While smaller engines and less horsepower are usually not reasons for celebrating, this 1967 Chevrolet Camaro RS is such a rare bird that it deserves a closer look despite not being a V8-powered muscle car. The Camaro is a genuine RS model with a three-speed, floor-shift manual and inline six-cylinder engine. The bodywork is decent thanks to living in Colorado and California for most of its life, and it wears a sharp color combination of burnt orange paint with black decals. The seller notes it will run off a gas can, and that it’s been off the road for 25 years. Find it here on craigslist with a firm price of $19,500.
The Camaro looks tough with its rear spoiler and patina’d paint, not to mention the Cragar-style wheels. The inline-six Camaros weren’t drag racers, but they still made good torque and paired nicely with the three- or four-speed manual transmissions. The seller notes that while the car is by and large not crusty, there is evidence of rust in the bottom of the quarter panels and fenders. Still, it’s not catastrophic and strikes me as the kind of rust you can live with for a while and repair in stages. The floors and subframe are said to be solid with no rust, aside from some surface damage on the trunk lid.
The engine bay may look surprisingly empty to those of you who always expect to see a V8 under the hood, but I’m more struck by how clean and organized it remains despite over 20 years off the road. The seller notes that the next owner will want to drain the gas tank of any old fuel and perform a proper tune-up before driving the Camaro very far, and that makes sense if you want to extract every last bit of performance promised by the six-cylinder, which produces 140 b.h.p. and an impressive 220 lb.-ft. of torque. Paired with a manual transmission, it likely still moves out fairly well. The seller notes the Camaro is optioned with power steering and retains manual drum brakes all around.
The interior appears to be in good shape, although the seller references that it was “…done in the late 70s and should be sent back,” which I can only assume to mean the upholstery pattern is far more unusual in person than it appears in the listing photos. While I was initially surprised to see a three-speed floor shift, there is an option code M11 which allowed for the column shift three-speed to be relocated to the floor with a proper console. The overall presentation is that of a very cool car, with the RS package, hideaway headlights, and console-shift manual, and the six-cylinder will make it a conversation starter at any car show or Camaro gathering you take it to. Would you restore a six-cylinder?
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