1st Camaro ever made

[DavidS]

A guy emailed me a bunch of questions on my Y55 battery. He found me on google with a y55 search since my y55 page on z28.net is ranked really high.

Anyway, he is restoring the first Camaro ever made, VIN 00001.

Here is a picture of the car in 2010:
http://cdn.speednik.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2010/09/firstcamaro1.jpg
And a link to the story of the car going on EBay in 2010:

http://www.dragzine.com/news/first-camaro-ever-built-up-on-ebay/

He seems like a nice guy and I told him I'd keep an eye out for another Y55 battery (with yellow tops). I believe that the car is almost done, but he seems secretive about the restoration.

[Z28]

Holy shit!

[Formula413]

Now THAT is cool!!!

[ZFreie]

Wonder how much it would be worth if it was 100% factory stock?

[LSX-Nation]

Very intetesting

[Formula413]

Wonder how much it would be worth if it was 100% factory stock?

http://blog.mainstreethost.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Dr.-Evil-One-Million-Dollars.png

[frankzlt1]

lol^^^^^

[DAWG]

Not so fast!
the original camaro was call the chevrolet Panther and Ive read somewhere they had the first vin numbers 001 to 002 (2 were made)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Panther
Remember there is alot of people trying to make their cars more than they actually are.

[My84Z]

I think he means actual camaro's not panthers

[DavidS]

Yep. VIN # 123377N100001 is the first production Camaro. It was made at the Norwood plant.

It's too bad it lost the engine, trans, and rear-end but it's still pretty cool.

I wonder how far back the new owner researched it and how it's been restored. According to the VIN, it would be a 6-cylinder coupe.

In one of his emails, he said:
almost finished and not a single reproduction part used

[frankzlt1]

Dave the owner of the car will he send you any pics.

[DavidS]

I can ask him for pics Frank but I'm pretty sure he won't send anything. I'll try though.

He was releasing info to me very slowly. I'm not sure why. Maybe, he think's I'll start asking a million questions. If he let me, I definitely would. lol.

[DavidS]

Frank, He wrote back:

six cylinder with a three on the tree. No kidding. it will be a real speed demon.........I will send you some pics as soon as its done. next couple of months.

[black heartbeat]

Thats awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

[frankzlt1]

Frank, He wrote back:

for the first camaro it really doesn't surprise me that its a slick six but 3 on the tree is different.

[Z28]

You could get a 3 on the tree on a camaro?

[DavidS]

According to the Camaro Research Group, for first gens:

Automatic transmissions: The default shifter was a column shift unit.

[Video]

The only thing stock about this is the vin...that sucks but cool its even still around and not scrap.

[bottledbird68]

Yep, my 68 was a factory column shift auto car.
Can't say I've ever seen a manual trans column shift car though

[DavidS]

Yep, my 68 was a factory column shift auto car.
Can't say I've ever seen a manual trans column shift car though

Me either Matt. I should have listed the correct CRG info though:

Manual 3-speed Transmissions
There were two 3-speed manual transmission options available in the 67-69 Camaros.
The base manual transmission for non-high-performance models and 67-8 SS350's was the Saginaw 3-speed, M15. If no transmission option was selected, this was the transmission installed. It was column shifted unless a console or RPO M11 floor shift was selected. An exception to this was SS350's, which required the HD 3-speed to get a floor shift.

[Z28]

Yep, my 68 was a factory column shift auto car.
Can't say I've ever seen a manual trans column shift car though

This is what I originally thought when he said 3 on the tree

[DavidS]

The first Camaro has been restored and is going to be shown at the 2015 GM Nationals (not the Camaro Nationals).

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015/02/25/first-camaro-ever-built-restored-headed-to-2015-carlisle-gm-nationals/

http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Leisure/2009/first-camaro-876.jpg

4cGzwpLRHm8

[ls6monte]

Just saw that the other day. I'll be a the GM Nationals this year again. Maybe I'll see it.

[frankzlt1]

That's really cool dave.