Most people who want our cars don't care about numbers that match or a certificate. I've plenty of people who wanted to buy my car at shows / cruises.
Totally agree and I have also had many offers over the years for my lowly NOR 01C base V8 ‘69 RS, especially at “Hot August Nights” in Reno (which I have participated in every year since 2001.)
When I bought my car off of the showroom floor of the Chevy dealership in Baton Rouge, LA in November 1991 (it had been traded in), I was not concerned at all that the original 307 was long gone and that it had a 327 from a ‘64 Impala in it. The car was solid, it ran, and over the years I went completely through it - mechanicals first, including complete sub-frame removal, engine (replaced the ‘64 Impala engine with a ‘69 327 Camaro engine / Nov ‘68 build), tranny, rear end, cleaning the under body, cleaning, painting, restoring components & sub-assemblies, etc. Point being that all of the mechanical work was broken down into various sub projects, with one being attacked each winter in the garage & finished by spring so the car was driveable. The mechanical work was finally wrapped up in 2008. During that entire time (Nov 1991-2008) my ride was never unavailable to me from Spring to early Fall which allowed me to drive and enjoy it every year when the weather was good.
From Sep 2013 - April 2014 the car was taken down to bare metal and re-painted.
My ride is obviously not original, it has the original Powerglide & 2.73:1 open rear end, and a Nov ‘68 built 327 Camaro engine, but I enjoy it, drive it, and am not overly concerned about originality. One positive, IMHO, of having a car where non-originality isn’t going to impact value, is the ability to make changes/improvements (some safety related - new wiring harnesses for example).
Bottom line is that undoubtedly most 1st Gen Camaro owners do not own high $$, number matching Z’s, etc but have a car similar to mine which are driven and enjoyed as much (if not more) than any other 1st Gen Camaro .
0.02
Richard
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