Some of you may have noticed that I have attended a lot of car shows and frequent local cruise ins. It is a lot of fun seeing what might turn up, or what won’t turn up. It used to be that you would see all types of Mustangs and Camaros, from six cylinder grocery getters to big block tire melters. Now, it seems that all you see is top of the line models with the rarest of options. The reason for this is that restorers often want a rare car with just the right options, but the prices on these cars have reached the stratosphere. Combine that with the abuse that V-8 equipped cars usually endure, and you can see why using a plain Jane car with a low horsepower engine to build the muscle car of your dreams has become almost routine. While the workmanship is often great on these “tribute” cars, we lose a lot of history when good examples of different variations disappear. With that being said, it is refreshing to see this ad for a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro convertible in such original condition. Found in Waterville, Ohio and for sale on EBay for $25,000 or best offer, this garage find lacks options. However, it does give us a great look at how an average Camaro convertible was optioned and built. Thanks go to faithful barn Finds reader Matthew for this great discovery!
The story on this Camaro is rather unique. Represented by an auction house, the seller has owned this car for decades. Other than the occasional jaunt around the neighborhood, the car sat in a sealed garage for the lion’s share of its existence. Once consigned, it was taken to a shop specializing in muscle cars. There, it was brought back to driving condition, with the proper maintenance done on the brakes and engine. The car does have some cosmetic issues, such as fading in the once repainted finish, a few rips in the convertible top, and surface rust underneath. However, it would probably present even better with a few days worth of heavy detailing and touch up. Given that the odometer registers only 35,417 miles, the car still has a lot of life in it.
The auction house representative does mention that there are a few more items that need to be addressed. First and foremost, the tires are flat spotted from sitting so long. Given that they are later model Goodyear Eagle STs, replacing them isn’t a hit on the originality of the car. Also, many of the light bulbs in the interior have burned out and will need replacement. However, rust is absent from all the usual first generation Camaro locations. The lower fenders, the sills, and the quarter panels are all free from rust. The underside of the car has a strong coating of surface rust that will need to be addressed, but for being an early Camaro, and a convertible at that, the condition of the floor pans is amazing.
Inside, the environment is about as pedestrian as it gets. The vinyl seats are in good condition, but the carpeting has faded. Perhaps a reader could chime in on the feasibility of dyeing it to keep the original carpet in place. The dash doesn’t seem to have any cracks in it, and the steering wheel looks mint as well. On the down side, the car doesn’t have factory air, and the fact that the stock AM radio is still in the dash is testimony to the originality of the car as a whole. In addition, when was the last time you saw a first generation Camaro with a manual “three on the tree” transmission? I don’t think I ever have.
Underneath the hood, the utilitarian theme continues. One of the plainest Chevrolet small block V-8s in existence, a 327 cubic inch engine with 210 horsepower, is nestled between the fenders. The radiator looks new, which obviously tells us that there were corrosion problems due to long term cooling system neglect. Considering that the car sat for so long, it would probably be a good proactive measure to at least inspect the freeze plugs for seepage and corrosion. The radiator hose looks to be fairly old, but the heater hoses might be new. Why replace the radiator, but keep the old hoses? Anyway, from what else we can see, the portion of the sub frame that is in view looks good, and the rest of the engine bay looks to be in need of detailing, but is in good shape otherwise. Just as an aside, are those house cat paw prints on the driver’s side inner fender? If so, check around carefully for any presents from Fluffy, or signs that it was chasing a rodent around.
Looking at this car as a whole, I find it remarkable that it has lasted so long in such original condition. Other than a repaint, tires, and a radiator, everything else appears to be original. For a 49 year old car, that isn’t bad. For a Camaro to still have its factory AM radio and a three speed column shift is remarkable. There are probably more North Korean all you can eat buffets than there are people who can still drive a column shift manual transmission. While the buy it now price of $25,000 seems high, if you factor in the cost of putting new floor pans and replacing other rusted out body panels, then the price is not far off the mark. They are original only once, and this one, despite the complete dearth of desirable options, is about as original as it gets. It will be interesting to see what the final sale price ends up to be.
If you wanted to buy it, what do you think is a fair purchase price, and what would you do with it once you had it?
I like it, but then again the BIN seems high to me. Especially since I bought a new 67 Malibu 2dr for about $2300 IIRC (yes that was in 67 dollars). Also a 3 on the tree and loved that car.
Hope whoever gets it gets it fixed up and drives it like it should be.
PS does it look to anyone else like the hood was changed between the dirty and clean photo?
Good eye on noticing the hood, looks like it could be a shadow.
I agree with the hood swap theory. If someone went through the effort to getting it going again why not spend the few extra bucks and replace the burned out bulbs? That would bum me out spending that kind of money to buy the car and needing to replace stuff like that. I hope this car stays stock.
That is for sure. It seems lazy to not fix little items then ask $25,000.
I don’t want to pay 25K for a fixer upper.
That’s odd. Looks like a cowl induction hood. I wonder if that’s actually a different car?
definitely a cowl hood on the before pic
also appears to have a black wall tire
The black pin stripping on the front fender looks identical so my guess is that it’s the same car with a different hood.
Hi rise hood in the intro. Low rise all other pics. I smell a rat.
The license plate looks to be different too. The one on the dusty car seems to have small writing towards the drivers side, like you see on historic plates, the pictures of the cleaned up car shows full size letters and numbers.
Steve R
the first picture definitely shows the car with a cowl hood, where did it go?
Someone wanted that cowl hood.
Awwwww…..there’s my car. Had a red ’68 and a dark blue ’67 (rag tops both). The red one had an RS grille with the hidden headlights. Originally a 327 car, one day I was cruising around and noticed the heat gauge going up and steam coming from the the engine compartment. Popped the hood expecting to see a blown hose…..nothing! At home I finally realized the steam was coming from an internal source and when I pulled off the intake manifold, discovered about a 4″ long crack in the block that ran from front to back about half way up the lifter gallery. Bizarre. Had a ton of SBCs before and after and never seen the like of that. Musta been a casting flaw I decided. Ended up with a .030 over 400 ( 406 cu in) engine ahead of the Powerglide. COOL CAR! :-) Terry J
new ls motor and 5 speed tranny, leave the rest alone
No.
I used shoe polish to recover the color of carpet and even the show judges could not tell. It’s the type with the sponge. Took 2 bottles for the front and 2 for the rear.
I’ve only ever seen one other First Gen convertible Camaro with a three-on-the-tree – and that one had the six cyl.
Great find!
Hope whoever brings this one home keeps it the way the factory made it
Dash bulbs: Likely needs the whole circuit board. That’s about $100 plus bulbs if I recall. Paint needs some TLC by a detailer. Engine bay needs a LOT of help. Tires, etc. No options, 327, 2bbl, Rusted trunk floor (needs to be replaced in whole). Needs a new top, no floor shots (likely needs to be replaced judging by the trunk).
It’s a nice $15-17,000 car. No more. It’s not original paint.
I’d buy it for 15k, fix what’s wrong, mild cam, intake manifold and 4bbl style EFI, and have a nice car that’s worth about 25k.
It’s gonna take $15k to make this into the $25k car they think it is.
looks like a staged barn find to me
No pictures of the top and no mention of it’s condition… It needs a top. That’s a $1500.00 to $2000.00 expense. Plan on it. If you can do it yourself, you can cut about $500.00 off the cost.
Rather impressive amounts of dry spray and overspray…somebody was truly committed to a backyard paint job. Garbage tires and filthy engine bay for 25k?
I don’t think so…
Three on the tree wouldn’t have survived if anyone else owned it. Someone would have slapped on a Muncie knuckle buster.
Love this car…a 3 on the tree convertible is rare indeed… in the ad, it shows the floorpans…is it me or do they look like they have been replaced? Good eye on the hood, people…first thing I noticed….
12k tops the boys are right 10-15 for sorting. It’s easy to buy one done for 25k. Like PT Barnum says There’s a sucker Born every minute. It’s just not me!
This car has one very important option, it is a CONVERTIBLE. looks pretty original even has those shot thingies in the trunk corners and the trunk looks clean enough that this car could be close to rust free but I would want to be sure before I laid out the cash. as for the 3 on the tree I have never seen a first gen Camaro so equipped. hate to admit it but I would be temped to cut a hole in the floor and add a super T-10 or a Muncie. then a set of Vortec heads and an eldebrock intake and a 600 holley plus a 327/350 cam, blue streak points and a distributor re-curve to wake that small block up and dual exhaust. another place these cars rust at is on the dash near the VIN and this one looks good from the limited pictures. the price is fair.
This car is neither a “survivor” nor “original” as indicated in the ad. It has been repainted and possibly reupholstered, in part. It might be original in color, but it isn’t original any longer.
I just went through this last week with a customer. Once a car has been repainted, reupholstered or in any way modified, it is not a survivor or original.
In this case, as well, the change of the hood is suspect as is the absent convertible top. Floor pans may have been replaced here too. Potential buyers need to have a real close look at this car or a PPI. $25K is way too high on this as a BIN considering the work to be done to bring this up to a #3 or better.
Further, his “30-day warrantee” is no good for vehicles as stated in the ad. Be very careful of this car and seller.
Did you see the aluminum radiator?
Update: The car is now priced at 22.5 and the original dusty picture is gone.
Seller must be visiting BF, or she (Cathy) got questions about the hood that she didn’t want to honestly answer.