Behind The Barn Find: 1988 Chevrolet Camaro

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Baseball and apple pie are to America what mullets and 80’s hair bands are to third generation Camaros. The third gens may not be for everyone, but the 49,000 original miles that this one has clocked could “Warrant” a second look. Such is the case with this one found here on Craigslist near Cleveland, Ohio.

I must admit that while I’m not much into mullets or 80’s rock music, I am a fan of the third generation Camaro. I did quickly have to lower my expectations with this one, though, as soon as I saw that it was a V6 car. The five-speed manual transmission does add a little bit of flare and the decent looking interior is encouraging. Some may argue that the t-tops are a bad idea because of leaking, but from experience, I appreciated pulling the tops off of the Camaros that I owned on a nice evening.

With a stated 49,000 miles it begs the question of why it was parked there years ago and not ran since. Unfortunately, there aren’t any details that would help answer this question. The call to bring a trailer for interested parties doesn’t seem to indicate that the “why” is something simple. The seller states that it would be an “easy restoration”, but easy is a relative term of course. Without knowing more details on this Camaro, does the $2,200 seem reasonable? And would it be a good candidate to fix up and have around?

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Comments

  1. Dean

    Warrant was 🍒 Pie, not apple … I think….

    Like 14
    • Rick A. LoeraMember

      It was. She’s my cherry pie. I’ll let you figure out why cherry pie is much more meaningful in this particular song then apple pie.

      Like 8
  2. Rob John

    My first concern with this being in OHIO is frame rot. Since I’m not “Dirty, Rotten, Filthy, Stinking Rich” this will also have to pass like the rest of the glorious hair bands that I listened to in the 80s.

    Like 12
  3. Steve R

    Too much money for an 88 V6 Camaro that’s been sitting for years. In turn key condition it wouldn’t be worth much more.

    Steve R

    Like 24
    • Howard

      Absolutely, Steve. And while it would be easy to drop in a V8, what a lot of people don’t realize is that the entire drivetrain would need to be swapped, since the weak rear and trans would scatter behind a halfway healthy V8.

      Like 0
  4. Classic Steel

    Get it signed by Rick And AJ Simon
    and Simon from the 80s detective show and maybe it’s worth 2300 .seriously my confidence level tells me at 90% that no one parks a 49 k original car outside …
    Cleveland rocks the snow with the lake effect thru April with salty roads too.

    Like 6
  5. Superdessucke

    They should have brought it from behind the barn to inside the barn at least. I’d be very concerned with what that moist ground did to the undercarriage over all those years.

    Like 9
  6. Steve A

    You really gotta wonder about the floorboards seeing where it’s been sitting.

    Like 5
  7. Rob

    So, that hasevery indication of being a Z28, so V8 car. It is too early to be an RS I think, but it’s definitely one of the two. Of course, a 350 swap into it is a since if it is an RS, so enjoy cheap insurance rates and a fast car :)

    Like 5
  8. poseurMember

    these late 3rd-gen sport coupes mimicked the early Z28’s with the contrasting ground effects & 15″ concave aluminum 5-spokes.

    really sharp cars to my eye & a one-year only look, including the raised rear spoiler, as the new for ’89 RS became the base model & was monochrome only.

    we had an ’82 sport coupe with F41, t-tops & the 2.5 auto as my mom’s car, followed by an ’83 V8 Firebird auto, & finally an ’84 L69 Z28 that was, comparatively, a monster & ran away from anything it came up against.

    we never had a V6 but my best friend’s sister did, with a 5-speed, & it was ok for the day….peppy.

    important to note that the 5-speed paired with the V6 is not as stout as with the V8 & will fail promptly when put behind anything with 200+ hp. the V8 trans is probably good to about 250-ish.

    still a great looking shape & tough to find (around here anyway) in one-piece due to neglect, rust & abuse.

    $12-1500ish?

    Like 9
    • Rob

      It does, though, have the place where a badge belongs on the lower ground effect, which only the z28 or the RS did. It wouldn’t be the first time I saw a typo, or a flipper not using their eyes. From what I can see, the car looks like an excellent one to save. Great color combo too. Didn’t both tge Z28 and RS use the T5?

      Like 3
      • poseurMember

        i really dig the color combination on this one too.

        memory is there was a “Camaro” badge behind the front tires on these but not positive.

        the T5 was used in both V6 & V8 cars but had like a 16-spline input shaft with V6 & i think 24-spline with the V8. bell housings were different as were gear ratios. either one can be made to work with some swapping but lots of guys found out the hard way that neither one could take any abuse with decent tires.

        Like 6
  9. Claus

    There’s a few in craigslist Houston (less rust) for less money. Some running.

    Like 3
    • Rob

      I’ve NEVER heard of something in Houston having “less rust”, perhaps “different rust”. Hell, they rust in your garage there, From the inside out, and top down. I learned to avoid those cars years ago.

      Like 1
  10. Festus

    Only 5 speed z28 Camaro’s were 305 cars not 350. If so they’d of been the same as the Corvette but cheaper. There was a few 350 5 speed irocs but weren’t for public sale. Those are $30,000 cars in good condition.

    Like 1
  11. Bill D

    If I ever got a car like this, I’d have to ride around with Dead Milkmen “B—–n’ Camaro” in the tape deck. You know, because irony.

    Like 6
  12. Steve

    I passed on a much nicer running and driving V8 Z28 for $3,000. It was a tough call but to get it like I wanted it would have required another 5-8 grand. Someone got a great deal a few days later. This Camaro “beside the barn” find with a 6cyl looks like a $800-1000 car. Without seeing it on a lift you can’t really tell much though. Would be worth a look if you live nearby.

    Like 4
  13. nrg8

    18 y/o me would be cleaning out the bank account and haggling about price because of the color. Adult me says you fat ass will be dragging on the highway with in the month. Those ground effects always hid bad rust.

    Like 6
  14. Jim

    It has a lot of potential, either a V8 swap or doing something different and staying with the V6 snd and 5-speed. You could even hop-up the V6 a bit and have some fun. This is a car easy to work on and cheap to get parts for. Im actually restoring an 84 Camaro L69 T5, and while it will never be worth some of the Mopars Ive owned, im not putting some guys daughter through college when i buy a piece of grill trim from him either. I would really look at the floors/frame on this one though.

    Like 4
  15. Dave Deline

    Worked at a dealership from 89 -96 some. I. Remember driving an IROC with a 350 with a 5 speed manual or six speed.plus many corvettes.nothing was impossible if you ordered the car with the options you wanted.just had to wait for it .

    Like 1
    • Miguel

      David, are you talking about the ’82 – ’92 style or the newer style?

      All of the ’93 and up sticks had the 350, but i doubt you could find a 350 stick anywhere on the older style.

      I also worked at a Chevy lot in the ’87 and ’88 model year and we only got 2 or 3 350 IROCs on the lot and we were only a half hour from the Van Nuys plant.

      Actually I only remember one 350 that was white with red leather interior.

      Almost all of the managers used that car for a demo at some point and then sold it for new car price. It moved pretty good.

      Like 2
      • poseurMember

        i never got to drive one with the 350 but they were auto only (unless swapped) & ran neck & neck with the 305 TPI 5-speeds. i sure learned to look for the 5.7 call-outs on the ground effects & tail though!

        they seemed fast at the time, growing up in the middle of the horsepower desert that was the mid-70’s to late ’80’s.

        fast cars had under 200hp, ran 0-60 in the 7-second range & 1/4-miles in the 15’s. really fast cars made a mighty 245hp & cut 6-second & 14’s, maybe even hitting 100mph at the end traps.

        Like 4
      • firemedic2714

        The 305 five-speed cars had 20 or 25 more HP than the 305 automatic cars and the 350/auto cars had 20 or 25 more HP than the 305/auto cars which explains the similar 1/4 mile performance. The real difference was torque. The 350’s had the advantage.

        Like 0
  16. Gay Car Nut

    Lovely looking car. I remember this generation Camaro. I was too young to drive by the time this generation was introduced. But I found it quite attractive, more so than the previous generation Camaro. I hope whoever purchases this is able to get it running and restores it as much as possible. :)

    Like 1
  17. Booya

    In my experience, these were often pretty sagged out by about 50k. Too troublesome and expensive to keep on the road, and the warranty for anything beyond the powertrain had run out years before. 49k is basically end of its first life.

    Like 0

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