I haven't been on here for quite awhile. Some of you may remember my previous 6-cylinder Camaros...a very rusty '68 RS coupe with a 230 six and a 3-on-the-tree (sold to a guy who needed a VIN and title), another very rusty barn find '69 coupe with a 250 six and a 3-on-the-tree (sold to a guy planning to build a phony SS with an LS...yawn!), a restored '69 coupe with a 250 six and an ultra-rare air-cooled Torque Drive trans (sold to a guy who knew it was one of possibly only 2 left in existence), and my latest find, a 'Frost Green '69 coupe with 44k original miles and its matching number drivetrain...250 six with a 3-speed manual and 3.08 open rear. In addition, I just sold possibly the only '70 Camaro left in existence with a 250 six and a 3-speed manual...an incredibly original Citrus Green Los Angeles car... I posted a lot of info and photos of it over on Nasty Z28 (the best 2nd Gen Camaro website in my opinion). I am here to tell anyone that I KNOW 6-cylinder Camaros!!!
I have known about this particular 6-cylinder '69 Camaro for quite awhile...it was purchased new by my nephew Earl's mother-in-law, Charlotte. My nephew (and everyone else in my family...and all my friends) knows that I absolutely love classic cars...Camaros, Novas, Firebirds, Squarebodies, even a Datsun 240Z and an early Toyota MR2. I had seen photos of the car hanging on the wall of Earl's basement man cave and asked if it was for sale and his answer was that Charlotte had promised it to her oldest child...her daughter Teresa. About 2 months ago Earl called to tell me that Charlotte was interested in selling her Camaro to me (apparently she and Teresa's partner Beth had had a falling out and the car was now up for grabs). I actually asked my wife if I could buy yet another classic car and she was not open to that option, so I made the very difficult decision to sell my '70 after driving to the small town in Arkansas where Charlotte lived so I could assess the condition of the car (gorgeous survivor). I put a couple grand down on it and then sold the '70. I rented a U-Haul pickup and double axle trailer on Labor Day weekend and drove 1,550 miles round-trip from Columbus to get it.
Charlotte gave me several photos of the car from the early '70s to the early '80s and told me the story of it. She was 19 years-old in Sept. 1969 and had recently started classes at the Univ. of Nebraska in Lincoln, as well as working as a secretary at a country club in Lincoln. She was driving an uninspiring white '64 Rambler 4-door with a 6-cylinder and a 3-on-the-tree. She was making enough money at her part-time job to make the payments on a new car. Her grandfather said she should buy a Chevy with a 6-cylinder and a 3-speed manual, and her mother said she would co-sign the loan and provide $250 for the down payment (the dealer gave $350 for the Rambler). Charlotte and her mom went a few blocks from their house to Misle Chevrolet, one of 2 large Chevy dealers in Lincoln (at that time a medium-sized city with a population of approximately 100k). Misle was very close to the U of N and usually had a good selection of cars that appealed to young people...Camaros, Novas, and Chevelles. The evening that Charlotte bought this car was Sept. 19, 1969 (a Friday). She had decided to buy a Camaro instead of a Nova because she thought it was sportier and the cost wasn't much more. Misle had 12-15 Camaros that evening and 3 of them had sixes...two automatics and one manual. The dealer wasn't willing to negotiate on the car (even though they had been sitting on it for 4 months), so she agreed to pay full price (the dealer's only concession to her was to throw in a set of magnesium hubcaps in exchange for the dog-dish caps...Charlotte saw the mag hubcaps on a showroom display board and immediately wanted them). She and her mom drove home with the green Camaro after spending about 3 hours at Misle.
Her Camaro was rather plain, but still a very nice car for a teenager. It had the larger 250 six ($25.00), Z21 Style Trim Group ($45.00), tinted glass on all windows ($31.00), AM radio ($58.00), and E78-14 whitewall tires ($24.00)...the aforementioned mag-style hubcaps were a $70.00 freebie. Charlotte recalled that the out-the-door price was exactly $2,900 and a little change. Her payments were through the 1st National Bank of Lincoln...$110.00 per month for 24 months. She loved everything about the car except the manual steering and the awkward column-shifter (she said it was very stiff-shifting and sometimes hard to get into 1st). After owning it for 6 months, she moved from Lincoln to Los Angeles to be near her brother Bob, a Marine stationed at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station (on the far south side of the LA metro area). She loved LA, but moved back home after one year because she missed her former boyfriend Lyle. She and Lyle married in 1971 and had 3 daughters...the Camaro became a grocery-getter. Charlotte completed a degree in accounting at the U of Nebraska and she was hired by the US Treasury Dept to become an auditor. She began several moves to bigger cities...Omaha, then Chicago, then Washington DC and the Camaro would sit for long periods at her brother Bob's farm near Milford, NE. In 1983 Charlotte decided to buy a new Camaro with A/C, an automatic trans, and power accessories. The dealer offered her $750 trade-in for the '69 and she decided to keep it (it had only 43k miles at that time and the salesmen were salivating over it). Thus began 35 years of storage in a machine shed at Bob's farm. Bob passed away in 2018 and the Camaro was moved to Charlotte and Lyle's new home in rural Arkansas. In early 2021 the car was towed to a mechanic's shop in Arkansas to get it drivable again (all it needed was to have the gas tank drained and a new battery...the tires were replaced in 2018).
The car is remarkably original, but Lyle said that it was repainted in 1975 after it was keyed. It also had the lower right quarter panel and left front fender replaced due to minor accidents in parking lots. Lyle located a steering column in a junkyard Nova with a green interior and a floor shifter and bought the parts to convert the Camaro to a floor shift. The work was done very well and looks factory correct...the floor shifter lends the car a very sporty vibe. Unfortunately, the 3-on-the-tree column and transmission rods were not saved (if anyone knows where I can get them, please let me know...I want to convert it back). Lyle also swapped out the original 14x6 plain steel wheels and mag hubcaps for 14x6 Rally wheels from a junkyard Chevelle after one of the mag hubcaps was either stolen or came off while driving. Other than those items, it's all original. The AM radio works, it rides almost like a new car, steers beautifully with its original tie rod ends, ball joints, pitman arm, and has nearly all of its original parts...RC-15 radiator cap still holds pressure, its Delco "208" coil, spark plug wires, battery cables, untouched wiring, fuel pump, clutch and pressure plate, unturned brake drums, master brake cylinder, radiator with tag, one T-3 headlight, seats, door panels, headliner, seatbelts, carpet, dash panel, rear package shelf (which appears to be painted Frost Green), all Soft Ray glass (the windshield is scratch and chip free and still has its original blue-green tint...no fading). Everything on it works...horn, wipers and washers, backup lights, all electricals. The air cleaner has some surface rust, but still has most of its original paint, as well as a nearly perfect "250 Turbo-thrift" sticker and its side sticker ("Keep your GM car all GM"). The original timing sticker is still on the top of the radiator support (and is still highly legible). In the trunk when I bought it was its original jack, the original rear shocks, the original radiator hoses and tower clamps, the original air pump (I installed it just to take photos...the only complete '69 6-cylinder air pump I have seen in the last 30 or so years), and the original spare wheel which is painted Frost Green (dated May 13th, 1969...the car was built 05E at Norwood...the spare is a BFG Silvertown F78-14 bias-ply dated 6-72...a replacement for a flat tire). There are PTB stamps on both sides of the firewall...P and B are green, T is orange.
The car came with its Protect-o-plate, owner's manual (3rd version dated April '69), plastic documents envelope, a couple of '69 sales brochures, a '69 options booklet, '69 Nebraska tax receipt, '70 California registration, '71 Nebraska registration, several early receipts, a 1982 Nebraska state vehicle inspection sticker on the left side of the windshield, a 1971 Omaha city resident sticker on the right side of the windshield, a 1970 Nebraska National Football champions sticker inside the glovebox, a Misle Chevrolet dealer key ring, the original GM keys, a Misle Chevrolet metal dealer trunk emblem, an oil change sticker on the driver's door from 6-81 that shows 39k miles, a Phillips 66 oil change sticker on the upper left inside windshield that is dated 6-83 and shows 43,068 miles, and a couple of interesting matchbooks. The Ohio title says "43,689 actual miles". This is the most original 1st Gen Camaro I have ever owned.
