What better way for Chevrolet to promote its racy new Camaro than pacing the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the Indianapolis 500? Interestingly, we don’t know how many Indy 500 pace car Camaros Chevy built. An expert at HotRod quotes an estimate of 100 to 300, and this car’s seller claims this 1967 Chevrolet Camaro in Antioch, Illinois among them. A prior owner sat on this classic for 50 years, 30 of which it spent in one place, according to the listing here on eBay. As we prepared to publish, the listing ended due to “error,” but hopefully we’ll link a new listing soon. Any big block Camaro turns heads, and the SS/RS combination tops the chart for bow tie fans.
The blue interior nicely compliments the Ermine White paint which would have had a blue nose stripe. Call most of the interior overdue for a dumpster. Replacements come easy on the global inter-web, and should look stunning when complete.
Nothing here says “too-far-gone rust bucket,” but that left quarter panel and others require new metal. One picture shows the white top in place, but don’t count on salvaging it. No worries, though; any buyer who validates the seller’s claims won’t mind opening their wallet for a proper restoration.
This non-original motor stands in place of the original 396 cid (6.3L) V8. As a young gear-head in the pre-Internet days, I drooled over any Mark IV big block’s extra-wide valve covers. Even the smogged-out mid-’70s versions would burn the skinny tires of the day from a 20 roll. Hold on tight and keep the steering wheel straight before dropping the hammer on this pony car after its restoration.
Solidly between lost cause and perfection, this Chevy’s unibody undercarriage shows heavy rust in places and factory paint elsewhere. Do you think this Indy pace car is the real deal?
It still has the cocktail shakers in the trunk. Well worth the cost of a restoration.
Hopefully the fronts are there as well…
A lot of work here but savable! I wonder if the trunk seal or rear glass leaked due to the rust in the rear quarters!
Mono leaf rear springs and a small rear end? Blue interior? I have my doubts.
All 67 pace cars had blue interior, this also has a 12 bolt rear and dual exhaust.
Our ’69 rusted so badly there was nothing left to weld the front or rear subframes to – they weld to the unibody which is mostly sheet metal and rusted to nothingness. So get underneath and look! It might be OK.
The anti hop bar is still there so this is a performance Camaro. One of the early BB SS cars that somebody has already snagged
How time changes everything. Back in the eighties I owned a small tavern near a military base.
One of the airmen ran a tab and let it get a little out of control, so he owed me 239 dollars. (Remember that number still today)
Got his x-fer papers, so he walked in and handed me the keys to his 67 Camaro convertible for his bill.
I’ve still got pictures of it next to my 72 chevy pick-up.
I doubt it’s a true pace car.
Graphics should be on side of car instead of molding.
Blue stripe missing from around the nose.
And is it me? Or does spacing between the two S’s look too wide.
My step-mother had a ’67 Camaro convert. with a 327 2bbl and a powerglide. It was pretty rusty so she had someone fix the rust and repaint it the light yellow original color. Well, you could tell that it had received “a little more than a quart” of bondo. (this was the Chicago area) She tried to sell it and no one would pay her price. So it just sat in the driveway for a couple of years. She ended up giving it to me. Was down a car at the time. It was a real 50 footer and it ran rough. The shocks were shot as were the tires. So I installed some wider wheels and tires and still used the factory wheel covers. And I got a deal on a full set of Bilstein shocks and tuned it up. It made a very nice driving car that I used as a daily driver for about a year while I was restoring my 1965 Baracuda. So, then I had 3 cars so it was driven about once a week. A couple of months later in the summer I installed an electronic ignition system. It really perked up the engine. So I took it out to a very long and flat road to see what the top end was now. ( it was about 105 before hand) I was almost up to 120 when the large tree next to the road was shading some roadkill that a flock of crows were enjoying. It was way too late to slow down very much. So I was laying on the horn when I got there they all took off just casually I got there and saw them heading for the windshield. I ducked as I went by. And luckily none landed in the passenger compartment. The stench was unforgettable! There was almost 50 feathers jammed up under the top of the windshield moulding. Luckily no damage to the car. (can’t say the same for the crows)
According to GM records, there were 100 American pace cars manufactured and 30 for Canada. I think that it’s a crap shoot as whether or not this is one of those. I would do some serious background checks on this before putting out any foldin’ money.
The trim tag on 1967 Camaros has a lot of information that 1968 and 1969’s didn’t have. It should go a long way towards helping to verify if it is a pace car, more importantly, it would rule it out depending what options and production date are stamped into it.
If real, this is a valuable car. The seller ended the auction early and cancelled all bids, they more than likely accepted an offer and sold it off eBay.
Steve R