The Camaro Club (UK)

Hi everybody,

I've always wanted a 69 camaro since I was about 14 years old.
I am now 29 and have just put a deposit on a 69 x44 base model camaro as I thought it was going at a good price.

But now after looking more into them, I'm not 100% sure if I'm paying to much or the going rate for the model and spec.

Instead of me stating the price, I would like someone with more knowledge to advise me on price, regarding the model and spec.

The car is a base model x44, it's had new floors, the whole of the body has been professionally worked on and the whole car then sprayed in a radiant red, looks very straight and clean, all gaps line up very nice and it has all the chrome trim fitted, except for the wheel arch trims.
It's had a fresh 350 5.7 sbc installed, a 4-speed muncie m21 gearbox with a straight hurst shifter, the front drums has been changed to disc brakes and a custom exhaust system from the headers back was made by pipecraft, sounds nice but I'm planning on changing this for a flowmaster american thunder system and also change the stock cast headers for some stainless steel ones.
The interior is in very good condition, including the boot and there's a few more extra gauges put in to keep an eye on the engine.

The only problem is that the speedo doesn't work, but the owner said it's because the drive gear is missing.

How much going by my description do you guys think she is worth??

I would really appreciate your help as this will be my first yank!!

Thanks a lot.

Best regards, Alex.

Hi Alex welcome to the forum. it's a hard one to call to be perfectly honest without actually seeing the car. Prices can vary soooo dramatically. A good friend of mine sold his LS powered '68 fitted with 18" Torq thrust wheels, Baer brakes, after market suspension etc etc, basically a good Pro Touring car for a little shy of £12K. A lot of car for the money. It really does depend on how you value it yourself, ie what it's worth to you..

It's rare that a 1st gen hits the £20k barrier in this country & have always sold for less than say a '67-'70 Mustang fastback. They seem to sell for around the £17K mark for a fairly nice one, so a similar Camaro would be slightly less than that. I'd hazard a guess around the £13-£15K mark if it's a nice one, more if it's a really nice one.I know someone that was offered £50K for their 1st gen, but they had almost £60K tied up in the restoration Hope that helps


cheers....Nige

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Too much power...not enough hands!!

Hi Nige,

Thanks a lot for your reply, it has helped a lot, I kind of thought £13k-£15k was the going rate.

My soon to be 69 camaro (should be picking it up this Sunday) is a bit slow considering it's got a 5.7 sbc, so I'm planning on buying a weiand supercharger and some toys to put into the heads, not sure what though as a sbc is all new to me (it's my first time of owning a V8)
I will also swap the stock axle for a positive one, again not sure which one to pick? Change the tyres for raised white wall writing tyres like BF Goodrich or Cooper cobra's??, fit a brake servo so I have power brakes and I want to change the short (indy?) hurst shifter for a long bent one that's normally found in a camaro using a muncie 4-speed box.

By the way, was your friends 68 camaro a kawasaki green colour with an auto box??

Can you PM me your personal email, so I can email you some pics of the 69 camaro that I'm getting, as I would like to know what you think.

Thanks again, very much appreciated.

Best regards, Alex.

Hi Alex, yes my friends' Camaro was kawasaki green colour with white stripes. To be honest, fitting a supercharger to an engine isn't just a case of bolting it on. You need to have the right compression ratio which would be around the 7-1 or 8-1 mark & compatible parts like a cam, forged pistons, good heads etc etc. Do you know anything about the engine as it is?

With the axle, depending on the gear ratio that's in there now, it's possible to just fit a limited slip diff called a Posi. (Posi, is short for Positraction, Chevys brand of limited slip diff). You don't need to change the whole axle.

The last thing I would recommend to anyone is to fit American white lettered tyres. They don't handle particularly well & they're pretty crap in the wet. Far better to fit some sensible European tyres like Avons, Yokohamas etc. I use Avon ZZ3's on mine for road use & are a good tyre speed rated to 160mph.

Shifters are available on US Ebay for reasonable money. If you decide to sell the short one then I might be interested if the price is right.

To be honest I don't normally give out my personal email, why not post the pics up on the forum?

Hope that all helps a little

cheers...Nige

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Too much power...not enough hands!!

Hi Alex, and welcome to the forum.

If you feel that your "fresh" 5.7 is slow, would be worth getting it checked out?

Instead of going the supercharger route, which will more than likely require a bottom end rebuild (as Nigel has already mentioned), why not go the stroker route? 383ci is quite a popular kit available in the US.

Of course, the muncie box/rear axle ratio combination might be mismatched......making the car feel slow?

...just a few thoughts - none of which may be correct, so don't quote me

Agree totally with Nigel on the tyres, go for Yoko's, Avons or Toyo Proxies (which i use on my daily driver - very good and at a reasonable price).

Cheers,
Mark

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'68 Camaro

Thanks Mark.

In the end I didn't get that camaro, as I had to use some of my saved money (the day before collecting the car) due to a family crisis and the camaro was sold the next day.

I'm totally gutted as I've always wanted a 1st gen camaro, since I was a little boy and after selling my rare jap car (Nissan S15 SILVIA) and a few other aftermarket parts, I managed to come up with enough money to be able to buy a 69 camaro (the one mentioned in the start of this thread).

I'm now looking to import one from the USA hopefully with the help of CLASSIC AMCAR, as they seem to be the best?? and was the only company to reply back out of the three I emailed.

I've found a few 69 camaro's on ebay.com in need of repair, I don't mind driving around in one that's tatty, as I think they look even meaner like the Ford Falcon (interceptor) in MADMAX, but obviously as long as it's safe and has a V8 under the hood

At the moment I still have my vintage 1956 oval beetle to play around with, but I don't think that will be for long, as I keep imagining myself behind the steering wheel of a mean dark 69 camaro terrorising the roads

As soon as I've managed to get my hands on one, I will post back.

Wish me luck guys

Regards, Alex.

Hi Alex, don't forget that although you don't have Camaro at this moment in time you're more than welcome to continue posting on here & asking questions, don't be a stranger

cheers...nige

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Too much power...not enough hands!!

Hi Alex,

Sorry to hear that you missed the camaro, there will be others , so good luck on your search

Cheers,
Mark

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'68 Camaro