Seemingly somewhat of an anomaly these days, this 1973 Chevrolet Camaro LT appears to be presented in fully-stock form. Aside from one repaint at its half-life, it is almost all original too. Sent in by an anonymous Barn Finds reader, this Camaro can be found here on eBay in Eads, Tennessee. There have been zero bids at the opening price of $15,000.
Chevrolet dropped the SS designation for 1973 and replaced it with the Type LT as the Camaro’s top-level trim. RS and Z28 options, however, remained. Of the 96,751 1973 Camaros that rolled off the Norwood, Ohio assembly line, 32,327 were of the Type LT variety.
An atypically tame color combination befitting a lower trim Sport model, this Camaro was ordered with Chamois (code 56) paint. While this car is currently adorned in the factory color, it is not the paint the factory applied, as it received a repaint from a local dealership in the early 1990s. The seller tells us the Camaro has never been in an accident, has all original glass, and describes the body as having “rock solid floor pans, frame, rocker panels, rear shock towers and rear frame rails,” but does show some rust in the rear quarters. The pictured rally wheels are not included in the sale.
To complete that atypically tame color combination, the interior is dressed in Neutral vinyl (code 788) trim. The seats look a little stained and the rest of the interior shows some minor wear, but this has held up well considering it’s been around for 47 years. The original buyer did check quite a few boxes on that order form to keep things comfy and homey inside, including air-conditioning, full console, tinted glass, and AM radio with rear speaker.
The second lowest option V8 powers this Camaro. That 350-cubic-inch 2-bbl L65 offered 145 horsepower and 255 ft. lbs. of torque. Backing that mild powerplant is a turbo hyrda-matic transmission. Staying in-line with the rest of the car, everything looks mostly original under the hood.
This is a well-documented decently optioned car. It lacks the Z28 and RS options, but even though those are less common than the basic LT, they seem to be 12 for 10 cents. The way Chevrolet described the Type LT in 1973 still feels fitting today – “Type LT: For those who want a little more Camaro.”
It’s nice, but not $15,000 nice. The rust, which looks to have been previously repaired dashes any chance of the seller getting his opening bid, just like the last time he put it up for auction.
Steve R
I completely agree for a plain wrapper Camaro. If no rust was present, maybe he would get that price since most know replacing metal is not cheap, especially farming it out!
Nice car and write-up, Jonny, but I have to say that this color combo was anything but “atypical” for ’73.
Thanks, Morgan. What I was trying to say was a little muddled in my writing. I meant, a color like Chamois may be more at home on the lower trim levels. It seems to me, anyway, a lot of early second generation Camaros of the SS and LT variety are a bright yellow, red, orange, blue, or green.
Yes, very clean, and looks like something you’d see in the parking lot in high school c. 1979!
Using the “reverse inflation” calculator, $15,000 today would be about $4,250 in 1979. Would this car have brought that much back then? Since a new base V-8 Camaro started at about $5,000 in 1979, I highly doubt it. Maybe $3,000? A little less?
That’s overly optimistic. I entered the market for cars like this around 1982, in the SF Bay Area, you could find decent SS396 Chevelle’s, GTO’s and Road Runners for around $2,000 with a little effort. In that time frame I wouldn’t have paid more than $1,000-1,200, if it was rust free, a car showing even this much rust would have been instantly disqualified from consideration.
Steve R
Steve if we could only go back to 1982 knowing what we know now, right !!??
My Father in law owned a used car lot on Western Ave on the south side of Chicago back in the early-mid 70’s during the gas crunch. He was buying and selling big block 4 speed GM’s, and Hemi Dodges for hundreds, not thousands, hundreds of dollars. He had a thought back then that he should get a warehouse and put some of them away….oh how we ALL wish he would have !!!!
Still one of the General’s all-time great designs. I think the color is closer to fecal dun or bleached sewage, however. It is hard to criticize given the current trend to white, black, or 403 shades of silver, but that won’t stop me.
A whole lot of 2nd gen Camaros have been preserved, lovingly in many cases. The market for a really nice one in a shade that won’t embarrass you isn’t much more than this one.
Love the 70-73 Camaros. Had a 70 1/2 RS. Like to have another but not this one.
The color immediately reminded me of one of the worst diaper changing episodes I experienced 20 some years ago with one of my kids….just almost unbearable and this color !!
The rust is NOT good. In our current market this is a $6K car give or take due to the rust, amount restore, no birthright (Not RS not Z28) automatic and difficult interior or especially the dash board to do a color change on.
Good entry level car to learn on but the 1 in front of the 5 is not going to happen. Well enough people with more money than brains out there….maybe it will happen.
Seat sides reupholstered to cover up the clip that holds the shoulder belts. The rust above the fender and inside the trunk negates the sellers affirmation of “rock solid.” Metal in these areas appears to be clinging for a few more miles before completely disappearing. Better store this car indoors once you buy it and never take it out in bad weather. Not sure why the hesitancy to photograph the car with the wheels it’s selling with? They are correct for the year, but I bet they sport dry rotted tires. I really want to like this color as my same era MG is the same, lame POOpon color. Finally what to make of this statement: Working air conditioning has been converted to R134a (Blower motor/switch needs replacing/easy fix). Lame! Fix it if it is so easy so we can feel the cool air. This would be well-bought at about 70% of the opening bid.
I believe that this was the last year that the Camaro used a separate lap belt and shoulder belt. You had to latch each one separately. I had them in my 1970 Camaro.
These seats show a bump where the little plastic hold-down pin or screw goes for the clip holding the shoulder belt. Same on both sides. Looks like a new piece of slightly off vinyl and no clip to be seen anywhere. They were used from 1971 highbacks all the way to 1981 and broke off the first time a back seat passenger egressed from the car not knowing their function. They were functional.
Really? For his $15k asking the seller is not including the rally wheels? I could perhaps see if he were asking $1.5k. As it stands, it’s just another indication the seller is an scam artist peddling overpriced junk.
Car will come with the “as found” 1973 slotted Rally wheels as opposed to the ones in most of the photos. Seller addresses this by asking potential buyers to refer to the first photo on eBay. The one with the car on the trailer, perhaps on the day he bought it for $3500. LOL
After checking out the ’70 and ’71 Z/28’s here today in more or less well worn condition this looks plain jane uneventful. Nice transportation car with a sporty body enough pop under the hood for the average driver, but still, it’s really kinda boring.
To much money for a plain Jane Carmaro!!! My 70 big block I bought five years ago fo 6K out of Texas!! It’s a much better color too!!
Apparently, 2nd gen camaros have leaky trunks like 1st gens. lol
I guess the factory sometimes applied bodyside molding unevenly, like it did with rear decals on some ’74 z28s i seen.
As part of a high school shop class, we visited the General Motors plant sometime around 1973-74 in Baltimore. The quality control along toward the end of the assembly line was hit or miss, literally. They were building Chevelles with door moldings barely clinging for life, open doors brushing against building columns, and touch up being done to weld seams on the roofs. I imagine the Norwalk line wasn’t much different. Even dealer installed, the side moldings rarely adhered evenly and looked like crap after a while. Without them, though, second generation doors are so heavy you tended to damage them by swinging out wide at the local mall or grocery store.
I have a car exactly like this and belive me it gets alot of attention I bet you could park a brand new vett or Shelby next to my 73 chamois camaro and people could care less about the new cars, the color is what triggers the memories for most people , and i wouldnt change the color it makes the car
I owned the same model in 1978. Liked your comment on the color! Though I must admit it looked best on a moonlit night! I bought second hand for $2300. The first thing to fix was the rotted quarter panels. Rebuilt motor with Z28 cam, added a Rochester 4 barrel carb. Tires chirped when automatic transmission shifted into second gear. Good times!