This may be a base Camaro, but I’m sure there are more than a few people who would love to have it. In ’69 the Camaro received a face-lift that made it look sportier and the low spec found here is just an excuse to shove something else under the hood. There are some needs, but it’s listed here on eBay with no reserve and the auction ending today!
Well, maybe there are more than a few needs. There’s daylight showing through the floor boards so obviously some rust repair is going to be needed. The car came out of a barn in Ohio and the seller does mention all the problem areas. The seats are there, but all the soft goods will all need replaced.
The 307 V8 doesn’t currently run, but it isn’t seized up either. Oh, who are we kidding? The next owner is going to want to shove a big block in there! Or at least a small block crate engine. We are all about preservation, but this poor pony is going to need completely redone so might as well have some fun.
As we move to the exterior, the to do list is getting longer. That rear quarter looks rusty and the seller mentions that someone installed a sunroof. So plan on replacing a lot of sheet metal here. After that’s all done and the car is painted, drop the power plant of your choice under the hood and have some fun!
Less is more. I love the look of a base 69 Camaro. A cousin had one. 6 cylinder. Small hubcaps. Blue. It was stolen and never seen again.
A realtor would say it has “potential”. 307’s were crap engines from what I understand, so that’s the first thing to go. Mine was, anyway A lot of work involved, but if you like the model, could be well worth it
The 307 has been unfairly maligned for decades. It is the same block as the venerable 350 with a different bore and stroke. A base 307 had only a few less horsepower than a base 350.
I was going to say, the 307 in my dads lad Chevy concours station wagon got me my first speeding ticket! Dad used to pack a family of 5, plus gear, in that wagon, and always had that thing moving at higher than posted speed limits…!
You know I am a Camaro fan, always have been and probably always will be. In looking at this car could somebody explain to me how you could possibly even break close to even value wise? There is so much metal work to be done and that is not even close to free. The cheapest part of this entire restoration would be the nice BBC and Tremec 6 speed you put into it. Because I am obviously missing some magic formula this looks like nothing but garbage to me?
These cars bring more money than others because every part of it can be bought from a catalog.
There is no challenge to restoring a Camaro.
Well, besides money, time, and welding. Just like any other car.
Why a big block? How about a six? These cars came with a nice Chevy six popper as standard, why not show the kids at the car shows how average guys drove in 1969? I swear, today every youngster thinks that we all drove 427s and Hemis.
That’s all I ever drove. Installed in convertibles — from the factory — with manual transmissions …..
@Billy 007 – actually, my friends and I did.
Seriously; though, the big Chevy six had essentially the same displacement as the older small blocks. They made better torque, but not as much ultimate horsepower as the 8’s. If you were made of money, you could suck the Clifford Performance or Kay Sissell catalogues inside out, and have a real performer.
The problem was that the hi-po parts for the 6’s were even more expensive than those for the garden variety 8’s.
Tangentially; Ferrari produced their late 50’s Testarossa in either v-6 or v-12 configurations. I believe both had the same displacement. The 6 was used for short tracks and the 12 for longer venues.
The true Camaro master (one of them, anyway) was Tom Owens (mentioned by me in another Barn Finds thread: https://barnfinds.com/989-miles-1975-cosworth-vega/
A memorable experience I had with Camaros took place before I got my first car. I was looking diligently in the newspaper every Sunday for something interesting, yet within my budget (mid-teen$).
One weekend, I was dutifully skimming the ads, when my eyes LOCKED on what I recognized as the ‘pearl of great price’. There, at Otis Bacon used cars, was a genuine Nickey (I have no way to reverse the ‘k’ on this keyboard) 427 Camaro!
I left the house at a dead run, took mother along (in case I needed to have a second driver for the trip home), and blasted down to 12th street and Camelback. When I pulled up, the car was sitting there among the other inventory like Muhammad Ali standing in civilian clothes amongst the members of the Saguaro High School chess club.
It was a yellow 1967 Coupe, with the black nose stripe and stock, painted wheels with dog-dish hub caps. It was in pristine condition.
The eager salesman popped the hood, and my heart was in my mouth as I read the decal at the base of the hood that had the letters “Nic” and “ey” in block black, separated by a reversed ‘k’ in RED. The last time I had seen that logo was on Lothar Motchenbacher’s McLaren Mk1B… or was it Don Kirby’s 1967 Corvette Funny Car?
When he asked me whether I’d like a test-drive, and offered the keys, it was nearly a single motion as I grabbed them from him, and buckled my seat belt. There was a short moment of anticipation, just before I twisted the key in the ignition. With maybe a single revolution of the crank, the Nickey-modified 427 exploded to life, and settled in to an 1800 RM. idle.
The sound was deafening and sweeter than any beehive could ever match. The entire car shook in place. With all the pressure I could muster from my left leg, I pressed the clutch pedal to the floor and eased the Hurst shifter-directed M-22 4-speed transmission into 1st gear.
As much to get under way as to obtain some rest for my clutch leg, I attempted to relax pressure and start rolling without popping the clutch. Making a quick right-turn onto 12th street, I short-shifted each gear change as the famous “Rock Crusher” gears sang heavenly duet with the exhaust.
In what seemed like an instant, we exceeded the posted speed limit by more than double. We repeated this several more times on the all-too-short trip out and back.
The experience of driving that meat-axe was both brutal and exhilarating. All too soon we bludgeoned our way back into the parking area, and I ended the over-stimulation of the senses with a reverse-twist of the key. The world seemed suddenly otherworldly quiet. The Harley-Davidson-like vibration left me tingling. But it was my left-leg that had the farthest to come back to normal. It was like spaghetti. I tried to minimize the effect, but there was just no strength remaining.
Unfortunately; their asking price was just too far north of our budget, to find a mutually suitable meeting point. We left with my heart heavy in my chest.
As most on BF know, I have since had some of the best, most vicious muscle cars ever produced (I just bought another one, that I will be writing about on BF, soon… stay tuned), but the memory of the Nickey will ALWAYS remain fresh in my mind, as though it happened yesterday.
What a great read! Write a book,I’d buy it.Actually, since tomorrow is my birthday, it would be a great gift! Seriously, I thoroughly enjoyed that, well done.
@glen – I am humbled. Yes. Now that I am retired from Arizona State University, I have thought that I’d like to write. I certainly have material and time. Thanks so much… Oh! Happy Birthday.
I’ve always thought the same, Billy. Folks need to be reminded the typical colors of the day. That’s why in over 20 years of owning my ’72 Sport Coupe I’ve never been tempted to make it into a tribute car or change the color. Also, because my first car was ’71 in the exact same color combo. It was parted out in 1983. Everything sold but the decklid and rear bumper which I kept and are NOW on my ’72 with 26k original miles.
There was either a snowplow on the front of the car or that’s a poor excuse for a tow bar!
Rust bucket! Already someone’s willing to give WAY too much.
Spend tens of thousands and have the same ride as ten other guys at the cruise-in. Sweet.
Buy or build what you like. It doesn’t matter how many of a certain car there is at a show, or what some random person thinks.
Steve R
I respect them all and can appreciate a nice example. But to me, that generation Camaro is like one of the overplayed greatest hits of the classic car set, and I like the album cuts.
Sorry to say this 69 plain Jane days are done.It would cost to much to restore, You can buy one done for around 40 ,45 and the restro on this 69 would be more than that. What a shame who ever let that ROT AWAY
Depending on where you live, “letting it rust away” is usually not a matter of choice. If you live there (I used to live on the beach in Monterey, the wood on my house would rust), the same with snow country (salted roads), if you drive it at all, it’s going to deteriorate.
This car was just basic transportation for the first 20 years of its life. Who ever let that rot away can be said about any Civic or Corolla today. It would be great to have a crystal ball 🔮 to know which ones to keep!
We’ll have to see is this auction goes the way of most EBay No Reserve auctions: “Auction was ended due to error in listing”.
An easy way out of the car isn’t bringing what you want.
Way to much to spend on this one time beauty. I had to say it but this car belongs in the bottom of the ocean.
Any motor other than that 307, they were junk.
Wife bought a ’69 new, in New England, drove it year round, 3 kids in the back seat, so tight a fit that they could not haul back to belt one another, at 14 years there was nothing left underneath to weld anything to – rear axel was held on by drive train, shocks, and the end of one leaf spring, front end the back end of both sub frame arms rusted out along with the part of the body they should have been attached to. Floors had been replaced with plywood and tar years before. Lots of Bondo applied by yours truly on the parts of the body you could see. Sold it for $500 in 1983 to a kid who had a rust free one from Colorado but wanted the Positraction differential and the entire interior – his had been torn up by a dog. The rest went to the crusher. He got $25 from the crusher, mostly for the cast iron block, where the wear on the timing chain and gears made setting the timing an art. The other problem is the typical rust out under the edge of the rear window, not an easy fix. And it looks like this had a vinyl roof over the steel, a moisture trap and rust breeder. So before you buy this one, look underneath, it may be like Swiss cheese, or, it may be just fine. (And the 6 pulled the car along at Interstate speeds with no problem, a very tall 3rd gear. And before the rust, a solid handling car as well.)
I currently own 3 cars and I am trying to keep all three properly tagged and worthy of passing and emissions and safety testing. Keeping cars running is a priority and if you work on them a pleasure or necessity. Imagine being the person who has time to have this Camaro sitting in a safe spot to work on little by little as they comb thru the service manual and then proceed to individually install each part. Every time they drive it they know their hands, sweat, intellect and energy are what keep it moving.
@Oliver Rojas – Your comment is almost poetry.
I had a 68 307 , I took the crank and rods out of it, got a 4 bolt main “mexican” 350 block bought a set of hyperutectic 327 flat tops and a good set of 194 heads, we put it together and man, what an animal ! I used to miss shifts with it and way over rev it by accident, it would laugh at me ! So before you condemn the 307, realize the parts have other uses.
I don’t know why this post from TriPowerVette isn’t showing, but it’s a great story and I figured that I would re-post it in case others can’t see it either. I copied it from the email notification that I got when he posted it:
@Billy 007 – actually, my friends and I did.
Seriously; though, the big Chevy six had essentially the same displacement as the older small blocks. They made better torque, but not as much ultimate horsepower as the 8’s. If you were made of money, you could suck the Clifford Performance or Kay Sissell catalogues inside out, and have a real performer.
The problem was that the hi-po parts for the 6’s were even more expensive than those for the garden variety 8’s.
Tangentially; Ferrari produced their late 50’s Testarossa in either v-6 or v-12 configurations. I believe both had the same displacement. The 6 was used for short tracks and the 12 for longer venues.
The true Camaro master (one of them, anyway) was Tom Owens (mentioned by me in another Barn Finds thread: https://barnfinds.com/989-miles-1975-cosworth-vega/
A memorable experience I had with Camaros took place before I got my first car. I was looking diligently in the newspaper every Sunday for something interesting, yet within my budget (mid-teen$).
One weekend, I was dutifully skimming the ads, when my eyes LOCKED on what I recognized as the ‘pearl of great price’. There, at Otis Bacon used cars, was a genuine Nickey (I have no way to reverse the ‘k’ on this keyboard) 427 Camaro!
I left the house at a dead run, took mother along (in case I needed to have a second driver for the trip home), and blasted down to 12th street and Camelback. When I pulled up, the car was sitting there among the other inventory like Muhammad Ali standing in civilian clothes amongst the members of the Saguaro High School chess club.
It was a yellow 1967 Coupe, with the black nose stripe and stock, painted wheels with dog-dish hub caps. It was in pristine condition.
The eager salesman popped the hood, and my heart was in my mouth as I read the decal at the base of the hood that had the letters “Nic” and “ey” in block black, separated by a reversed ‘k’ in RED. The last time I had seen that logo was on Lothar Motchenbacher’s McLaren Mk1B… or was it Don Kirby’s 1967 Corvette Funny Car?
When he asked me whether I’d like a test-drive, and offered the keys, it was nearly a single motion as I grabbed them from him, and buckled my seat belt. There was a short moment of anticipation, just before I twisted the key in the ignition. With maybe a single revolution of the crank, the Nickey-modified 427 exploded to life, and settled in to an 1800 RM. idle.
The sound was deafening and sweeter than any beehive could ever match. The entire car shook in place. With all the pressure I could muster from my left leg, I pressed the clutch pedal to the floor and eased the Hurst shifter-directed M-22 4-speed transmission into 1st gear.
As much to get under way as to obtain some rest for my clutch leg, I attempted to relax pressure and start rolling without popping the clutch. Making a quick right-turn onto 12th street, I short-shifted each gear change as the famous “Rock Crusher” gears sang heavenly duet with the exhaust.
In what seemed like an instant, we exceeded the posted speed limit by more than double. We repeated this several more times on the all-too-short trip out and back.
The experience of driving that meat-axe was both brutal and exhilarating. All too soon we bludgeoned our way back into the parking area, and I ended the over-stimulation of the senses with a reverse-twist of the key. The world seemed suddenly otherworldly quiet. The Harley-Davidson-like vibration left me tingling. But it was my left-leg that had the farthest to come back to normal. It was like spaghetti. I tried to minimize the effect, but there was just no strength remaining.
Unfortunately; their asking price was just too far north of our budget, to find a mutually suitable meeting point. We left with my heart heavy in my chest.
As most on BF know, I have since had some of the best, most vicious muscle cars ever produced (I just bought another one, that I will be writing about on BF, soon… stay tuned), but the memory of the Nickey will ALWAYS remain fresh in my mind, as though it happened yesterday.
@PRA4SNW – That is very kind of you.
It does seem to be part of the problem I discussed in my last post, yesterday. It’s been 2 1/2 hours, and my brother still can’t see it.
Thanks again.
@TriPowerVette: No problem, that story needed to be shared.
I’ve seen your posts where you mention that some of your posts either never show up or take hours to appear. That is very weird . I don’t type posts as long as yours, but mine always show up.
Maybe the nice guys here can figure it out.
@PRA4SNW – I forgot to mention that the car I just bought is a true barn find, it was in (or around) 3 tractors! I think people will like the story when I find time. I KNOW they will like the car.
Appreciate you sharing the experience. Reads like a novel. You probably wouldn’t have had the passion you do if it came easy…Nice story to pass along !
@John m leyshon – Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.
@PRA4SNW – In a cruel bit of irony, YOUR post included ALL of mine AND your paragraph, yet it posted immediately. My brother finally read the story through your thoughtful re-posting.
@TriPowerVette: And, it posted with the correct timestamp of when you originally posted it. Strange things are certainly afoot in the ether with your posts. Glad it finally made it.
Will never forget the time I had an opportunity to buy a 69 with the 327 under the hood. My car had been totaled in an accident by someone who slid out on wet roads, went across two lanes of traffic, and found my front end…
Mom wouldn’t let me buy it because it looked like a race car… I was still a teenager living at home and on their insurance, the chances of me winning that argument were less than zero! Ironically, the car I ultimately settled on was a 75 Monte Carlo with a 350!!!
Had a 68 Camaro 250 6 3 speed for a short time, mom wrecked it, anyway bought a 307 never got it installed, anyway a souped up six,307, or even an ls1would be a good choice for this car since it needs so much metal replaced. I usually am a restore to orignal person but some times if a car is as far gone as this car is i guess build however you want, plenty of Camaro’s out their so it’s not like a 42 Ford on bf today.