The 1978 model year was the fifth in a row for the Camaro since Ford reinvented the Mustang and opened the door to Chevy for buyers who liked bigger pony cars. This ’78 Type LT, the fancier version of the Camaro, looks to have been recently revived from a dirty perch under a Rockmart, Georgia carport. We’re told it’s a one-owner car with less than 70,000 original miles. It has a few bumpers and bruises but looks okay overall. It’s available here on eBay where the current bid is an odd $9,001.01 which has yet to master the reserve.
Big news came in 1978 for the Camaro when the extruded aluminum bumpers (added for safety measures) were finally replaced by body-colored urethane front and rear fascia. The impact-absorbing structure needed to ward off 5-mph hits is hidden behind the sleek new nose. Apparently, buyers liked what they saw as Chevy sold more than 272,000 Camaro’s in 1978 vs. the 179,000 Mustangs that Ford would deliver in the last year for that reworked Pinto.
This Camaro is an LT, which was popular enough to see more than 65,000 copies leave dealer lots in ‘78. Most of the cars were sold with either a 305 or 350 cubic-inch V8, and the latter is in the seller’s auto, but there is virtually no description of the car offered by the seller. Copies of the dealer’s sales sheet and the Chevy’s built sheet are left to do the work. We are told that the vehicle has only one owner (prior?), it was never wrecked, and the odometer reads 68,900 miles. Oh, a 4-barrel carburetor sits atop the 350.
It looks as though the Chevy sat for years under the carport-type structure and has recently been removed and cleaned up. We assume it runs, but the seller doesn’t say so. The dark green paint may be original and it’s in fair condition, even worn through to plastic in a couple of places. The interior is also okay, and the car’s overall appearance may be passable until you can start restoring it if that’s your goal. Do these second-generation Camaro’s get your blood flowing?
Nice 8 track player.
272,000!! To put that into perspective, that’s about as many Toyota Camrys as they now sell in a model year. The Accord is about half that.
That first picture is gut-wrenching!
The first sentence in this article doesn’t make sense. What? It’s the fifth year since the Mustang was put on the smaller body. It’s the ninth model year for this body style Camaro. Maybe it meant, it’s the fifth year the Camaro outsold the Mustang?
“It has a few bumpers and bruises”. I hope it has at least two bumpers!
The dark green paint is pretty unusual – I don’t recall many Camaros in this color. And with a green vinyl interior to match. I like it!
Interesting wheels. I don’t recall those – are they aftermarket?
You can never go wrong with one of these, unless it’s trashed. With under 70,000 miles, and the decent looking paint and interior, and the fact that everything under the hood appears to be there, is all a good sign. It’s still always a good idea to go see the car, if possible, before bidding on it.
The wheels are the factory turbine, I think Z28 only.
That was alot of Overtime for UAW Van Nuys, Framingham, and Norwood.
9 grand ?? Pass.
SOLD for $10,102.
I had those black slats on the rear window of my ’81, along with almost everybody else.
Russ you just made the fervent mustang 2 fans mad probably going to hear from them the usual babble mustang 2 was not a pinto it was based on capri. But I agree with you no matter what it was based on it was a glorified pinto
Yup it was a pinto but back in the day they were good money makers at the junkyard. Tons of people bought them, fixed them, hated now but at one time…and they were fun to drive.