If you didn’t live through them, I have no way to adequately explain to you the gearhead culture during the glorious seventies and eighties. If you were the kind of student in high school who carried around a Summit Racing catalog with you to read during lectures, then this may be the car for you. Feast your mag wheel-loving eyes on this 1980 Chevrolet Camaro for sale on eBay in Lumberton, North Carolina. Starting with what we can assume is a solid Camaro from the start, the former owner of this reddish-orange beast did what all of us would do back in the day if we could: order and install lots of speed parts. With a current bid of $4,850 and two days left to go, are you ready to break out your credit card and bid on this high school parking lot time machine?
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” That is a portion of the opening line to a Charles Dickens book, but it could also succinctly describe the high school experience of myself and a few million like me. The best of times were the movies, fashion, friends, politics, attitude, and, most importantly, the cars of the seventies and eighties. We were swimming in a sea of cool cars and the whole experience was set in a period where car culture reigned supreme over the high school parking lot. The worst of times was that we were too poor to afford the nice new cars coming out of Detroit at the time. No IROC-Z Camaros or Mustang GTs for us high school kids.
What we did have access to was a whole range of used cars that had V-8s under the hood and they were all rear-wheel drive. Even if they didn’t go fast, you could slap on a new set of aftermarket wheels shod with raised white letter tires and replace the muffler with some cherry bombs. If you had a good job, everyone wanted dual exhaust and a shift kit to make it sound just right as you blasted down the road. Gas was cheap, and every town big and small had a designated place to be seen and cruise to and from. Dates required a lot of time and effort. You spent the day cleaning up your car. The night was spent picking up your date, a meal at Bennigans or some other relatively inexpensive sit-down establishment, dessert of some sort (mandatory), and some cruising. Maybe even some calisthenics. The next day you cleaned up the car for the week and the party started anew.
I hear that kids nowadays aren’t even into cars. This boggles my mind. A car was freedom to me and a way to have something significant that was mine. Maybe we should start a foundation for the less fortunate youth of today. Collect some cash, purchase vehicles like this 1980 Chevrolet Camaro, and gift them an imperfect but awesome muscle car with the stipulation that if it is seen with a white cord in it, then it goes back to the foundation. Train them how to power brake, change a tire, and time an engine with a light.
Just looking at the pictures of this car reveals that it would be perfect for this type of job. It has all the appearance of a basic Camaro that has been modified by a succession of owners over the years. The interior tells the whole story. Wires hanging from below the dash, a drag-style shifter, a high-mounted tachometer as big as a dinner plate, and slightly worn and cigarette-burned seats. It is the quintessential time capsule from the era.
Under the hood is where many a paycheck found its last resting place. The 350 cubic inch V-8 has been adorned with a set of headers, an outrageous set of valve covers, a new manifold, an Edelbrock 650 carburetor, and various other shiny bits and pieces that are indicative of how a high school Camaro was usually decked out. Newer additions include a master cylinder and booster, an electric fan, and a set of mandatory for the era bright yellow plug wires. The powerplant is backed up by a rebuilt transmission with a stall converter and a Positraction rear end.
Seeing this car makes all of it come rushing back. Those of us who grew up back then had some good times in cars like this. You may not be able to go back, but you can place a bid on a time machine like this. I’ll bet the thumping of the exhaust, the smell of inefficiently burned gasoline, and the sound of your favorite band from back in the day flowing out of the speakers in the package tray could sure play a close second to the thrills a legitimate time machine could offer.
What do you remember about cars like this, and of better days gone by? Please share your experiences and feelings in the comments.
It looks like someone threw a bunch of parts they had lying around their shop or found at a swapmeet at a roller Camaro. Nothing wrong with that, but it presents itself with no particular theme, just a collection of random performance parts. Will make a fun car if the price stays reasonable.
Steve R
Random performance parts laying around the garage created a many land rockets back in those days. This car is an awesome example of what we had. Just so all you young’ns know, for example, all us old farts could’ve bought one of those 68 / 69 Charger rolling $15,000 rust buckets posted all over here for about $1,200 back in these days for a tall one…R/T 440 4 speed and all! Damn I miss those days!
That’s exactly how my 79 Camaro was built. I grew up in a Ford family, my first car was a 1965 K-GT Mustang Fastback, but when I wanted to go racing, I bought the straight six 1979 Camaro and built one super fast car out of everyone else’s used and hand me down parts. Back then on my neck of the woods everyone had small block Chevy parts laying around, and I know I’ll get some flack from the Ford guys, and I know you can build a fast Ford, but with the large supply of used Chevy stuff, you could go faster with less money in a Chevy around here.
I love your article. 80’s till I die..,
Yeah.. miss those days.. hanging out on the top parking lot. Below was the speed shop on Central Ave in Yonkers NY. Watching the new Z28’s and IROC Z’s racing Mustang GT’s . I had a 70 Dodge Challenger RT 383 Auto. It was fun and the girls ☺️. I will never forget those days. I am 65 had my fun. And still have the Dodge Challenger in the family 😊 . This Camaro is sweet looking and that was on Central Ave. it worth the money to have fun and go back in time. And remember the friendship we had back then. Good luck to the next owner!! 🐻🇺🇸
OK Jeff, this write up was a mental time machine for me…..I bought my tired ’70 Chevelle in ’77 between engines, transmissions, a new rear end, body work, wheels and a killer stereo (I worked at a stereo shop) It turned into a nice car. About everything you wrote was my life at the time. Actually going through some old stuff just last week I found and an 8X10 taken in probably ’79 of the gang with our cars lined up, my Chevelle and a Camaro, two Cuda’s and a Pinto (I know).
Excellent write up Jeff. So many truths and so many memories. One of my fondest memories is back in high school in the 60’s on Long Island the occasional trip out to Baldwin to visit Motion Performance. Just to be among the various Chevelles and Camaros and Vegas waiting for a 427. The stuff of dreams for me and many other kids of the day. Thanks for listening. I’m over a few words this time.
My first car was a 69 El Camino that my father and I restored that was when I was 15 by the time I graduated high school I had already had that car plus two Camaros not all at the same time couldn’t afford that. There was a little Drive-In taco place that everyone would hang out or of course the arcade at the bowling alley or cruising the local shopping mall which was a continuous circle stereo blasting out classic rock the whole time. Loved every minute of it.
Thunder Road!
What an awesome write up Jeff. Every word painted my high school experience, right down to the catalogue in class, except my catalogue wasn’t Summit (although my buddies carried that one) it was the Fly N Hi Off-road Center version of that. Everyone says this but those were the days. The days when we met in parking lots on The weekend and hung out talking, racing, hitting the 4×4 trails on the day car wash after that, then cruising till the tires fell off. Kids these days don’t do any of that. They look at screens 24/7. It’s sad as hell. I love the foundation idea, and having to relinquish the privilege of a white cord is even seen. Brilliant!
I couldnt have said it better myself. Like Mark P I purchased a 70 Chevelle SS in 76. Sold for a more practical 76 Monte in late 77 and regretted it every day until I got it back in 2012. I’ll never part with it again. “Best of times”
Glad you got it back. On that poignant note, pretty sure Styx had a song back then titled “Best of Times.”
The thing I loved about those days was the cool looking Camaro that sounded good but seriously lacked the horsepower (375) and torque (525 ft lbs) I had under the hood of my Bone Stock 68 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, and I had a ball blowing these cars away with my “Grandma Car” and the shocking looks I got at the next light when they finally caught up through the wall of tire smoke I just left them in was priceless! Quadrajunk my ass! If you learned how to work on them and knew where too drill them out they’d work better than anything Holley had to offer, and growled louder than and sounded meaner than any exhaust pipes available! Was mind blowing especially when it was a Cadi making all that noise and moving out that good LOL!
Whoooa, Dude! Here it is. Nice looking Camaro with a warmed up 350, B&M shifter, weld wheels with big and littles, cowl hood, monster tach… Recover the driver seat, roll the windows down and hit the circuit.
Those 60’s and 70’s muscle cars were all over the place cheap in the 80’s. I should have bought a warehouse and stacked them to the ceiling.
So rad. The only thing that’s off are the valve covers. Nobody I knew could afford that level of rad. Would have been leaky stamped metal chrome Moroso or Eldenblock (as one of my buddies thought it said) to the max.
Everything you said is a perfect description of our lives in the 70s and 80s. Scraping together whatever our next ride was going to be. Pretty sad about our new generation but so true.
Can you even buy a timing light and dwell/tachometer anymore
Timing light yes, dwell/tach probably not unless you go to a yard sale.
I had a Sun dwell/ tach and guess what? I sold mine at a yard sale along with my timing light.
You can indeed still buy a tach/dwell meter. I bought mine (Actron), along with a “dial back” timing light from Summit not long ago and they’re also available on Amazon.
Fun write up, nice work!
I got so ensconced in this write up taking me down memory lane that I almost didn’t notice what a nice period correct cruiser this car is! For one year after high schoo and before college, I had the greatest job in the world working at Super Shops. This is exactly the kind of car most of our customers would build one paycheck at a time. Usually starting with a set of Cragars or the very popular Centerlines with a fat set of BFG T/A’s. From there it was slapping on a set of headers, followed next month by intake and carb, a few weeks later by a Mallory dual point or an MSD kit, and so on. It was kind of insidious since me and most of my coworkers spent half our paychecks in the store ourselves. But it was the best time ever to be surrounded by a bunch of young like minded motorheads. Thanks for sharing this perfect specimen to help me re-live those happy days of my wasted youth!