There’ve been quite a few early Camaros surfacing from long term storage lately. This 1968 model might be a base 327 car, but it’s a highly original survivor with 26k original miles. The seller is the 3rd owner, finally a seller that counts themselves as an owner! They purchased it from the original owner’s daughter. It had been parked since 1992 and hasn’t been on the street since then. It has the usual issues you’d find on a 51-year-old survivor that’s lived in Pennsylvania. If you’d love to have this Camaro survivor, you can find it here on eBay with a current bid of $3,500.
For a classic that has lived in Pennsylvania its entire life, it looks to be quite solid. Chances are the reason it isn’t rustier is the low mileage. Clearly, the original owner kept the car parked in their garage for much of the time that they owned it. Looking the car over, the worst of the rust is in the quarters and the bottom edge of the trunk lid. There aren’t any views of the underside of the car, but hopefully it’s solid.
Here is the original 327 V8. There’s no word on its condition, as the seller hasn’t done anything with it since purchase it. They claim to have purchased it directly from the garage, transported it to their garage and that’s where it’s been since. It would be nice if they could at least attempt to turn it by hand, that way we know if it’s going to need a full rebuild or if you could get it running as is.
The interior is starting to show its age, but looks like restoring it would be a fairly simple project. A new carpet set and some front seat covers would make it a decent driver, but you’ll want to replace some of the other vinyl and plastic bits to make it a very nice car.
Overall, this looks like it could be a great project to take on. While it would be nice to know more about the condition of the floors and engine, it would be worth getting it inspected. So, what do you think of this Camaro survivor? Would you fully restore it or keep it as original as possible?
Not sure where it says it spent it’s entire life in PA. I suspect it was the winter in FL car (registered in PA) that lived in a carport. Hence the un-cracked dash, but UV bleached interior that, unlike the seller description, is green which has yellowed (not the other way around). Looks like a solid start to a project.
$500 car ‘back in the day’.
Since the interior’s shot anyway, I’d have to swap it our for black.
I’m not sure when ‘back in the day’ was for you. Back in 1983 I paid $1500 for my plain jane 1967 Camaro 327/210hp with a Powerglide transmission. And it looked as bad as this, if not worse. Granted, I don’t see this car being worht $10k, but it’s been worth more than $500 for a helluva long time.
During college in 1981, paid $500 for a red/red ’68 identical to this, mechanically. Prior to that had a ’69 Chevelle which also cost a whopping $500.
These were simply 10-15 year old used cars at that point, not the collectables we view them as today.
It was probably $1,800-ish in the late 1980s for a half decent non-SS or Z/28 first gen Camaro. I did score a ’70 318 Challenger for under a grand back in 1987 but it was pretty rough (though it was complete, unmodded, and no worse than some cars on here bringing 5 figures). Something nicer would have been closer to 2k.
That may not sound relevant now but those valuations when these were more common show that once the novelty wears off, you’re going to have a relatively plain Jane ride, unless you mod it. Really, they were daily drivers with a sporty body. But when you are paying mid-high teens for one of these, doing that doesn’t make a ton of sense. I think doing that would lower the value.
Does anyone know? Are those tail lights from a 67? Or 68 RS/SS?
1968 Base Model Taillights.
I have a 68 Rally Sport (Not RS/SS) with the same tail lights. They belong on the car for sure.
My father redid a 1968 RS convertible (327 3 speed manual is my memory). This was roughly in 1986. It had reverse lights under the rear bumper from my memory, but looking at this car I must be mistaken? Can someone clear that up for me as it has bothered me before. He made it look new and sold it as I was 15. I remember him saying I would kill myself in it if he kept it. Probably was a reasonable Dad move :). He was always onto the next project.
Kent, the 67-69 Rally Sports all came with reverse light under the rear bumper. Non-RS cars like the one featured here had both red and clear lenses in the taillight, RS cars had all red taillights since there was no need for two sets of reverse lenses. Many early Camaro owners installed the all red RS lenses to clean up the look of the taillight, so always look for the under bumper reverse lights as a clue to identify an RS.
Steve R
I don’t thing there is much to do to get this back on the road again!! It would be a nice driver at the right price!!
I love these. Restored about 4 of them completely. They are easy cars to bring back to new again and the work is fun. The 327 is a great engine and fast on revs. Much better then a standard 350. Very nice to drive on the road with the right stuff mounted on the suspension.
Question answered : full restoration !
This is a great original car….some pretty nice early Camaro’s have been coming up….and selling for lots of money lately.
I have been bidding on them and coming up short…..I raised what I was will to pay for a car needing restoration 3 times and still am coming up short…..if anybody has a 67 Camaro that they want to unload let me know!
Enough with the “ original mileage”. Most cars odometers in the 60’s and up to the 80’s only registered up to 100,000 miles and then rolled over to zero again. My 87 GN is only showing 10,000 miles but has actually gone 110,000 miles. I never trust the mileage on any older car odometer as it is so easy to modify.
I would restore it to original . Only mod if you want to call it that would be headers and dual exhaust