The “pony car” market began to heat up in 1967 in the aftermath of the tremendous success Ford had with its new Mustang. In two short years, the competition grew to include the Pontiac Firebird, AMC Javelin, Mercury Cougar, and the Chevy Camaro (the Plymouth Barracuda arrived the same month as the Mustang). The ‘68 Camaro was little changed from the ’67 model, with notable visual cues being the lack of vent windows in the doors and the addition of side marker lights. This Year-Two Camaro looks as though it may have been placed in the crusher, then pulled back out at the last minute. From Hanover Park, Illinois, this Chevy is available here on craigslist for what might be as little as $10 (but not likely).
One of the seller’s key points about this rusty Camaro is that it was sold new from Nickey Chevrolet. Nickey’s claim to fame is that it was a Chicago dealer founded in the 1920s that eventually got into doing big-block engine swaps, such as putting 427s into Chevelles, Novas, Impalas, Corvettes, and Camaros. The dealership was sold in the 1970s and its speed shop closed down a few years later. Does this info make it a selling point for this Camaro? Not likely unless this was one of the vehicles that benefitted from a transplant That – we do not know.
The seller admits this Chevy has loads of rust and it’s apparent everywhere you look. The floorboards are see-through, and the trunk floor isn’t far behind. Most of the front clip is missing, and the trunk lid won’t come with the car. Whatever engine and transmission were in the auto have been pulled and now MIA. The seller describes its condition as “salvage” and there is no title. The Camaro’s original owner died about 20 years ago and it changed hands before the seller acquired it. What would you do with this machine after winching it onto the back of a trailer?
A Camaro LS (lightweight special)
That’s a nifty steering wheel wrap. That’d be the plus. Maybe the classic Penske sticker?
Be careful with that Penske sticker…… Its a load bearing sticker……
You dont want to remove that……
Or else who knows what may fall off the car.
Yes…scrap
Russ writes about all the tow-away pieces lol like this one. Dial
1-800-the-hook 🪝🛻
Probably nothing safe to hook onto… Except maybe that Penske sticker…
If it were anything but a Camaro, it would already have been crushed. Parts, maybe?
What would I do ?
Most likely scrape it off the bed in my brother’s driveway.
He could use it for a proper eyesore to the neighbor’s he doesn’t care for.
Then too, he could complete his collection of RS Camaros of the first variety.
Automatic guarantee the mouse haven inside this one, would most likely infect and ruin his pristine ’67…… so there IS that.
I don’t really know how these cars fell off the cliff as bad as they did, but they made a bunch of them and the cherished few left today somehow escaped the demise of this type of fate. The other’s left very early in their lives via accidents, stolen and parted chop-shops, or on various circle tracks. I remember going to the local hobby stock races in ’70, ’71 and watching stripped down Mustangs, Camaros, and Challengers duking it out on the 1/2 mile dirt track with my Dad. As a young teen I was horrified that some appeared to have been driven there off the street, glass knocked out in the pits, and a roll bar welded in trackside. They were still nice looking cars bought for a couple hundred bucks because they had rusty quarters or a bent fender or two. In a few more hours they all had bent fenders ! Some still wore their vinyl roofs and full interiors !
Yes, it appears maybe this old ‘gurl’ had gone all three of those scenarios before getting into the ad shown here……
Yes indeed, I was one of those guys. Cheap decent cars driven to their deaths, and let’s not forget the demo derby.
It’s not too far gone, it’s gone!
Rode hard and put up wet. Tin worm doesn’t sleep. Might be good for a few parts. Sure it can be fixed….once you replace 90% of the existing sheet metal by then you pretty much just built a whole ‘nother car.
Russ. Russ, Russ….To answer your ? buddy…..once on the trailer: (1) call up my girl on Google maps, (2) leave yard & head to salvage yard. I’ve said it be4 on bf….u just can’t save ’em all. This one here illustrates my point. Great write up tho btw!
I’m going in a different direction. A few decent pieces of glass, four vintage wheels that may be helpful to someone. Window regulators, couple bumpers, a full dash with 8 track. Seat frames. Parking lights. While the owner is saying it can be saved, he’s kind of admitting that he needed a trunk lid and got some extra parts thrown in.
In a way, good for him for offering it up, instead of taking what he needed and selling the rest for steel scrap.
When I sold my 72 blazer the guy said all he wanted was the rust free front fenders. He showed up in one that was in worse condition than mine. I told him to park it and strip literally everything he can. That headlight switch you throw away today may be a $200 repro part in a few years.
I recently gave away all my scissors top gm parts to a young guy restoring one. I had sold my grandville, and wasn’t going to buy another one. I could have held out and tried to sell my spares, but better at this point to help a young dude.
A good donor car that’s about it. I do like the wheels.
It’s not too far gone as the article mentions. The scrapyard is likely within 30 miles of it. Once there it will be gone, which wouldn’t be all that terrible.
The wheels have the value on this one.
Tell Nicky he can come and take his Camaro back.
Would love to see what this car look like in its glory days and if it had a big block in it.
Sometimes looking at these old rusted out cars reminds me of seeing an older person and wondering what they look like in their youth.
One word, actually two but the constructive one is Dynacorn @ $13,500. Just save your VIN number and your sanity.
This car is no way worth building
It’s rotten and missing so much
Put the shell on a dirt track car!!!!!
Don’t know what the seller got but the ad is gone to all the naysayers!
Leonard McCoy would have said “Its dead Jim.”
Since every piece of first generation Camaros is available in reproduction, if you’ve got the cash and the time then it’s not too far gone.