[Fred Ficarra]

I wrote a book and it was lost to cyberspace. I'll try it again;

HELLO EVERYONE!

I bought my 69 Camaro NEW. I'm the original and only owner. It was a gift to me from ME for my 21st birthday. It's a Hugger Orange SS RS Endura bumpered, both spoilers car. The steel ducted hood is fully functional. Everything works but I'm not sure about the headlight washers. They haven't been used since '74. That's the last time I drove the car in the rain. It was too much trouble to wash the bottom everytime it got dirty. The engine is a L88 427, .060 over to 440. It's 12.5:1 open chamber aluminum heads with a really long list of stuff. Yep, 37+ years worth of stuff. Here's a picture;


Whadya wanna know?

THAT WORKED!!! OK, I dug this out of my dusty harddrive. I wrote it to Hotrod Magazine. I'll edit it for this site, right after ANOTHER PICTURE.

(edited text)
" Like many of us here, I go back to the way things were in the sixties. You could order ANYTHING. Of course 'packages' like the RS and SS had many of the same components but the customer DIDN'T get a discount. That was outlawed in the seventies. Anyway, I took the plunge, in 1969 of course. But I was planning to buy Chevy's answer to the Mustang from the second the Mustang came out when I was in Junior High School. But I had to wait until the day I turned 21 to sign a contract to order my car. It was a present to me, from me, for my 21st birthday. Still have it. I even saved the window sticker but my mother threw it away 30 years ago. I still haven't forgiven her!
My Camaro is a Hugger Orange SS RS big block car. I bought a L88 427 for it a year before I bought the car. Us kids didn't know that the 427 was an RPO! All those Yenkos and Baldwin Motion cars weren't even COPO's.
The first item on my option list was positraction. Because the car had big power a 12 bolt was required, not an option. So was a TH400 with high performance innards. (I wanted an automatic. I was tired of breaking parts) I didn't want power steering. That was dumb. But at least I couldn't turn the wheel without moving the car. (really fast PS went in 25 years ago but I try not to wear the steering components too much) That meant all of the end-links are still tight and original. Hell, most of the car is original, even though I've been applying Hotrod Magazine tricks to it since 1969. Even the PTB are still on the firewall. And the 8 track tape player is still on the console and still works. It's just not hooked to the speakers. I replaced the stock AM radio 25 years ago with a cassette w/Alpine stuff. (still there and time to upgrade again) The other day I notice a 'date stamp' on the inner rear panels. Made the day after my 21st. Same with other stuff like my console gages. They all are functional and original. Hell, so are almost every light bulb in the car. I can tell you exactly which have been replaced and count them on one hand. " And Blah, Blah,,,

One more shot for now; (OK-two more)

[clwilcox33]

Sweet ride! And welcome to the site Fred!!

[Fred Ficarra]

Thank you Christopher! Good to be here. Once I learn to drive around.

[zuma]

Nice car Fred!! welcome!

[zdld17]

Howdy from Texas. From the drivers seat , the car looks like a handful!. Even got the factory cruise control, Kool. Is that a rear window defogger switch I see next to the wiper switch?

[3forme]

Love the 8 track! Awesome machine Fred, very cool.

[Fred Ficarra]

WOW! That didn't take long! You guys are good! Thanks DoubleD and 3!
Not factory. I installed it in the 70's when they became available on the aftermarket.
Same with the defroster. But the switch and timer are out of my totaled 79 Trans Am. (my ex-wife's boy friend wrecked it) The wires on the glass of the rear window peeled away so I said the hell with it. It was an aftermarket thing. But I don't drive the car in poor weather so I don't need it. Kinda like the headlight washers. They haven't been tried since '74. Oh, the PTB's are still on the firewall and that's the original 375 horse tune-up sticker on the top of the radiatior support. It's still readable.
Zuma, I always was a Bobcat fan!

[Fred Ficarra]

Those pictures (except the engine) were taken about three and a half years ago. The car sat in that side of the garage because its' stall (3 car garage) was being used as the rebuild shop for my sailboat. That's also my web site; http://epitomesrebuild.com/
Anyway, during the 3+ year rebuild, the car just sat. The gas tank was half full. I changed the oil, put in a Summit high torque mini starter and two new yellow tops in the trunk. Hit the key. Fired instantly. Ran perfect. What is it they say about old fuel?

[67FamilyFun]

Originally Posted by Fred Ficarra

But I don't drive the car in poor weather...

Well having lived 3 years in Gig Harbor, I'd say you only get to let it out of the barn about 3 mos out of the year up there in Washington!!!

Welcome!

Scott

[Fred Ficarra]

Yep, that's about right. Especially when the roads have to be perfectly dry.

[Camaro Dave]

Welcome to TC! Nice car

[mbmmca]

Hi from MI!!! Nice car...

[DougP]

Welcome to Team Camaro from Maryland

[Fred Ficarra]

Thanks for the good wishes! I would have said thanks sooner but DSL was down. Big windstorm. We're on generator. Thanks again!