One that got away

Ok, ok, maybe it didn't get away...but it was simply a car I had my eye on. I patrol a fairly depressing area of Detroit. On many streets, the vacant lots and abandoned houses out number the occupied dwellings. That said, there are a few stable areas, and every now and then, I will stumble upon a gem that catches me by surprise.

This particular gem was a 1970-1973 Chevy Camaro with Z28 badging. The car has been up on jack stands for a few years now. It was basically just a shell of a car. No rear, no rear suspension, no drivetrain, no wiring, and I'm almost positive the front suspension was gone as well. I hadn't been by the address in awhile and figured I'd drive by for a "well being check" on the car.

To my surprise, the car was gone! It had been sitting on a concrete slab, fenced in, next to a home. It just so happened that somebody from the home was on the front porch, seemingly curious as to what we were looking for. "Hey, you sell that Camaro?" He replied, "Yep, a friend bought it. Actually, in exchange for body work he did on a 1970 Nova SS I have." Ok, so this Camaro wasn't just some abandoned car that a person gave away to a scrapper for pennies on the dollar. I couldn't help myself, I had to ask "How much you sell it for? Was it a real Z28?" The car was sold for $1,100, or equivalent in work I assume, and yes, it was a real Z28. My jaw about hit the ground. His friend is building it into a pro street car, and the car was solid according to the owner, though it either already had, or required, a new frame because prior to being put up on stands it sat on the ground and took out the frame. I can only assume the pans and lower body panels may also have been worse than they appeared.

After some quick research, the market for these second gen Camaros isn't as high as I thought. Also, you were basically getting a shell and nothing more. That's fine, as I had visions of a pro-touring car, where the suspension and drivetrain all would have been replaced any way. Would have been a great/cheap platform to start with. I was at least happy to hear the car will be saved, rising from the ashes, and cruise the streets of Detroit once again. That's better than being melted down for scrap any day of the week.