The 1967 Camaro as Seen at Auto Shows & Unique Promotional Exhibits in 1966/1967

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois

Several interesting Camaros appeared at the 59th Annual Chicago Auto Show.  This event was held Saturday, February 25th through Sunday, March 5th, 1967 at The International Amphitheater in Chicago, Illinois.  Images suggest that at least seven Camaros appeared in the Chevrolet display at the Chicago Auto Show.  There were probably more that can’t be seen in the photos.
   
One of the largest and most prestigious Auto Shows in the country almost didn’t take place that year.  According to chicagoautoshow.com “’the show must go on,’ was the theme of the 1967 Chicago Auto Show, when four weeks prior to its opening, a catastrophic fire destroyed McCormick Place.  A rapid reorganization returned the event to its former venue, the International Amphitheatre, where it would remain until McCormick place was rebuilt/reopened in 1971.”

1st picture: Destroyed McCormick Place Photo: This aerial view shows the original McCormick Place exhibition hall after an enormous fire destroyed it in 1967, just four weeks before the 59th annual Chicago Auto Show was to open.  Located on the edge of Lake Michigan, the $35 million structure was only six years old.  Four weeks after the fire, the ‘67 show opened on schedule in the International Amphitheatre, its former venue, Halsted at 43rd Street. https://www.chicagoautoshow.com/history/#1967

2nd Picture: International Amphitheatre outside picture https://www.chicagoautoshow.com/history/#1967

3rd Picture: Program Cover and Globe: https://www.chicagoautoshow.com/history/#1967

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois continued

Picture: Chevy Ad from inside the Chicago Auto Show Program (www.ebay.com)

Clipping from February 12, 1967 edition of the Chicago Tribune newspaper (newspapers.com)

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois continued   
 
Like he did the previous year, Pete Estes spoke about Chevrolet’s new models at a press breakfast on the opening day of the Chicago Auto Show, Saturday, February 25, 1967.  According to pages 41 & 42 of Gary L. Witzenburg’s book entitled, Camaro! From Challenger to Champion: The Complete History, Pete Estes said, “in its first five months the Camaro has scored an impressive impact on the market.  It is solidly in second place in sales of all domestic small cars and it has been cutting into the volume of the leader—which had a two-and-a-half-year head start.  Total sales since introduction day have passed 70,000.  On a model-year basis, Camaro is selling about forty percent of Mustang, and in January this figure was forty-five percent.  Addition of Camaro has increased Chevrolet’s overall penetration of small-car domestic sales from twenty-one to twenty-seven percent since last October 1st.  Besides helping Chevrolet, it has contributed to the overall growth of the small sports-type market, which has gone up each month since October 1st and now stands at eleven percent of all domestic sales.  Camaro is succeeding in two objectives: first, it is keeping Chevrolet owners who might otherwise leave us to buy a small sports-type car.  Secondly, it is drawing new owners to Chevrolet and away from competition.” 
Author Gary L. Witzenburg goes on to say that, “Estes reported high owner ratings of Camaro’s styling, performance and handling.  He also reported the high percentage of options being ordered: eighty percent V-8 engines, nearly forty percent Rally Sports, eighty-two percent optional automatic or four-speed manual transmission, forty-four percent power steering, seventy percent whitewalls and wheel covers, twenty-three percent vinyl roofs (the highest of any Chevrolet), and thirteen percent equipped with air conditioning.  He mentioned the recent addition of the 396 V-8 and Turbo Hydra-matic transmission to the option list and added that a collapsible spare tire to increase luggage space and a floor shifter, without console, for the three-speed manual would become available in March.  The SS’s nose stripe also would be offered as a separate option, effective immediately.” 

Just like for previous Auto Shows, a special ad was run by Chevrolet in the Sunday, February 26, 1967 edition of The Chicago Tribune.  Again the headline proclaims, “We won’t be hard to find at the Auto Show….Just follow the crowd.”  This must have been a standard ad that Chevrolet ran in local newspapers at Auto Show time.  The only difference is in the copy at the bottom of the ads where the information on the local Auto Show is presented. 

1st picture: Color picture: The Chicago Tribune Feb 26, 1967 “We won’t be hard to find at the Auto Show” (www.pinterest.com)

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois continued

Just like in Detroit, the Chicago Auto Show reserved a different section of the venue for trucks and vans.  Chevrolet again displayed their pearl yellow Golden Cameo “Dream” truck with attached trailer carrying the pearl yellow Californian Camaro “Dream” car in this section of the Chicago Auto Show.  If you look through the windows of the Golden Cameo in the first picture you can see the Californian Camaro parked on the trailer.

1st picture: https://www.chicagoautoshow.com/history/#1967

2nd picture:  This picture of a model sitting in the passenger seat of the Californian Camaro “Dream” car as it sits on its trailer came from the May 1967 edition of Car & Driver Magazine. (www.ebay.com) 

3rd picture: Here is a picture of how it was placed in the magazine. (www.ebay.com)

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois continued   
 
This picture shows mostly other Chevrolet models on display but you can just make out the back end of a Camaro convertible just above the driver’s side of the windshield on the Impala convertible in the foreground.  I believe the dark colored full size Chevrolet “Dream” car on the stand was a luxurious four door model with a special limousine interior called the Royale and the lighter colored car in front of it was a specially trimmed Caprice coupe called the Capella. 

The pictures came from here: https://www.chicagoautoshow.com/history/#1967   

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois continued

The Chicago Auto Show featured at least two Camaro convertible “Dream” cars.  As can be seen on the license plate, the first one was called the Camaro Cabriolet.  On page 45 of Camaro! From Challenger to Champion: The Complete History, Gary L. Witzenburg talked about a few of these Camaro “Dream” Cars.  Speaking about this particular car he wrote that, “a pearl blue SS-396 convertible called 'Cabriolet' was fitted with heavy-duty suspension and engine mounts, and other high-performance components, plus simulated air scoops on the hood.” 

The interesting thing about this car is that Chevrolet had already shown it without its special “Cabriolet” license plates back in November/December 1966.  I believe it is the exact same car that was used to “introduce” the SS 396 to the public at the Detroit Auto Show.  If you remember from the Detroit Auto Show section of this thread there are a few color pictures of the car on a rotating display that clearly show that it was painted a special dark blue.  There was even a sign on the front of the display that stated that it had “special paint and trim.”  That special trim included a non-standard deluxe interior made up of sun visors, dash board, deluxe steering wheel, lower portion of console, boot cover, seats, and door cards that were all white.  This picture clearly shows the white sun visors, white steering wheel, white boot and the top of the white dash board.   While I can’t make out any different “air scoops” on the hood from the picture of the car in Chicago, it did have a standard SS hood on it when it was shown in Detroit.  The wheels are the only major difference.  At the Detroit Auto Show the car was displayed with the optional Rally Wheels with white wall tires but in Chicago the car appears to be wearing American Racing “Daisy” wheels with red line tires. 

On a different note, I’m not sure why they would choose to display the car with only one of the headlight doors open.  Possibly this was a failure of the door cover to shut after a performance of the cars features was given.

Close up of my own picture of a display celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Camaro shown at 2017 Chicago Auto Show

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois continued

The rear of the second Camaro convertible “Dream” car that appeared at the Chicago Auto Show can be seen to the right of the Camaro Cabriolet in the first picture.  This is the Camaro that has me a bit confused.  Notice the molded in rear-deck spoiler, the special chrome gas cap, and the unique exhaust exits.  The car appears to be what would later be called the Camaro Cherokee “Dream” car but the license plate on the rear does not say “Cherokee.”  Unfortunately, I’m not able to decipher definitively what it does say since the picture is not clear and the name is written in cursive.  The top word is definitely “CAMARO” but to me the bottom word looks like “Carnival.”   

I did a search on the internet and came up with a list of words that start with a “C” and end in an “l.”  These include capital, crystal, caramel, cardinal, colorful, caravel, coastal, chaparral, and carrousel but the only one besides “Carnival” that seems to fit and makes sense for the name of a car might possibly be “Caravel.”  Whatever it is the license plate certainly does not say Cherokee.  What do you think it says? 

All pictures are close up shots of a picture I took of a display celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Camaro at the 2017 Chicago Auto Show.

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Camaro 50th Anniversary Display:  Here is where I found the picture of the Camaro Cabriolet and Camaro “Carnival.”  It appeared in a collage of pictures of Camaros appearing at the Chicago Auto Show throughout the years to help celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Camaro.  I took a picture of the collage on February 11, 2017 at the 108th Chicago Auto Show.

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois continued

One fact about the car is certain.  Whatever the car is named in the above pictures, it certainly cannot be the Camaro Cherokee that was used to pace several SCCA Can-Am races held during the Fall of 1967 and survives today in restored condition.  This restored Cherokee was built in June 1967.  The auction company that was selling the car several years ago mentioned that the Cherokee's VIN # is 124677N233228 and that it has an 06B build date according to the cowl tag.  Since the restored Cherokee was built in June it could not possibly have been sitting at the Chicago Auto Show in February!  This means that at least two of these cars had to have been built, one prior to the opening of the Chicago Auto Show on February 25, 1967 and the other in June 1967. 

While you obviously can’t see the sides or the front of the “Carnival,” other photos demonstrate that the car was candy apple red with a white nose stripe that dropped down the side of the car and extended all the way to the rear wheels.  It also looks to have had a white pin stripe surrounding the special rear-deck spoiler.  The car featured a deluxe interior with red sun visors, red dash board, red seats with white piping, red door cards, red steering wheel, and a red form fitted hard boot over the convertible top.  It was also equipped with dual red bullet side mirrors, driving lamps, unique split front and rear bumpers, unique wheels, and a special hood with clear Plexiglas bubble covering the special carburetors.  While it is hard to see, a few of the pictures seem to show that the car has the black shift knob of a manual transmission (probably a 4-speed).  I’m positive that this Camaro “Dream” car was shown at other events but I’m not sure if it ever sported this name again.  If anyone has any additional information, please share.
 
An article in the September 1967 edition of Hot Rod Magazine shows a few pictures of the Cherokee with the red interior and white stripes.  It instructs the reader to “pay attention to the zoomie Camaro with the clear plastic hood insert, you’d know what a 396 with Webers looks like.”  It goes on to say, “now we’re not going to tell you that those eight polished aluminum stacks are the next boulevard cruiser option but if you see a Camaro ‘Cherokee’ and it’s got a spoiler on the back and the paint is just as smooth as, well you fill in what it’s as smooth as, better consider your next move carefully, very carefully.”
 
All three pictures are courtesy of CRG Member Jon Mello           

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Here are a few more pictures of the Cherokee with red interior and white stripes built prior to February 25, 1967.

1st picture: Color image of the front of car from (http://pilotcarregistry.com/rare-vintage-photos.html)

2nd picture: B&W image from page 23 of Camaro: An American Icon by Gary L. Witzenburg and the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide

3rd picture: B&W cropped image from all three Dream Cars (http://www.deansgarage.com/2012/an-interview-with-roy-lonberger-part-2/)

4th picture: B&W image of all three Dream Cars (http://www.deansgarage.com/2012/an-interview-with-roy-lonberger-part-2/)  The truck in this photo is the Golden Cameo and the futuristic “Dream” car on the bottom is the Astro 1, which would debut in April at the New York Auto Show.

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Here are a few more pictures of the Cherokee with red interior and white stripes built prior to February 25, 1967.

1st picture: B&W image of the rear of the Cherokee with “Cherokee” license plate from unidentified Auto Show (Jon Mello posted on different CRG thread)

2nd picture: B&W image of Webers (Jon Mello posted on different CRG thread)

3rd picture: B&W image of Cherokee from back and side (www.picclick.com)

4th picture: B&W image of one of the cars being built (https://www.mecum.com/news/2009/02/09/mecum-auction-to-offer-special-1967-camaro-cherokee-styling-car/2075/) In referring to the attached picture of one of the Cherokee show cars, CRG Member Mark made a fantastic point when he said, "here’s one of them in the GM Design Center, probably the first one since its obviously not a white Camaro (which the 06B car was) and this one hasn't been painted yet.

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While looking at all the information I have gathered for this thread the thought occurred to me, could the Camaro “Carnival/Cherokee” “Dream” car that was produced some time before February 25, 1967 have been one of the 49 Norwood pilot cars?  It makes sense to me that at this early date Chevrolet would turn one (or more) of these pilot cars into “Dream” cars after they were finished with their initial duties.  Why bother building a new car to tear apart when they had so many of these pre-production pilot prototype cars sitting around.  If this scenario did take place, there is only one of the 49 Norwood pilot cars that seems to fit the criteria and that is # N100037 (http://pilotcarregistry.com/n100037.html).  This car was a Bolero Red Camaro RS/SS 350 convertible with a red interior and a manual transmission.  Talking about # N100037, the Pilot Car Registry web site states that, “with a 350 cubic inch power plant and a standard 4-speed transmission, its extensive presence in General Motors Proving Grounds photo shoots make it the most photographed build of the pilot program.  It was required to be received by C. Caswell at the General Motors Proving Grounds on or around June 20, 1966 for testing.  NCRS certificates show #37 being returned to corporate, Zone 0 and it is thought to have been used as a company promotional vehicle shortly thereafter. Extensive and exhaustive history searches have gleaned no documented ownership history.  Current whereabouts and existence is unknown as of 3-1-2015.” 

I know from the pictures that the “Carnival/Cherokee” had a red deluxe interior with white piping on the seats.  Again, I’m not an expert.  Did the color of the piping on the seats correspond with the color of the convertible top and/or color of the nose stripe if an SS?  Pilot car # N100037 originally had a black convertible top and a black nose stripe.  Is this why it also had the black piping on the seats?  The picture of the car in mid-creation seems to show a bit of black where the nose stripe would have originally been.  If pilot car # N100037 was used as the basis for the “Carnival/Cherokee” perhaps the interior and convertible top were changed, along with several other things on the car, to make it unique for show duty.  It’s all just a thought that ran through my head.  If anyone knows more please share.
 
1st picture: Color picture of possible Bolero Red Pilot Car # N100037 (http://pilotcarregistry.com/n100037.html)

2nd picture: color # N100037 as used in 1967 Camaro Brochure (www.superchevy.com)
 
3rd picture: B&W # N100037 interior (http://pilotcarregistry.com/n100037.html)

4th picture: B&W # N100037 with black convertible top up (http://pilotcarregistry.com/n100037.html)

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If the above scenario could be true, could the pearl yellow Camaro Californian “Dream” car have also been one of the pilot cars?  Perhaps it was one of the 11 identically built Butternut Yellow RS/SS 350’s mentioned above in the Camaro Cutaway car discussion.  Perhaps they built 10 Camaro Cutaway cars and the other one was turned into the Camaro Californian???   Again, just pondering where some of these cars came from.  If anyone has more information, please share.

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois continued

Let’s get back to more of the Chicago Auto Show information, shall we?  In addition to the Camaro convertible “Dream” cars visible in the picture posted above, you can just make out the headlight from the front of a light colored, non-Rally Sport Camaro between the man and the left side of the “Carnival” Camaro.  An early production, light colored non-Rally Sport Camaro Z28 will be seen when I post pictures of the New York Auto Show.  That show took place a month and a half after the Chicago Auto Show and I am wondering if this is the same car.  It’s too bad we can’t see more of the car to identify any Rally Stripes or the Z-28 license plate the car wore in New York.  One thing that makes me think it might just be the same car is that in both settings the car appears in close proximity to Camaro “Dream” cars on the same inclined display with the same striped floor.

Close up of my picture taken at 2017 Chicago Auto Show display

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February/March 1967, Chicago, Illinois continued

Children were excited to see the new model year introductions at Auto Shows across the country but they were probably more excited for a chance to win a pint sized motorized vehicle of their own called the Chevy Jr.  At the time of the Chicago Auto Show these go carts were colored red.  The Chevy Jr. was not only given away at Auto Shows but images, ads, and articles posted earlier in this thread demonstrate that they were also given away at the Cinesphere Chevy Shows.  Notice to the right of the Chevy Jr. sign you can see a banner that says “CAMARO” and what I assume is “RALLY SPORT.”   
   
picture:  (https://www.chicagoautoshow.com/history/#1967)