1968 Chevrolet Camaro Hardtop
For consignment, a real gem with the first generation Camaro which was once a mild mannered street car that is now a full on custom street/strip bruiser. Bathed it in maroon metallic with some purple flames, a bumperless front end, an added in over the top ostrich skin covered interior, and then there was a 496ci V8 plopped under the hood to keep this skate eating up the competition, all the while keeping the driving in the lap of luxury. Read on and you too will be impressed by this go fast Mustang eater, and if you are you’d better get your butt in here because these don’t last long in our halls.
Exterior
With it’s pony car long front and short rear deck we can note all straight rust free steel, and it’s all bathed in the deep end of the pool mirror finished maroon metallic with some light purple flames licking back from the grille. A stock Camaro with exposed headlights, a shaved rear bumper, shaved door handles, a small bowtie emblem in the center of the grille, and chromed trimmings. All of this presents with some very minor inclusions in the finish with all well minded gaps which include the reverse scooped hood that leads back to the lightly tinted glass around the passengers compartment. Accenting this straight body is nice chrome and clean window trimmings and a stock Camaro tail lights setup is seen as is the smoothed filler panel in the center. 15-inch Billet Specialties wheels, polished to the nines, are wrapped in skinny 205/70 rubber up front and sticky 275/60 Mickey Thompson drag radials in the rear.
Interior
The interior door panels present original in design and form, but have been covered in ostrich leather hides and are very clean and straight in smooth saddle for the integrated armrests and textured slightly lighter inserts. Moving inside we see front low back buckets and a rear bench showing off with broad tuck and roll textured ostrich hide light saddle inserts and smooth darker saddle bolsters that sit above gold carpet, and all is clean in here. The original dash shows nicely and retains its rake as it moves downward from the dash top. Dakota digital blue glowing instruments are now settled into the deep round insert gauges. Chromed eyeball vents are in the dash as well and a padded saddle ostrich hide topper caps things off nicely. A Billet Specialties rally steering wheel turns easily as it is power assisted. In dash center is more ostrich hide framing the AM/FM/Bluetooth/DVD stereo and above are the factory temp sliders. This intersects with the center console that races through the buckets, sports some wood applique around the shifter and 4 digital blue backlit gauges that present themselves to the driver nicely. An ostrich hide padded insert is in for the glove box and works perfectly with the padded saddle surrounds and twin cupholders just in front. A short stalk piston topped Hurst shifter is just behind these gauges and well within reach of the pilot. The headliner in saddle vinyl is nice and tight and we cannot overlook the trunk with its gold carpeting, ostrich hide underside trunk lid liner and smooth padded saddle sides.
Drivetrain
Under the hood and my partner in crime needed to slap me as I was totally hypnotized by the machinist’s dream I couldn’t take my eyes off of! What did I behold but a 496ci V8 capable of a dyno proven 655hp. A Scat crank and rods have been fitted into the block and make the pump gas friendly 9.4-1 compression via SRP pistons. A 598i/.621e lift and 258i/268e duration camshaft actuates the roller rockers that are mounted atop a pair of aluminum Strike Force cylinder heads with 320cc runners and 124cc chambers. It is fed by a Demon 4-barrel carburetor and Professional Products polished intake manifold. Plenty of polished bolt ons, shiny headers, MSD ignition, and an electric water pump are noted. On the back, a built AutoGear Muncie M22 style 4-speed manual transmission with a Centerforce clutch takes the horsepower handoff with ease. Way back to spin the rear tires is a 12-bolt Posi rear axle with 3.77 gears and Moser axles that handles all that power!
Undercarriage
All rust free with some light patina and road dirt with many add ons for performance like a high capacity fuel pump and filter system. Independent coil springs upfront, and leaf springs with Caltrac bars on the rear provide the ride and we also see the addition of 4 wheel power disc brakes for the big WHOAH factor. Headers rain down from the engine and meet up with a like new X-pipe equipped dual exhaust with Borla mufflers to let the world know that you have arrived.
Drive-Ability
This car fired up with barely a turn of the ignition, and idled like it was ready to be unleashed. So, I did a no holds barred out to the test track romp where it performed beautifully. Head snapping acceleration, good rail like handling, and bias free stopping. All pure 68 Camaro in true muscle form and certainly able to kick all those asses and more. During our fast time behind the wheel we did note that the wipers did not wipe, the heater blower didn’t blow, there was a slight rub at the left front tire, and the radio didn’t belt out any tunes, (but who cares when you can listen to the beat of 650+ horsepower under the hood.
All are just the results of a painstaking restoration, custom paint job, a strong power plant, a luxurious but racy interior look with top shelf gauges on the dash, and the beauty of an undercarriage with goodies to ensure things go very straight and very fast.
Price: $57,500
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