I was excited when I saw this first picture of this 1968 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396 that is listed for sale here on eBay. Finally, I thought, a first-gen Camaro with some desirable options and not a lot of rust! Unfortunately, the pictures tell another story. The car is located in East Aurora, New York. Bidding is up to $18,500 but hasn’t met the reserve yet.
The car looks pretty good from this view as well. Based on the seller’s eBay moniker and feedback they know a lot about Camaros and the fact that they pictured the bad with the good and describe the car fairly tells me a lot. It is a matching numbers car apart from the carburetor and distributor.
Unfortunately the rust starts to show up in these pictures. The seller tells us honestly that “It has never been restored and will need most of the sheet metal replaced. The shell is very solid but floors are rusty as well as the hood, fenders and quarters.” The rocker panels do look good and the shock towers are fine also.
The juxtaposition of the decent seats on the rusty floor makes this picture look odd to me. Again, I really appreciate the honesty of the seller by showing a picture of this rather than a carpeted floor; you know exactly what you are getting into.
That’s the original 396 cubic inch, 375 horsepower V8 and the car comes with its original M-22 Muncie fous-speed transmission as well. With the 4.56 Positraction differential it’s obvious this car was spec’d to go very quickly in a straight line! The question you have to answer is whether or not all the necessary metal replacement (or a re-body) is worth it to you in order to have what would be a truly terrific car once it’s restored? Let us know what you think in the comments!
The picture from underneath at the rear end shows no engine, trans, or driveshaft. Yet another picture shows the engine installed??
The ad says it was mocked up for the pictures…I thought the exact same thing…
Let’s do the math: original 396/375,+ M-22,+ 4:56 12 bolt posi= ????
This one is going to go through the roof….
Would love to drive it once restored
and disc brake ( 4 piston calipers for 67-68 ) so it would go fast and slow down!
I’m just glad to see that the engine and transmission are going along with the deal. It’s getting to be a stuck record with the amount of ‘Super’ muscle cars (even some numbers matching) that are missing the engine and transmission. This looks like an honest deal. I wish both the buyer and seller luck….
For me, as a buyer, the problem with eBay (or any auction) is that the “winner” is the guy who is willing to pay more than anyone else. Hmmmmm.
I do like that concept as a seller though.
Car has Dynacorn body written all over it.
Short of being a Z/28 it’s about as good as it gets for the original driveline hanging around.
I enjoy all types of Barn Finds (even the newer models that get so much scorn) but this is my favorite. What stories this car could tell if it could talk.
Lot of money for a VIN tag. All said and done, it will NEVER be original ever again. Sounds like a lot of extra unnecessary hours that could be spent putting one together from scratch. IMO.
A lot of what makes true value is originality or as close as you can get. It does not take exceptional talent to source a drivetrain and buy a Dynacom body and build a modern day version of a classic. But it will never be a classic, just a comparatively cheap clone. A true classic take lots of time, money, solid paperwork and attention to detail and not just getting it straight and assembled correctly. It takes knowing factory markings before you even start so you can replicate. All of this and more justifies the value placed on an accurate restoration by the market. You must balance everything including rarity and the specific market can support the value of the restoration. If you are not prepared to do all of this and more then decide what you are in the business for. if it is not to make money then do a quick and dirty flip and enjoy iy while you can.
This car is 50 years old and a true SS with original big block drivetrain. For it to even made it this far in life is a miracle. Remember these cars were beat on in the 70 and early 80’s A lot were street raced engine blew up crashes etc. Gas crunch people were ditching big blocks to put in small block make them more “gas friendly”
At this point I would rather have a rust free 6 cyl car and add a 454
It’s a driver. Buy it, replace only what’s necessary, and drive it as is. Replace anything else that it needs, as you go. Patina-original will always beat restored. It can only be original once, but can be restored many times.
You can’t rebuild this for what you can buy done with matching numbers. I say sell the good stuff, junk the rest.
So who ever buys this is going to just pay for the title and Vin tag because everything needs to be replaced.
Obviously would cost more money to restore then to buy a restored same!
27,100 with a day and 16 hours to go. Amazng. Wonder why camaro specialties isn’t restoring? Looks genuine and the seller seems honest also.
Good luck to the new owner. They ain’t making any more!!!
This is Bob from Camaro Specialties. Thank you guys from Barn Finds for featuring this car! I saw a few comments referring to the history this car had and I’d like to share some of it. The cars still titled in the original owners name, I have the protect-o-plate for the car, when we bought the car it was missing the block. This leads to the coolest part of the story; a friend of mine ran the vin number for me and a listing came up on a Camaro site selling the original block for this car. The block was in Alberta, Canada and the car was from New Jersey. How often does that happen! Also we would love to restore this car, but at the moment we are packed with customer cars and unfortunately we have no time and no space to keep it around long term. Hopefully it goes to a good home!
To the people that say “too much work, scrap it, replace with new ‘stuff’, ain’t worth it”, just don’t understand what this car is, represents or means. And quite frankly, never will. For the rest of us, the undeniable appreciation for these classics will NEVER fade nor die. To merely sit in, see one, and if fortunate enough to, own one, makes you feel things that nothing of late can ever make you feel. It’s visceral. It’s passion. Plain and simple, nothing compares. Sure, modern day muscle is great in its own right, but fails in comparison to the old school those very cars are stemmed from! I’ve owned a few ’69, ’70 ‘true’ muscle cars and can’t wait to have another. There is NOTHING like it! Best of luck to the new owner. Enjoy and appreciate what you are getting. But most of all, drive it!!
Thank You. If they’ve never owned one, they’ll never understand.
1968 M 22 ? Marching numbers , hot rod new York???
Before everyone loses their mind I would say be cautious! The seller has all the paperwork to document the Camaro and drivetrain has the numbers to match the paperwork but, I have 2 issues with the car.
1. Has everyone else noticed it has a aftermarket tack on the steering column and if you zoom in the factory gauges in the car has a fuel gauge NOT a factory tac that all 4 speed cars came with.
2. The trim plate under the hood is in good shape and black paint but, the firewall is heavily rusted all around the trim tag. I have restored a lot of camaro and parts cars, the trim tags never looked that good with solid black paint still on them. Before you all jump on me, saying trim tag are made of aluminum and would not be rusty. This is true but when two different types of metal are touching the metals re-act to each other and the aluminium get a white residue on it the will deteriorate some.
3. Last point, the trim tag looks to have to different rivets. One looks to be a screw.
I’m not saying the car is a fake, just needs to be looked at carefully before I would buy the car. It could be a color matching rusty body with paperwork, vin, and trim tag. This could have been done a long time ago these cars are 50 years old.
I would like to see the hidden vin on the body to make sure.
I guess I need to set the record straight. The tachometer was an option on ALL 1968 Camaros. It was not available without a console either as the fuel gauge was relocated to the console gauges as part of the option. The trim tag has never been off the car and it is held on with both original factory rivets. The hidden VIN is clearly discernible. The car is available for inspection anytime and we have nothing to hide here. I would assume most guys would want to inspect the car first before investing in a project like this anyway. Good questions and good dialog! Bob
Bob Harris, in your defense, my original 1968 Camaro bought new in mid 68′ had a trim (i’ll call it) seal rubber loosely fitted along the hood that kind of covered the “Trim Plate”. It was cleaner than the engine bay. Always. I washed my engine (327CI, 210hp, dog) with a garden hose all the time. It was simple then. Just a towel over stuff that couldn’t get wet. BTW it seemed like every week, you could see signs of oil leaks around joints. Just thought is was normal, my dad would say!
I ordered a 1970 NOVA SS 396-275. I can remember ordering the console option with gauges was dumb to order. The gauges were so small and down so low, they where useless, so i opted not to go that way. My tach was in the big hole on the right.
This car looks authentic. I would see it or send someone to inspect before i would buy anything from a computer. The mocked in pics of the floor pan look to good to be true. The real car is most likely eaten away.
What on earth is original about this car? It’s nothing like how it left the factory. It’s a vin on a bunch of worn and rusty parts. This car now is no more original then a full restoration would make it. Late 60s GM build quality might not have been the best, but they never let a tired old POS like this out of the factory.
It’s just a person buying a VIN and building a make believe “original” car out of it.
We’ve restored cars much worse than this one. The fact that it is all original body and paint lets you know what you have to work with. Yes it needs panels but so do most cars, even if they’ve just had the wheel openings cut out for racing or just a little rust. Floor pans, fenders and quarters are almost a given on pretty much every restoration on a 50 year old car, even on many southern cars. The foundation of this car is very solid. I have to laugh at guys that want to use a Dynacorn body on a restorable car.. We are all about maintaining the integrity of the original car as much as possible. No switching hidden vins and all that stuff necessary for a rebody. No way! Whoever gets this car will most certainly save it.
Like Anthony R. said, just do one once and see how you feel about your project when you cruise it for the first time!
I would like to know the story behind this car . It screams original and I’m sure it was a well known car in it’s day .
Interesting to see this one compared to the car the other day featured. Laughingly,,, People said the other one was overpriced at $10,000 and now look at this one.
It IS what it IS folks,,, If the auction is legit, its a true form of commerce as people will pay what they feel its worth.
Some cranks on a free forum complaining about prices with no skin in the game are not relevant
(I am picturing those 2 old guys in the balcony on the Muppets show)
Sure wish I would have stashed a few of these in a barn back in the early 1980s when they were cheap!
** CURRENTLY AT $29,996 and reserve not met!
Ended: Sep 21, 2018 , 10:27AM
Current bid:US $29,969.69
Reserve not met
[ 32 bids ]
We have restored our 69″ Camero….we found it to be best to stick with the original skins, cut and weld new metal because purchased knockoffs were impossible to line up tight and straight gaps. We sent them back and did the welding. BUT……I’m not selling the car. It’s now a solid driver to keep.
Anybody down on this sweet girl is mad cause they can’t afford it, can’t fix it, or the wife won’t let them or all three. Every gear head knows it’s pretty much the holy grail. It’s what Mary drives when the boss 429 is getting tweaked at the shop in the sky. Thanks for even showing to us. Dog
Got SuperSport ????? Nuff said