” horn shroud emblem on the standard steering wheel
The car would have 4 other Z/28 emblems: grille, leading front fender and rear tail panel
Junkyarddog. Crush it
I’d be tempted to restore/rechrome the trailer hitch and put it back on the car just to hear the comments!
As mentioned a very ambitious project even if you can do metal replacement. Gonna take plenty of time going through AMD catalog. And then deal with the mechanicals.
What ? No snide comments about how stupid a person would be to buy this ? No complaints about how the market is sky high for junk ? Oh yeah, you’re commenting on a Camaro, not a Charger
Now you’re starting to understand. Big difference in a Camaro and a Charger. Yeah, baby.
Only thing solid on a older Charger is running gear, they looked fine new but bodies where made out of soup cans & didn’t/don’t last.
Wouldn’t the horse power greatly effect the value? I think it, like the Chevelle, came in 325 hp with Rochester carb, the 350 to with the Holly, the 375 hp (425 in the earlier Corvette) with Holley and solid lifters.
for the 69 Camaros there were 3 basic 396 offerings:
L35 396 325 hp, qjet carb
L34 396 350 hp, qjet carb
L78 397 375 ho, Holley carb, solid lifters
Thanks for the correction, of course, we know I was wrong.
I am old, and worse than not remembering is misremember ing. I had a buddy that had a 396/350 with a Holley, but it also had headers, so it is logical he swapped carbs. Again, thanks.
I am happy to say that i owned one for 18 years , it was an rs coupe
I sold it because i preferred my topless firebird and i needed the money for a real estate purchase
I made 200 k in 12 years so it turned out fine , i sold the bird to help with another purchase and made even more
I loved those cars and many others that i owned
The memories are great but i prefer the ride and performance of newer cars
And the old carb stink is not well liked in our canadian surroundings