So I realize I'll get some biased answers in here but I'm a new member and looking for feedback. So some background - I'm 35 and bought my first V8 back in '00 during college which was a '98 Trans Am. I've also owned a '94 Z28 and a '99 Trans Am since then. Today I own an '02 C5 Z06 that I bought 7 years ago before my wife and I had kids. Since then I've put some wrench time to it with heads/cam/intake/headers/clutch and it puts down about 450RWHP. I love the car but don't love the fact that I can't cruise with my wife and two sons since there's no back seat. I work a lot of hours and the past couple years only put about 500 miles/yr on my vette if that. Its currently sitting at 34K miles.

So now I'm looking at options with a back seat that I will also love and can go fast in. At first I was thinking to just add a car to my collection and pick a 4th gen camaro since I'm very familiar with that body style, I can get one cheap, and have a back seat (although people sitting back there can't see much). If I go this route it just means my vette will be driven even less than it is now and take up more space. I do have room for about 6 cars between my attached and detached garage so its not a terrible idea but I'm not sold on it. I've always liked the 1st gen camaro especially with the hideaway headlights and so I'm looking for opinions. I would go with something that's not a show car so I could play with the motor/trans and target something that puts down 450 to the ground similar to my Z06. I'm just wondering if anyone else has done a similar swap and if so then how did it turn out?

 

Not sure on the swap, so I will avoid that part but i'll give you a little input. I'm 30, have a wife a 2 boys. Never owned a vette so i have no idea on that, but a handful of months back my wife and i decided to purchase an older car. After lots of searching and research we went with a 67 Camaro convertible, and love it. I knew next to nothing about cars when we purchased it and now know a ton and it's a full blown addiction. I've found a lot of "short cuts" from the previous owners but nothing that made me think we got a bad deal, just part of an older car. Unless it's raining or freezing cold, we've been cruising as much as possible, and it gives my young boys a true appreciation of what a classic car is and what separates it from "oooh a porsche" everytime we go somewhere, someone stops and tells us that's a nice car, or asks about it and tells me about owning one years ago... but it's so fun to drop the top and take a cruise to lunch and it's got a nice little 350 in it and my youngest (turned 2 in Nov) will say "let's race" he just means to hit the gas pedal hard, but he loves it. He also likes to act like he's working on it by rearranging my tools for me. If i had the money and no kids, i probably would love having a vette, but It's so much fun taking the family out on a cruise and still having that sporty classic muscle look. My car is far from show quality (although i'll be putting it in a little church car show for kicks) so I don't have a heart attack when they get in the back with shoes on!

 

Thanks for the input. With all the views I'm surprised there's not more people trying to sell me on the 1st gen Camaro. I posted this same question on a corvette forum that I'm on and there's several guys telling me I wouldn't regret the swap.

 

There is your answer, if you have the corvette its easy to make the swap. But if your the one with the Camaro, your not really eager to make the trade even if the Corvette guy offer cash also, of course unless there is a lot of cash..

 

But you asked if anyone else made this type of a swap. Now, if you want an opinion....
I just sold my C4 Vette this past summer. With having that, I barely drove my Camaro though. The Camaro is cooler, but the Vette was a more realistic, "most days but only in nice weather" kind of car. The handling between the two is night and day, so in that respect the Vette was more fun to drive. They both have their strong points though. Just know that after being used to driving a Vette, the Camaro will feel like driving a truck. Sure, you can upgrade the Camaro suspension, but it will NEVER be a Vette contender in the handling department. With that, if you could only choose one, I would still consider trading for a Camaro. Notice, I sold the Vette, and kept the Camaro!!

 

Good point. I should've asked for those that have gone from a modern high-performance sports car to a 1st gen Camaro. I think it can be made to handle as good as my Z06 but it's all about how much time and money you want to invest. I think I could live with trading in some handling as long as I can at least keep my straight line acceleration!