Is this the first 69 Camaro sold direct to Sweden?

[hgger69]

Me and my Camarofriend Nikke went with our 69:s to a local car show hear in the northern part of Sweden.
Here we are cruisin


Walkin around all the cars at the show our eyes suddenly fell on a rather original lookin 69 SS/RS Camaro. We stepped forward and started to look at the car and the owner showed up as well.
When we saw the Swedish 3-point seat belts, the fold-down rear seat and the rear window defroster we got really curious! 
As we spoke to the owner he told us that this car was sold new in Sweden 1969! When we saw the rather odd lookin trim tag, export tag, you can se that this is a 1968 10C car! It´s not the original color either, should be Garnet Red. It has a 12 bolt rear end and limited slip and right now a power-glide tranny!? According to Swedish car register it had a manual gear from the beginning? We don´t have any numbers on drivetrain or engine at this moment. Pictures taken with my iPhone, the only camaera availible!
It´s also equipped with a trailer hitch, probably produced and mounted here in Sweden but it has been there since the beginning!









Maybee Kurt can put this in the VIN-library?

[69pace]

Very nice find.

[CNorton]

The color appears to be an approximation of Garnet Red, based on the pictures.  Was it an obvious repaint?  That's a difficult color to reproduce in a low-light environment.  How close to Garnet do you think it was?

[69Z28-RS]

I also noted additional bumper mounted rear reflectors? or lights?    Are these peculiar to Swedish sold cars?  or obvious owner add-on's for some reason?   The rear mounted driver side whip antenna was also peculiar...?

[cook_dw]

By the looks of the trunk area & engine compartment it looks like it was painted all white at one time.

[hgger69]

The color appears to be an approximation of Garnet Red, based on the pictures.  Was it an obvious repaint?  That's a difficult color to reproduce in a low-light environment.  How close to Garnet do you think it was?

Nope, it's a metallic color and not close to Garnet! It's the darn ajjfone that fools you!
It's a repaint for sure!

[hgger69]

I also noted additional bumper mounted rear reflectors? or lights?    Are these peculiar to Swedish sold cars?  or obvious owner add-on's for some reason?   The rear mounted driver side whip antenna was also peculiar...?

Theese reflectors are often used if the the Swedish car control  didn't accept the original reflector in the rear lamp lens.
The antenna is a typical car antenna from a gas station or similiar, nothing original!

[hgger69]

By the looks of the trunk area & engine compartment it looks like it was painted all white at one time.

It was va ery common custom thing in the 70:ies to paint the inner fenders, gas tank, rear leaf springs, rear axle etc in theese colors. It could be a mix of while, red and blue as the colors in the american flag! This car is a good example of that painting!

[KurtS]

I never thanked you for the data.
Thanks!
Always great to see export cars. The engine code should say if it's originally a powerglide or not. I expect it's original.
It was registered in April of 69. There's others that are registered before this one, and some with lower VINs, so I wouldn't say it's the first one, but is is an early one.

[77thor]

Just curious...

Why are there Illinois plates on that first Camaro (orange w/white stripes) in Sweden??

[hgger69]

Just curious...

Why are there Illinois plates on that first Camaro (orange w/white stripes) in Sweden??

Hi Fred,
That's my car and I imported it to Sweden from Waterloo, Illinois 2005!  This was one of two legal pilates that the former owner had ordered, and I asked if I could keep one! I also have the original plates from 1969!

[hgger69]

I never thanked you for the data.
Thanks!
Always great to see export cars. The engine code should say if it's originally a powerglide or not. I expect it's original.
It was registered in April of 69. There's others that are registered before this one, and some with lower VINs, so I wouldn't say it's the first one, but is is an early one.

No probs, Curt!
I'm just glad if I could help!

[69glacierblue]

Very cool post.  Always interesting the people and stuff you run in to at some shows.  Thanks for the post and pics!

[hgger69]

Very cool post.  Always interesting the people and stuff you run in to at some shows.  Thanks for the post and pics!

Thanx Dennis! I´m glad you read it!

[BULLITT65]

Man finding another Camaro, or sighting of another let alone another 69 in sweden while you guys are rolling yours must be wild sight. If I was visiting Sweden and saw (3) 69 Camaros rolling down the street I think that would have to do a double take, I thought there were just Volvo shows over there??

[hgger69]

Man finding another Camaro, or sighting of another let alone another 69 in sweden while you guys are rolling yours must be wild sight. If I was visiting Sweden and saw (3) 69 Camaros rolling down the street I think that would have to do a double take, I thought there were just Volvo shows over there??

No it's actually a lot of classic American cars in the street, at least during summer!
I met an American couple in the age of 60 plus and they had never seen so many American classics during one night in their life and this was just a ordinary summer night in a Swedish town with like 200 000 habitans! No special cruising night, no car show, no nothing, just an ordinary summer evening!

[BULLITT65]

Maybe they were from north Alaska....? Down town New York?

Hard to fathom a city in the USA where you don't see a decent amount of classic cars rolling around on the weekend, but I have not seen every city so, there must be a few...

How many first gen Camaros have you seen over there?

[hgger69]

Ha, he maybee they were! At least they were car enthusiasts themselves so they knew what to look for! 

First gen, oh that's a lot I guess. I've been to the local show in my own town with like 120´ people and the show had like 1500 cars and maybee 30 first gen!
A couple of original pace cars, one original 427 (see pic above), a couple of real deal Z:s and the rest SS/RS, RS, SS and a bunch like mine, plain Jane's!

In Sweden totally i really don't have the figs but most of them are 69:s!  Maybee Janne know....?

[jannes_z-28]

The most common year of Camaros in Sweden is the 1969 model with around 500 cars. Total of 67-69 is around 1100 cars out of a total number of slightly less than 6000 Camaros. THe number has increased in the last years with a 5th gen cars which has sold very well over here.

In the summer you can see Camaros out on the roads almost everywhere. In September I did a long drive to a meeting (with my daily driver) and in a stretch of about 200 miles i saw 4 Camaros, one 1st Gen and three 5th Gen.


Jan

[BULLITT65]

interesting info. I know I would like to see more pics of your first gens gathered together at one of the shows over there.

[VINCE Z28]

When are your summer months in Sweden? And is there really a Swedish swimsuit team?

[hgger69]

When are your summer months in Sweden? And is there really a Swedish swimsuit team?

I depends!
The summer months in general is like from late may to early/mid september!

And for the other quest the aswer is no, but we have a bikini team! 

[VINCE Z28]

Your bikini team needs more chicks and less dudes What would a 69 camaro cost like yours in Sweden, in dollars.

[hgger69]

Your bikini team needs more chicks and less dudes What would a 69 camaro cost like yours in Sweden, in dollars.

It's very hard to say, it depends but I have an insurance value of appr $ 50 000.