I have the opportunity to buy a '68 Camaro. It has 350 V8 and trany in it along with the dash. There are no gauges, no seats, the interior is empty. The guy is currently painting the body black. It is a on the chassis "restoration". He will install the wiring for the headlights, taillights and install the door handles on delivery. It has a straight body and all of the glass is original. He is asking $13K for it. Am I being had?

Thanx

 

We'll need more info on the car. #'s matching, Z28, RS what is it? How is tho motor?

 

Will you be getting all the internal stuff with the car? If not I would say to try and talk him down.

 

Why is he painting it for you? Is he hiding some body damage under the fresh new paint? What do the floor pans look like? How does it run? What condition are the front bushings? Is the original glass scratched or tinted (sunfaded)? Special model Z28, RS, SS, RSSS?
Take a real close look at this stuff first!!!!

You can easily drop in a good motor for $1500. And to purchase a shell isn't worth much more than $5000 so, unless it's something special... I wouldn't pay 13K. Because so far, there's nothing that you have mentioned that would warrant that much cash.

 

nice point johnny

 

As far as the owner knows, the numbers don't match. It isn't a RS, SS, RSSS, or Z28. The motor sounds good, not pings, knocks nor does it sound like its missing. As far as the paint goes, the story is he had started to restore it and started with the paintand decided since he had two other cars to restore he would see if he could sell the Camaro. He called me and said he had the seats for it. The floor pans are soft, but I couldn't see any rust. The glass has some scratches, but nothing you wouldn't find on a car that had been a daily driver.

 

The decision is always yours, but I have seen complete 1st gen cars for less in auto-traders. Unless he has done an excellent job on restoring the sub-frame and skeleton interior the price would have to be adjusted, unless it is a rare car with numerous options. Just my opinion. At any rate good-luck.

 

I am new to the Forum like you and new to Camaros, but not new to old cars. I agree with others. Too much for a shell and the new paint is very fishy. At the very least, tell him you want it unpainted and get a discount, but I would keep looking. You would be better off looking for a complete car in original shape that needs restoration.

 

It would help if you could take pics of the car and post them. That would help a lot. Specifically take a picture of the cowl tag on the firewall. It is located above the brake master cylinder and looks like this:


Here's how to decode it: Decode

The seller may or may not know what they have. You could luck out and purchase an X77 (Z-28). I lucked out and purchased an X11. [sm=happy046.gif]
The seller had no clue it was an ss350. I only paid $6,500 for mine about four years ago. However, it was in much better shape than what you are saying. Make sure you don't rush into anything. There are plenty of good deals out there if you are patient. Something else you might have to do is travel to find what you want. If it's the right car at the right price it will be worth it. Let us know how it goes. later.

 

To play devils advocate. The seller may feel his car is worth 13K since now you can buy a new shell from CARS for 13K. Is that a justifible arguement? I don't know. I do know since the replacement shells have been made available I've seen a increase in Camaro prices for those below 13K. If you have a full, complete rolling chassis less motor and interior my belief is it is worth what ever anyone will pay. Again, is that a fair market price? If you buy it and like it then yes, it is fair. If you think it's too much then no, it's not fair.

In your paticular case your only being taken if his motives are not ethical or legal.

As others have mentioned. A decoding of the cowl and vin would be the first step. Once you've verified what it is then maybe the 13K is a fair price.