CRG Discussion Forum

Camaro Research Group Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: 68SixBangerRS on April 29, 2020, 07:24:24 AM

Title: '69 Lemans Blue 327 Coupe in Fresno
Post by: 68SixBangerRS on April 29, 2020, 07:24:24 AM
I also saw this nice coupe in California at the same time I spotted the Frost Green 307 coupe, but I was too tired to post it then. Like the green car, this one also appears to be a nice Calif survivor.  Its interior looks completely original, right down to the carpet.  It's also an A/C car, but the center dash vent is MIA, so that area is murky.  The seller says the original 327 was replaced by another one, so if you're a numbers-matching purist that might be a buzz killer.  The trunk spoiler is the narrow '68 version which leads me to believe it's original to this car (who else would put that spoiler on a '69?).  I like the column shifter and smooth trans tunnel, but it's unknown if this is a PG or a TH-350.  The engine could be swapped for a 383, or just left alone, and you might even want to put a correct air cleaner back on it.  The deluxe seatbelts are a nice plus on a base coupe.  The color is fantastic, and the white hockey stripe looks just right (but is probably incorrect for a car with a black interior and a black vinyl top).  I noticed that the tach's redline is set for 4,500 rpm, which is a good indicator that his car was not severely beaten.  And the $29,500 price could probably be brought down some due to the current China Bat Virus garbage.  I would put the correct silver grille in it and NOT make it into another SS!

https://fresno.craigslist.org/cto/d/fresno-1969-camaro-coupe/7110286691.html
Title: Re: '69 Lemans Blue 327 Coupe in Fresno
Post by: crossboss on April 29, 2020, 04:02:27 PM
Thanks for posting. I would be proud to own either this car or the green one. It appears some nice cars are now coming up for sale since the Covid-19 crisis, and the economy is slow. This is a fantastic time to buy…IF you can afford it.
Title: Re: '69 Lemans Blue 327 Coupe in Fresno
Post by: ko-lek-tor on April 29, 2020, 09:29:56 PM
“...The color is fantastic, and the white hockey stripe looks just right (but is probably incorrect for a car with a black interior and a black vinyl top)....”

https://fresno.craigslist.org/cto/d/fresno-1969-camaro-coupe/7110286691.html
Although the interior has no bearing on the outside D90 stripe color, the vinyl top does. The default color with a black top would be black with this, what looks like LeMans blue color. One of my favorite colors, btw. But it COULD have a white stripe.  I am curious what the trim tag looks like? I owned, until a couple of years ago, a real SS with the same exact exterior color combo. Yes, LeMans blue SS w/ spoiler, black top, white stripe. Pre X code 11D Norwood car. Documented Special paint car with the [-B] on its tag.
Title: Re: '69 Lemans Blue 327 Coupe in Fresno
Post by: 68SixBangerRS on April 30, 2020, 01:30:58 AM
Crossboss...agreed, now is a great time to buy...many guys in desperate need of money.  I'm posting pics of a couple of my more interesting cars from the past that I think you will enjoy.  I bought the '70 Boss 302 in the spring of '76 in Des Moines, IA for $1,600 when I was 18 years-old.  I was a meter reader for Iowa Power and Light (we all had to start somewhere, right?) and the car was sitting with flat tires and covered with bird crap and leaves...hidden in a backyard with a high fence at one of the houses on my meter route.  The owner was a guy in his mid-20s who had bought the car from Charles Gabus Ford and auto crossed it until it spun a rod bearing.  He was a student at Iowa State and the car was in his parent's back yard.  I was in the right place at the right time and picked it up (he needed the money to finish his last year of school).  It had 39k original miles, factory tach and gauges, black standard interior, and was in great shape.  I sold it in the fall of '77 with 48k miles to a dentist in DM for $3,200 right before I joined the Navy to get the hell out of "Death Moans".

The 2nd interesting car is the '69 Trans Am I bought for $500 in Mar. of '80 in Tijuana, Mex.  I found it sitting in the parking lot of TJ's bus depot in the "Zona Nostra" (North Zone...an area full of bars back then...now full of drug murders and not a great place for young American sailors to go).  It had a blue standard interior, Formula steering wheel, factory tach and gauges, a Ram Air 3 and 4-speed (original drivetrain), and A/C.  I ran the VIN through Calif DMV and they said it hadn't been stolen and could be brought back to the US.  I drove it as far as the border crossing where it promptly overheated from sitting in a slow-moving line of cars waiting to enter.  I had it towed to 32nd St Naval Station where my ship was stationed, then towed it to an old cold storage facility in downtown San Diego to sit for 9 months while my ship deployed to the Pacific and Persian Gulf (a "Westpac" deployment).  When I returned, the car was missing its trunk spoiler, air cleaner, hood baffle ('69 TA-only items), and Formula wheel.  I was sick when I found out the storage place wouldn't pay for the stolen items (it was an inside job, literally), and that none of those parts were still available through GM.  Had I had a crystal ball I would've known that 40 years in the future those parts would be available as reproductions.  I sold the car for $3,000 to a Pontiac collector from Newport Beach.  Note the 1979 Baja California plate on the TA.

Sorry for the poor quality of the Boss photos...camera at that time was a crappy Kodak Instamatic.  The TA photos were taken with my fancy new Nikon FM.  Note also the difference in hair length pre-military ;).

PS...Bentley, I just noticed that you had two '69 Camaros back in 1979...that was quite an accomplishment for a young punk (no offense intended) back then!
Title: Re: '69 Lemans Blue 327 Coupe in Fresno
Post by: crossboss on April 30, 2020, 02:15:13 AM
Crossboss...agreed, now is a great time to buy...many guys in desperate need of money.  I'm posting pics of a couple of my more interesting cars from the past that I think you will enjoy.  I bought the '70 Boss 302 in the spring of '76 in Des Moines, IA for $1,600 when I was 18 years-old.  I was a meter reader for Iowa Power and Light (we all had to start somewhere, right?) and the car was sitting with flat tires and covered with bird crap and leaves...hidden in a backyard with a high fence at one of the houses on my meter route.  The owner was a guy in his mid-20s who had bought the car from Charles Gabus Ford and auto crossed it until it spun a rod bearing.  He was a student at Iowa State and the car was in his parent's back yard.  I was in the right place at the right time and picked it up (he needed the money to finish his last year of school).  It had 39k original miles, factory tach and gauges, black standard interior, and was in great shape.  I sold it in the fall of '77 with 48k miles to a dentist in DM for $3,200 right before I joined the Navy to get the hell out of "Death Moans".

The 2nd interesting car is the '69 Trans Am I bought for $500 in Mar. of '80 in Tijuana, Mex.  I found it sitting in the parking lot of TJ's bus depot in the "Zona Nostra" (North Zone...an area full of bars back then...now full of drug murders and not a great place for young American sailors to go).  It had a blue standard interior, Formula steering wheel, factory tach and gauges, a Ram Air 3 and 4-speed (original drivetrain), and A/C.  I ran the VIN through Calif DMV and they said it hadn't been stolen and could be brought back to the US.  I drove it as far as the border crossing where it promptly overheated from sitting in a slow-moving line of cars waiting to enter.  I had it towed to 32nd St Naval Station where my ship was stationed, then towed it to an old cold storage facility in downtown San Diego to sit for 9 months while my ship deployed to the Pacific and Persian Gulf (a "Westpac" deployment).  When I returned, the car was missing its trunk spoiler, air cleaner, hood baffle ('69 TA-only items), and Formula wheel.  I was sick when I found out the storage place wouldn't pay for the stolen items (it was an inside job, literally), and that none of those parts were still available through GM.  Had I had a crystal ball I would've known that 40 years in the future those parts would be available as reproductions.  I sold the car for $3,000 to a Pontiac collector from Newport Beach.  Note the 1979 Baja California plate on the TA.

Sorry for the poor quality of the Boss photos...camera at that time was a crappy Kodak Instamatic.  The TA photos were taken with my fancy new Nikon FM.  Note also the difference in hair length pre-military ;).

PS...Bentley, I just noticed that you had two '69 Camaros back in 1979...that was quite an accomplishment for a young punk (no offense intended) back then!




Fantastic story. To bad you sold them. Both cars would be the envy of many car guys. I like yourself bought a 1970 Boss 302 that was a battered up old T/A car that I bought for $975 bucks in 1982. I was 17. I fixed it up and went Vintage Racing with it until I sold in in 2003. I wish I could have found ANY '69 Pontiac Trans-Am for sale reasonably priced. You were lucky. Oh well, we can't keep them all!