Author Topic: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...  (Read 17942 times)

zegret

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Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« on: May 03, 2007, 03:54:23 AM »
How many have you found a Camaro in a yard or field, only to ask and get the usual...."No it's not for sale, I'm gonna fix it up someday" routine?  Probably every single one of us!  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share some of these frustrating stories...so I'll go first....

Before turning 16 back in 1990, I found a gold 67 Camaro under a carport near a buddy of mine's house.  All original, vinyl top, no rust, pretty clean and straight car.  Been sitting there for a few years.  So when the time came and I got my license, I knocked on this guy's door to see if I could buy it.  Nope, of course not.  "I'm gonna fix that up soon."  BS, I thought.  So I settled for a '63 Corvair.  Anyway, this car sat there for years and years and years.  It is STILL there.  Has not moved an inch and has 17 years worth of dust on it.  So last year, I thought, what the hell, I'll try again.  Same dude answers the door, gives me the same answer.   >:(  Maybe he'll get it "fixed up" in another 15 years.  >:( x 1,000,000,000,000
1969 Coupe
1969 RS
1980 Z28
2002 SS

ggtsvnv

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2007, 04:39:04 AM »
  I know of a matching numbers 67 RS/SS 350 setting in a guys backyard for the last 17 years that he wont sell. It is slowly rusting into the ground, when I first seen it you could still tell it was butternut yellow. Now it has faded to the point that it looks more white, at least where the surface rust has not covered it. Its sad I know of 2 dozen 67-73 Camaros with 8 or 9 of them being first gen cars setting that the owners wont sell.

jeff g

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2007, 10:52:57 PM »
OK Here Go's These are all within a 45 min. drive from my house. 3- 69 z28's ( 1 burgundy maroon/black standard /front bumber guard's /console delete/flat hood/ # match front to back  w/ orig. smog part's in box/ m21 /4:10 solid floor's but need's qtr's etc. parked since1974 ) 2 ( garnet red /Ralleysport z28 /endura bumber /flat hood/ black standard/ u17 /m21/ 3:73 original sheet metal is perfect I have # match short block offered to owner not interested has 327 w/z28 top head's etc.) 3 (fathom green parked in 1971 in a garage motor exploded /trans has been Pro Shifted/ rear is still there 3:73 or 4:10 not sure/ trunk pan removed for tub's /project never completed/body is perfect still has original paint/ owner claim's he will race the car again some day) 68 yenko  yes that's right a real YENKO Was original green car /sold at Stauffer Chevy vin is in yenko vin list 4 speed/ small block/ big block has blown up long gone/ has fiberglass wheel well flair's owner will not sell) 68 Baldwine Motion body is perfect /has original paint/ has original paper's/ green/ black top / white strip motor and 4 speed sold in late 70's has 427 richmond 5 speed keeping it for his grandson not for sale 4 69 pace car's (two my friend own's one is a real big block/ 4 speed / 3:73  other is small block /auto /3:31/ no gauges  3 rd  small block /auto/ 3:31/no guages is A title car parent's bought it new won't sell sitting in back yard becoming part of the earth again) 4th (sit's in a show room of a car dealer/ theft recovery from the early 70's /one repaint/ small block/ auto/ 3:31/ no guages/ not for sale

wtexz10

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2007, 12:54:57 AM »
Back in 1983 I heard of a 69 Pontiac Judge sitting beside a house in a small West Texas town.   I found the car just as described, tracked down the owner who bought it back in the early 70's when he was a kid.  The car had been sitting for who knows how long when I found it.  It was needing help but appeared to be all there.  Same story, I'm going to fix it one day.

Flash forward 2007, the car is still sitting in the same spot.  I've occasionally drive by just to see if it's still there, the only thing I've noticed is that is seems to have a different plastic tarp thrown over it from time to time. No telling what it would take to restore this one.  The only saving grace is that it's in dry West Texas.

I'm betting it will be there 20 years from now.

Kris
69 Camaro Z10.. 72 GMC C1500
79 Mazda RX7.. 79 Trans Am WS6
06 Corvette Z06.. 10 BMW 650i

JKZ27

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2007, 03:29:29 AM »
Back in 97, while scouting for parts for my 68 327/PG coupe, I found a wrecked 69 RS on a farm just visible from the road. I stopped by the next day to ask if any parts would be for sale. The owner told me it was the car he bought new in 69 and then wrecked in 74 and it had been sitting in a building since. Only recently was it brought outside, along with the car under a cover that was sitting behind it- a all original cortez silver 1969 RS/SS 350, manual trans, factory A/C in great shape. He told me that if I helped him dismantle the wrecked RS I could have the parts I needed. He would keep the rest of the parts as spares for the RS/SS, which, despite the locked up engine, was not for sale. A few days later after loading my truck with a pile of parts from the wreck, I offered to help get the frozen engine in the silver SS running again, he accepted.
A few weeks later I returned to attempt to make the little 350 run again. Turns out, the rings were just lightly stuck in the bores from sitting for about 15 years. Some light levering on the flywheel with some ATF in the cylinders freed the engine up enough for the starter to rotate it. It fired up! The owner was so happy I thought he was going to sell it to me right then, but he didn't. He did promise me that if he ever did sell it, I would have first shot at it. We'll see!
Years went by, the cover eventually rotted off onto the ground. The cowl filled with leaves. The mid-70s repaint cracked up. I would talk to the guy on a regular basis and occasionally do some work on some of his other cars while the Camaro sat in the field with a couple junky old Chryslers and a rusted 68 Firebird, still not for sale. We became good friends over the years and he would allow me to come start the engine and clean the leaves and pine needels from the cowl area to try and slow the rust in case I ever bought it.
In November 03 I got a phone call. "Its time." he said. " I've had my turn with it. its time to pass it on to someone else" he said.
He was going to sell his 69 RS/SS and he kept his promise. After six months we agreed on a price we could live with and still be friends.(good thing I had refinanced my house that year). I often thought it would just rot to the ground like many other cars, but I guess I got lucky.
John
69 RS/SS Cortez Silver, L48 MC1
68 RS Ash/Ivy Gold 327EFI M20

zegret

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2007, 12:47:17 PM »
Great stories!  Keep em comin!

I have found a bunch of Camaros during my searches to finally get my own, so I have a bunch of "Not For Sale" stories.  One car I found in a small town was a 1969 Z-28.  White, looked good from the road, sitting in a driveway.  I was excited because I saw shoe-polish writing on the window and thougt this was going to be my lucky day!  But, as I got closer, my hopes were quickly destroyed, as the writing turned out to say "NOT For Sale".  Rats.  So I continue to drive around this small town to look for more old cars, and sure enough, I found another Camaro.  This one was a 69 Coupe, and the owner was home.  Of course, it wasn't for sale and it was for his grandson who just turned 16, blah, blah, blah, blah.  OF course it hasn't moved in two years and is still under the same carport.  >:(
1969 Coupe
1969 RS
1980 Z28
2002 SS

pickelnose

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2007, 10:31:17 PM »
OK here goes,for the last 30 years I heard a story about a guy that bought a brand new 69 SS 396 camaro and took the original engine out and installed a hotter one.all he did was drag race the car. in 1970 or 1971 he was killed in a car accident.I think it was in a corvette.his family locked his garage and hasent touched anything in it since.a few people have been allowed to go in and look if the family knows you,and I have heard that its like going back in time when you go in the garage.its just like he left it in 69.original engine sits in the corner,and theres a set of new pistons sitting on the bench.I,ve heard this story for 30 years but had no real proof untill 6 months ago.a young guy(18 to 20 ) comes to our machine shop with work for his father driving a company truck from the late camaro owners family bussines.tells me his name and his fathers name and its the same last name as camaro owner.when he asked about the price of the machine work I said we can work out a trade with that old camaro they had in the shed.his face went blank and he looked at me real strange and asked how did I know about that.told him I heard all the stories.he eased up and said he's been trying to get it for years but his father wont let him have it. so this camaro hasent seen sunlight sinne 69 0r 70.and they will not sell.

MB302RS

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #7 on: May 05, 2007, 10:24:58 PM »
Ok, I m the one we all love to hate when it comes to buying cars. I bought my 69 RS Z28 , not long after turning 16 in 1978. It was one of three 69 camaros I oned at the same time between the ages of14 & 19. To make a long story shorter, I totaled one and sold one after getting married one month after turning 19. Which left the Z. It was stored in my basement until I moved a few years later. At that time it went to my father's barn. For the first six or seven yrs ,you could see the rear of the car from the road if you got just the right angle. Knocks at their door brought the response we all hate to hear " Its my son's car and he's going to restore it one day" or NO IT"S NOT FOR SALE". Well a few years back it was moved to our shop for dry storage. And to prove it is not always untrue , we are in the process of restoring it now. Thank goodness I resisted the urge for quick money all those times, because I could never afford to buy one at todays prices.
X33 rs Z28    , Mike

67camarorsss

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #8 on: May 09, 2007, 11:01:15 PM »
Not exactly a "found in a barn" Camaro story but I'm sure you can all relate. In the mid 80's I was looking for a Hemi car to resto. I'd already been through several A & F body cars as well as a few Mustangs and Chargers. A friend told me about a Hemi car that he had had a friend tell him about as he was into Mopars. I got the guys address and went to see the car. No answer at the door so I look over the fence and see a shape under a tarp. It has a small sailboat on top of it. Seing no dogs and being rather curious I try the gate. It's unlocked so I proceed to check it out. Holy Smokes! It's a 66 Plymouth Satellite with, you guessed it, a 426 Hemi under the hood. AND it's a convertible to boot. The top was gone, the interior had seen better days and there was grass growing up thru the engine compartment. But it was all there.

I tried in vain to get ahold of the guy. I had no phone number for him and, as it turns out, he worked nights and I worked days. About 3 months later we crossed paths. I asked him about the car and got the, "I'm the original owner, I intend to restore it some day and no it's not for sale." I offered him everything short of my 1st born son but he wouldn't part with the car. I did get his phone number though.

Well I kept my eye out for it and about a year later I noticed that it's gone. I called the guy and asked him where it went. Turns out the dealer that sold the car to him wanted to find out the where abouts of the rarest car his dealership had ever sold with the intent of buying the car back for his collection of musclecars. Apparently the guy made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Some days that's just how it goes.
- 1967 RS/SS 396/TH400 (loaded clone restification)
- 1998 Z28 LS1/M6 (daily driver)
- 2002 Z28 LS1/4L60E (12 sec toy/bookend to the 67)

TStone

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #9 on: May 10, 2007, 12:31:44 PM »
Classics only cost alot if you keep track of what you spend. :)

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1968RSZ28

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #10 on: May 10, 2007, 06:59:24 PM »
http://www.carsinbarns.com/index.html

Very cool website.  8)   It's amazing how many muscle cars are rusting away in America.  :(

Paul

zdld17

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #11 on: May 10, 2007, 08:36:23 PM »
Too many cars, not enuff money.. tsk,tsk. 
Don Dabbs

VI009DZ

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #12 on: May 11, 2007, 06:11:32 PM »
Being a young guy (28) and in Vermont, I have seen NO first gen camaros that are rotting away in the weeds.  With the amount of salt and crud we use in the winter, it is rare to see something like an '86 Chevy pickup in decent shape, let alone a 60's car.

Guess its nice to not have the "I'm going to restore it." hearbreak.....

sd1968z28

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #13 on: May 11, 2007, 10:39:07 PM »
it took over 20 years to get my 68z from the shed of my neighbor, i always asked him what he wanted for it and he would never say  then one day i spit a number from my mouth that i thought was fair and to my suprise he said go get your checkbook!!  what a suprise that was.  moral of the story, don't try to steal the car offer a fair price and you never know?

zorro

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Re: Found Camaros, Not For Sale...
« Reply #14 on: May 21, 2007, 04:49:59 AM »
I got one for you.Back in 1985 wen I turned 16 I wanted to buy a first gen Camaro.I knew of one but he of course would not sell.So I settled for a 1966 El Camino with a 283 w/3 on the tree.I had alot of fun with that car.I also learned how to work on it too.Years later (1993)I decided to try again with the Camaro still no luck.I ended up buying a 1967 Camaro coupe a 350/PG,A/C,PS and PB.I went through that car rebuilding the engine and repainting it Black.Ok so here's the good part.Now (2005)I'm married with kids everything is great till one night I get this call about the Camaro I wanted when I was 16.Turns out the guy needs to get rid of it because he's moving.The best part is the guy I'm talking about is my brother.He gave me the car after having it since 1973.I now am in the process of restoring the car.It is a 68 RS/SS 396,4 sp,3:73 12 bolt car.There is no way this car will ever leave my possesion.I have many memories in this car riding around all over town.Isn't life great.