Chevrolet, as American as apple pie. Here is a true American car. The Camaro. This less popular year was sold in 1976 and was recently found in a barn in North Carolina. It does have a V8 with a four-barrel carburetor and a four-speed. Find it here on craigslist for sale for $3,500.

In 1976, America was celebrating its 200th birthday. But there was not much to celebrate in the way of cars manufactured by the three major car companies. Ford had created the anemic Mustang II. Chrysler offered the rust-prone Aspen/Volare based R/T and Road Runners. And here we have a 1976 Chevy Camaro with the optional detuned 350 CID putting out only 165 horsepower. Chevrolet offered as a base engine the 250 CID L6. Or you could move up to the 305 CID. No Z28 package was offered in 1976. With the gas crisis of the seventies and the government regulations and pressure from insurance companies, the muscle car was about dead. Gone were the 454, the 327, and the high output 350 engines.

This is a second generation Camaro (1970-1981). It carries the government mandated “5 mile-per-hour” bumpers. One thing likable about this bronze car is the four-speed transmission. The bucket seats will need to be redone. I have always liked the Rally 14X6 wheels featured on this car.

A new idea for this decade of Camaro is to replace the front end with 1970 “split bumper” sheetmetal to make it a “clone.” This is easily done for the car from the firewall back is essentially the same from 1970-1981 and reproduction parts are available. Or may I suggest making it into a “Rockford Files” Firebird?

I know you like and want a “split” bumper Camaro. Go ahead take a closer look at this transformable Camaro.