Crazy Money?: 1967 Chevrolet Camaro

The 1967 Chevrolet Camaro was a beautiful thing. Sleek, just a bit muscular, and proportioned perhaps even better than the original-generation Mustang it was an answer to. So if you want one, that’s a decision most hobbyists would support. Now’s here’s one to consider, a RS/SS four-speed with a 350. Seems like the right equipment, but you’re a long way from driving this car as it presently sits in Palmdale, CA and here on eBay. So look at it and start tallying up the bill to get this car to within shouting distance of being a proud member of your collection.

First off, it’s hard not to blurt it out: $25,000. Are you crazy? You might be, but nobody else apparently is. Nobody has bit on the minimum bid as of now for what appears to be a total beater. Nothing is good or right or done about this car. The body is dented up. The interior is old and used up. There’s no way to know what the state of the mechanicals is, though the ad claims that the car is a driver and is “quite peppy,” and maybe that’s so. But are you going to be happy driving it around? If you paid a couple of thousand bucks, maybe. I might even stretch that to $5k. But as soon as someone at the ice cream shop said, “What’d you have to give for it?” You’re sunk. Are you going to admit you paid mid-20s for this machine?

Does it help that it has been covered in what the seller calls “red etch” to keep it from rusting? Or does that just make this ad seem even more bizarre? Rusting? It lives in one of the driest climates in the world. Are they sprinkling salt on the roads out there and nobody warned me? And what happened to the body, anyway? It looks like it was used in a car-chase movie and never had its panels straightened up after the shoot. Add that to some surface rust in the trunk and underneath and you’ve got a car that’s very puzzling as a California original.

On the upside, you will get a box of chrome, most of the original set (but not all) and some pictures of the car when new. Cool, but what history is going to be left when you get done taking it down to the studs and starting a build that will definitely take the long road to get you home? I go back to the price. Maybe for five thousand bucks, this car could be turned into a driver at fair market value. As it is, this is one one those, “Yes, honey, I’m advertising the Camaro like I promised you I’d do. No action yet” kinds of deals. Let’s see what happens by Thursday mid-day. Is there a butt for this seat?