Chevrolet redesigned its popular pony car, the Camaro, in 1970. While the automobile was sleeker in appearance than before, it was only available as a coupe as the drop-top version had been discontinued. The original owner of this Camaro had the dealer modify it as a convertible for use in parades in Southern California. 50+ years later this car finds itself outdoors in Sunset, Texas, and in need of some cosmetic attention. It’s available here on Facebook Marketplace for $20,000 OBO. Thanks for the odd tip, Tony Primo!
Since the 1970 Camaro was delayed in hitting the showrooms, the ’71 models were little changed. The engines had lower compression ratios to begin enabling the cars to run on low-lead or no-lead fuel. And instead of bucket seats with separate headrests, these Chevies went with high-back seats having that feature already built in. Despite the newness of the cars, sales of the 1971 Camaro dropped by eight percent even though the production run was three months longer. 8,300 copies had the Z27 Super Sport option that the seller says this car has.
As the story goes, this Camaro originated in Los Angeles and a local Chevy dealer turned it into a 4-seat “roadster” for the buyer. That meant removing the roof which could compromise structural integrity unless some beefing up was done in places you can’t see in the photos. We suspect this car has been sitting outside for a time and we hope not with the top down. The interior may need some work as we see at least one worn aftermarket seat cover over one of the buckets. The yellow paint is not perfect, the back bumper is dented, and there’s a tooth missing from the grille.
This pony has changed hands several times over the years with at least three owners whom we’re told have added 300,000 miles to the odometer. As a result, the matching numbers motor has had some work done to it, though what that entailed isn’t known. While the car does have an automatic transmission (column-shifted), the displacement of the engine is not mentioned. Is it a 350 V8 or something larger? It’s not mentioned if the automobile is currently drivable. Who’s in the market for a topless vintage Camaro?
Interesting. Bet driving over all those rocks made a mess of the underside.
In this case does RS stand for Really Sh*tty?
It’s a homemade Rally Sport, a real RS has round parking lights beside the grille.
Exactly.
Someone just stuck RS front bumperettes on a standard Camaro.
d head jealous fool get a life loserz
No pictures of the top up? Or no top at all? Hate to get caught in the rain with it if it has no top.
I’ve seen pictures of convertible Camaros and Firebirds with this similar body style. They don’t look good with the top up.
She’s been caught in the rain for a couple of decades.
Add says that there is no top, that the roof was cut off by GM – seller meant that it was a dealer job. But, what dealer would just chop a top off? Answer = none. This is a homemade job all the way, and not attractive at all.
Price needs to be cut WAY down.
Go straight to the bone yard. Do not pass GO. Do collect $200.
For 20 grand you can buy a nice used modern Camaro convertible. Why mess with this mess? I’ll pass on that junker
Because those of us reading this prefer the classics over modern stuff.
Of course, no side view. Looks kinda decent and not too awkward. I bet the top in the up position is going to look a little funky.
I am speechless.
I love Camaros but to me this is ugly and like one guy said not a real RS. Column shift? How bad can it get? Not for me.
Cut the roof off; and both top part and lower part, reduced to scrap.
“Uh…hold muh beer….”
Not a rs
It may not have a working top if it was meant to be a parade car only. But then I have to ask, how did it rack up 300K miles if only driven in parades? The math doesn’t add up.
No reply, just my 3 cents lol I’m not a Camaro fan boy & the only ones I liked were 67-69 after that Chevy just stuck a big v8 4 speed & a few emblems and raced them till they hit the dirt tracks or salvage. I’m not putting them down there just like the rest of the rods which I had my share. This one does a discredit to the Camaros though.
Even with a roof, these things had the structural integrity of an empty banana peel.
The 2nd gen Camaro/Firebird was a huge improvement over the 1st gen with regards to structural integrity. Funny you mentioned the roof, did you know they had a structural inner roof panel in addition to the outer sheet metal? While they are still unibody cars, they were a substantially stronger car than its predecessor. They can still benefit from sub-frame connectors like any uni-body cars though…
Years ago I worked in a cabinet shop with a guy who routinely committed these atrocities. He would take an old f body or mustang and cut the roof off and then just enjoy his creation until something gave out. Then he would buy another one and repeat the process. Drove them nearly year round in the upper Midwest despite never rigging up any semblance of a top. I never asked him about it, but I did wonder why he didn’t at least start with a car that wasn’t unibody construction. Good guy, just a bit of a loon.
A loon because of what he did to the cars or?
The FB ad says there is no top. It also says that the mod was done by GM, so if that is true I would assume that it was braced underneath sufficiently to prevent body twist. I wonder what the cost to have the top removed was. With 300 K miles and three owners It still looks pretty good to me.
The dictionary definition of “rode hard and put away wet”. glwta
These 70-81 F-body cars never were made in a convertible, the reason is obvious- they were never designed as a convertible, this car looks like the top was cutoff and it was, basically ruined the car
This is a subframe car- cutting the roof off takes away most of the strength of the car- it wasn’t designed to be a convertible – Unsafe at best!
I’m digging it but not $20K digging. Anyone with the skills and a donor could put a roof back on this car.
I’m betting on a sawzall job here, butchering a roof off the car, that’s now been exposed to the elements for who knows how long and the floors are probably a mess, and body flex must be crazy cause no one did anything to the frame, and to top it off 300,000 miles? Needs a scrap yd
This is a subframe car- cutting the roof off takes away most of the strength of the car- it wasn’t designed to be a convertible, looks like a backyard job- No dealer would cut a top off and give it back to the customer, unsafe for sure, its UNSAFE and structurally compromised !
To a collecter this car is useless, cutting it ruined any value it had and with the miles it’s worth a quarter of what is asking price.just a tinkering weekend car not even worth any restoration for what?
Curious as to how they come up with 300,000 miles when it’s a 5 digit odometer…
I have to wonder if that’s a typo. Pretty hard to get a daily driver up to 300, let alone a parade car, and a car modified like this should’ve fallen apart long before that.
Not a rs
I the seller knows the history you can know the miles. I bought my son a 1969 Chevy pickup from a guy in my neighborhood who drove it to work every day over fifty miles one way. He said when he got it it had 170K miles. He said he saw the odometer turn twice, and it was showing about 25K when I bought it. By my calculations that would mean it had 325K miles when I bought it.
Ugly and unsafe!! Part out the entire car.
Actually they did make a “factory ” convertible. They where done in Mexico. I think for 79 and 80 models. And they are really nice looking. I’ve seen 1 out in the wild and a couple for sale on line. So when there done right. Well it’s a sight. But this one well it almost looks like it has a Cuda windshield frame tacked to it.
Im sure there are sub frsme connectors under there,and even then you will still have sag in the middle.i met a guy about 7yrs ago,driving a 73 trans am “convertible”.it had structural issues even with sub frame connectors.it certainly tanks the value for sure
Subframe connectors help, but they are designed for a hardtop car, even the T-top Trans Ams built in the late 70s had major structural problems since the cars are weaker when the tops are cut, this 71 Camaro is junk, not safe and shouldn’t be put back on the roads again, part it out and scrap it
Just goes to show you what you can do with several 30 packs and a 3 day weekend. Perfect car for target practice.
It’s a converted, not a convertible.
This Camaro is currently in our shop being worked on. Odometer reads 52k.