How's everyone doing? I am new to this forum and I wanted to get some information on 1st generation camaros. As with my name, I own a 1966 Mustang and have fully restored it. The time has come to sell her and move on. I was really thinking about a 68 camaro or so. The question is: With the early mustangs, the market was HUGE! I could get great parts at a cheap price. How about camaros? Is the market good right now? What is the best year to start with? 67, 68, 69? Or is it just preference? I hope all these questions aren't too much and hopefully can find some wise members here. Thanks a lot guys.
Rory graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Aloha from Hawaii and welcome to the Team Camaro Family. As for the year you are thinking of getting thats ones personnel desires. Some here will tell you 67 the 1st year they came out, others will tell you 68's and still others will tell you get a 69. They all have their own stories to tell as far as the cars go. Myself my favorite is 68's but then I also have a few others too. Might I recommed you come out to The All Chevy Show http://www.allchevyshow.com/ next month over in Bellevue WA, and take a look at a wide scope of 1st Gen camaros. It will be a great time and fun for all. It will aslo let you get a feel for what Year camaro you will want to call your own. As for prices on parts, for me that would be hard to say since most my parts cost more to ship than to buy but others here or at the show will be able to fill you in more on them

Welcome!

Any 1st Gen (67-69) won't let you down. The 67-68 models are basically identical, 69 changed quite a bit. Choosing between the 2 (67-68 or '69) is usually a personal preference.

At any rate, any 1st Gen you decide on would be a great start.

Thanks a lot for the replies guys. I think I will drop by that all chevy show. The all fords show is around that same time also. How much would a basic V8 1st generation go for? I'm talking basic. Nothing to ride home about....just a decent looking camaro with nothing special? Which year goes for more in price and desirability?

67-68's have more classic styling (key in the dash, chrome vent balls, classic looking guages, etc. 69's have an all new dash, key on the column, different body features, etc. (I'm being rather general with my description...)

Browse the site sponsor's online catalog to get a good idea of where prices are for replacement stuff: http://www.ss396.com

Rory,

Prices vary alot. Depends on what condition you're looking for. Do you want a finished frame-off restoration or do you want to do one yourself? Run a nationwide search on www.collectorcartraderonline.com (http://www.collectorcartraderonline.com) That will give you a good idea of what the market is for cars in various states of restoration. You can also check dealers for completed cars. You can also take a look at the For Sale section on this site.

Also, do your homework on where to look for problems (rust) on 1st gens. If you're looking for original, it also helps to know what different models came with from the factory - so you don't get burned! You can find alot of that at www.camaros.org (http://www.camaros.org)

Chad

welcome to the site and to the wide world of Camaros!

To answer your first question... yes! The aftermarket is loaded with restoration parts for the first gen Camaros. You can get almost anything... you could practically build an entirely new car out of nothing but aftermarket restoration parts!

I personally love the '68. It has the smoother lines than the '69, and has a few differences that I like over the '67. For example, the '68 did away with the front triangular vent windows, and also featured repositioned rear shocks to help reduce wheel hop.

As far as value of any of these cars, it depends on the options of the car. The base model coupe for the '67-'69 will fetch fairly similar prices. The price goes up dramatically when you start looking at convertibles, cars with the Rallye Sport option (hideaway headlights), or cars with the Super Sport or Z/28 options.

Good luck and welcome to the club.

graemlins/beers.gif

Welcome to the site. As for the price of Mustang's parts vs Camaro's, don't expect the same deals. Not saying there aren't good prices around, but IMO not as low as Mustangs parts. My father owns a 66 'stang and I get to order his parts, I would love to have some of those prices printed on my Camaro parts catalogs. Maybe thats part of the reason of the difference in prices of Camaro vs Mustang. Take equally equipted cars and the Camaro is more expensive, at least here. :D

There are lots of part suppliers for first gen camaros. It just seems like the big name suppliers are high priced usually. Take a master cyclinder that they sell for $150 that you can buy at your local parts store for $15. Not being a factory correct kind of guy, I look for those good deals locally when I can. Then for all the odd-ball stuff nobody carries I drop an order on one of the specialty suppliers.

There are probably a dozen or more specialty suppliers out there. Some can be hard to find. Seems like I never order from the same one twice depending on what I need.

-dnult