Camaro?

[cuda]

Looking to fulfil childhood dream of owning an old Yank muscle car - but think Mustangs are a bit cliche so looking at 68/69 Camaros.

Are they any worse or better than Mustangs of that vintage?

Anything to look out for?

Seen this and very tempted:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Looks nice but what do I need to know?!

Thanks
Cuda

[5ohmustang]

That's very nice. Camaro in the states are usually a bit more expensive than mustangs as they are rarer.

[Northwestel]

Yes Mustangs are a bit boring but they make a lot of sense in the UK. They are are small and you can get parts here for the 60's ones as wel easily. A 67 mustang with a 351 windsor be hard to beat IMHO.

Mercury Cougar's are nice also!

Camaro ok but you'll pay a lot more for them than a mustang.

The best underhyped and my personal fav is the plymouth sport fury 440. Or you could get the 426 wedge

Edited by Northwestel on Tuesday 29th August 15:04

[clivegsd]

cuda said:

Looking to fulfil childhood dream of owning an old Yank muscle car - but think Mustangs are a bit cliche so looking at 68/69 Camaros.

Are they any worse or better than Mustangs of that vintage?

Anything to look out for?

Seen this and very tempted:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Looks nice but what do I need to know?!

Thanks
Cuda

I did post a reply but it seems to have disappeared.


We own a 3rd gen Camaro and it's fine around our roads up here in rural Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales. They aren't too bad on fuel, if you go for one of the bigger engines then 30+ mpg ain't gonna happen!

There are a few common problems but most people seem to manage to deal with them from what I can make out.

If you are going to use it as a daily driver then trust me, the boot has no real room for shopping ;-)

Ours has just gone through an MOT with no advisories. It's a fun car to have and is pretty unusual to see on the roads.

If you want one then go for it

[Matt Harper]

Northwestel said:

Yes Mustangs are a bit boring but they make a lot of sense in the UK. They are are small and you can get parts here for the 60's ones as wel easily. A 67 mustang with a 351 windsor be hard to beat IMHO.

Mercury Cougar's are nice also!

Camaro ok but you'll pay a lot more for them than a mustang.

The best underhyped and my personal fav is the plymouth sport fury 440. Or you could get the 426 wedge

Edited by Northwestel on Tuesday 29th August 15:04

What? Ford 351W wasn't launched until 1970 model year. Mopar 426 was a hemi, not a wedge.
Any more unadulterated bks to share with us?

[TurboJet]

[Matt Harper]

TurboJet said:

Well I guess it's time for me to eat crow. I will never be accused of not apologizing for a falsehood. I stand corrected and retract my pompous statement.

I wonder if he really meant what he wrote, given this power plant went out of production 54 years ago, being essentially a dual-quad pick-up truck engine - superseded by the 426 hemi, which was physically smaller, lighter and delivering an additional 60hp? Maybe so.

That aside - I stand corrected and humbled.

[essexstu]

67-69 Camaro way cooler than the Stang. More power, better looking & much rarer

[LuS1fer]

Do it.
I started in Corvettes and 3rd and 4th gen Camaros.
Moved to a Mustang when GM stopped making them in 2002 but god, Mustangs are such a f*** cliche. Nice cars but going to a field full of them takes the edge off.
Camaro has largely been equal if not better, for a lot of the time.

[stuartmmcfc]

Matt Harper said:

What? Ford 351W wasn't launched until 1970 model year. Mopar 426 was a hemi, not a wedge.
Any more unadulterated bks to share with us?

My 69 cougar has a 351w

[fatboy18]

I had a 76 Camaro as a daily driver for 4,1/2 years. Mine was a straight 6, 4.1 with a munchie 3 speed manual gearbox. It was more economical than the 350 v8 and also because I was younger insurance was better.

What you do have to remember on these cars or any old car is things wear out! If the suspension bushes have never been changed the car may wonder around a bit. So you really need to check the undersides of the car for rust and check the driveline is ok.

Same with things like engine mounts and transmission mounts, when were the brakes overhauled? The bodys on the car were fisher bodys and the front chassis was then attached to it.
The doors are very long and heavy so it is likely that the door hinges may require attention. On the 74 on camaros the rear window was bonded onto the car like modern car windscreens now. then chrome trim was attached around the window to finish off the looks.

Under the chrome trim is a the metal car bodywork which acted as a drainage channel with a small hole either side attached to a tube that let the rain water drain away. over the years if this channel was not cleared out the drainage pipe would block and the channel would hold water which would rust away inside the boot. So you need to open the boot, lean in upside down and check the roof of the boot for tell tell signs of wielding or shoddy fibreglass work.

Rust was the big killer on my car, one day i walked out to open the door and the door handle and part of the surrounding metal came away in my hand with the door still closed! There was hardly any sign of bubbling rust on the exterior of the door it was all inside the skin!

Awesome cars, but make sure you go in with your eyes wide open.
They used to build the Firebird, Camaro and Trans-am on the same production line, same main body but different power plants, interior parts.

Really have some fond memories in mine, loved it, but rust killed mine.

OP: The link to the ph advert is opening all camaros for sale, was there a particular car you were looking at?
Cant seem to rotate the pic of my old car

Edited by fatboy18 on Friday 27th October 23:48