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Here's a crazy story for you.....

2K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  MangeMD 
#1 · (Edited)
So about 2-3 months ago I sold my 68 Chevelle. When I did, I set my sights on a first gen Camaro.

A good buddy of mine had one when I was growing up and I had some good times in that car. Then about 3-4 years ago, he went out to relive his youth and bought a real nice 67 Camaro. Seeing his Camaro on a regular basis put the bug in me. So I decided to part ways with my Chevelle and find a real nice 1st gen Camaro.

I looked long and hard and finally found one in Ohio. It was listed on eBay and since I was not real comfortable buying a car sight unseen I decided to make the 5 hour trip from eastern PA to eastern Ohio to see the car in person. I ended up liking what I saw and I bought the car. I rented a U-Haul trailer and brought the car home to PA. I was stoked!

Then I dug a little deeper into the car and began to run the numbers. I looked at the vin # on the door pillar and something didn't look right. So I googled 67 Camaro vin tags and then I knew something wasn't right. The vin tag on the door looked new. There was no way that tag was 49 years old. So I called my buddy who happens to be a PA State Trooper and showed it to him. He agreed. He offered to run the vin and see what was up but I didn't want him to do that until I spoke to the previous owner. So I called him and read him the riot act about the car. I told him what my buddy told me that changing the vin tag on a car is a federal crime. I also told him that if he didn't come clean about what went on, I was going to involve the State Police.

The previous owner didn't deny my accusation. He simply offered to refund my money if I wasn't happy with the car. I took him up on that offer. I wasn't comfortable with that vin tag so he refunded me my money and I sent him the car back. So about a week after buying my big block, 4 speed, 67 RS Camaro it was gone.

I knew that the vin tag on the door pillar wasn't right. It looked like someone had done a pretty decent job of recreating the original vin tag. Good enough that I missed it on my initial inspection. The seller never actually denied what he did, he just said "if you're not happy, I'll give you your money back". Done deal and the car is now back in Ohio. While I'm pissed about the whole deal, I'm glad I found it quickly and got out from under what could have possibly been a bad situation in the future if the car ever ended up being stolen.

So now here I am with no Chevelle and no Camaro and nothing but time to find something else so life isn't all that bad. Then I get a call from my State Trooper buddy. Turns out that a friend of his father-in-law's is looking to sell a 69 Camaro and am I interested? I get a few details about the car and off we go to check it out.

Long story short....it's now in my garage. It's a 69 Camaro resto-mod. It's a base Camaro built up as an SS clone. The paint and body are perfect, it's black with light silver SS stripes. It's got all new body panels with a cowl hood, front and rear spoilers, and all new chrome.

The interior is brand new with new Houndstooth seats, new door panels, dash pad, and headliner. It has an aftermarket dash gauge assembly that looks somewhat stock but has all electronic gauges with a digital readout for the odometer. It's also running an aftermarket stereo that looks like an OEM radio set up but it has newer modern digital read out along with an Ipod connection.

The drivetrain is where this car really stands out. It's got a 475HP 427, a Tremec TKO600 5 speed with a McCleod hydraulic clutch assembly and a Moser built Ford 9" rear with 3:89 gears. He also added an aftermarket A/C system as well as a new Griffin aluminum radiator with dual electric fans. The power is insane. It runs and drives like a brand new car and looks fantastic. The seller had receipts for well over $38K into the car.

He was an older gentleman who isn't into eBay or Craigslist and he didn't want to deal with a lot of wacko's coming to his house so he was ecstatic to have my buddy and I show up to see the car. I knew within about 5 minutes that I was buying the car. That's how nice it is. But I still did my homework and went over the car with a fine tooth comb. It's an insane build where quality was first and foremost. I am pinching myself as I type this because I cannot believe that it's officially mine.

The other really insane part of the deal is that the seller had TONS of extra parts for the car. After bringing the car home, it took 2 trips in my truck and one trip in my buddy's pickup to bring all the extra parts home. I got 2 new repro fenders, new trunk lid, 2 OEM doors, glass, new front and rear repro bumpers, all kind of extra trim, a new repro grill, new headliner, new door panels, an OEM radiator, front window glass, rear windshield, tons of trim, lots of little do-dads, a turbo 350 trans, driveshaft, turbo 350 crossmember, new big block exhaust manifolds, and a lot more. I figure I have about $2500 worth of parts strewn about my garage and shed. I haven't even had the chance to go through all the stuff I have. There are dozens of boxes I haven't even looked at yet.

I haven't even gotten the chance to take more than one picture of the car. Between going to look at it, going to the bank to exchange the money, transfer the title, get the car home and into the garage and then two trips to bring back all the parts and get them stored away, it was the whole day. Unfortunately the car won't come out of the garage today as we are expecting snow this afternoon.

When I get a chance, I'll take some decent pics and post them up, but I am still amazed that I own this incredible car. Here's the only pic I have at this time:

 
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#8 ·
Nice lookin' car! I see the snowblower was all fired up and ready to do some work in the background lol
 
#11 ·
I asked my buddy the State Trooper about the hidden VIN on the car. He said to google it to find out where it is on that car. Google said it was on the firewall above the heater core and that I'd have to pull the passenger fender off to verify.

I wanted to talk to the seller first to feel him out. When I called him with these accusations, he never denied nor admitted anything but he immediately offered to return my money. This attitude led me to believe that something shady had gone on and that he was looking to avoid any involvement with the State Police.

By now I was so soured on the car that not much was going to change my mind. I accepted his offer of a full refund and washed my hands of a potential nightmare.
 
#13 ·
Vince is right there are two hidden partial VIN locations. If the car was legit and the VIN tag looked news it may have been a nice car. The fact the guy never gave you any argument may have been a indicated he had another buyer.

The site you checked out to find the partial VIN wasn't this one I take it. The VIN on the firewall is above the fan motor not the heater core. But you are right it's unacceptable but the one under the cowl vent is more easier to find. This is also true for 69s.
http://camaros.org/numbers.shtml#PartialVIN

Roger
 
#14 ·
It may have said fan motor and not heater core, I don't remember. What I remember is that the fender would most likely have to come off to access it. I did also see mention of one on the cowl under the cowl panel but that too said removal of the cowl panel would be necessary.

Before putting a wrench to the car, I wanted to speak to the previous owner. His reaction is what led me to believe that something was fishy. As I said, he never denied anything or played dumb. He just immediately went into refund mode when I mentioned the State Police.

In the end it all worked out. The 67 is back with the seller in Ohio and I now actually have a much nicer car in my 69. I only paid $2k more for the 69 and the seller gave me a good $2500-$3000 worth of extra parts for the car. A good majority of the parts that came with my 69 can be sold on eBay or Craigslist to recoup some of the money I spent on the car.

For me it's a win/win situation.
 
#16 ·
Should have looked at the hidden VIN and then checked it out with your SP buddy after you got your refund. If it was indeed a stolen car, you could have made the original owner's Christmas a little brighter.
:)
 
#17 ·
Should have looked at the hidden VIN and then checked it out with your SP buddy after you got your refund. If it was indeed a stolen car, you could have made the original owner's Christmas a little brighter.
I wanted to do that but my buddy said that the State Police have checks and audits now so cops just can't randomly run VIN, license plates, or driver's licenses anymore. The last thing I wanted to do is to get my friend in a pinch at work for trying to help me out.
 
#18 ·
If it's suspected it might be stolen then he wouldn't get in trouble. My cousin is a trooper here.
 
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