Only a handful of antique automobiles are celebrated in their ubiquity to the extent of the first generation Camaro. Their popularity has bred popularity like some perpetual motion machine that feeds on its own inertia. People like them because people like them. As a result, they tend to fade into the background for me, because even in my medium-sized town, they’re seemingly everywhere during the summer months.
Every once in a while, however, an early Camaro will remind me why they’re so popular. I submit for your approval the only decent shot I was able to take of one Granada Gold 1967 Camaro, perhaps the only one in the world that doesn’t have an LS-motor and a pro-touring stance or a counterfeit pro-stock vibe. Stock is nice on these.
Ah, the gen 1 Camaro is such a bittersweet car for me.
My wife’s grandmother purchased a new ’67 Camaro 327/glide. She maintained it in completely original condition. This was in California, where it did not have a speck of rust nor so much as a dent. Some weathering from being parked outside was it’s worst fault. And yes, the odometer never saw 100k
In the early 90’s she announced to us that upon her 80th birthday, she was going to quit driving and that Camaro was going to be all mine! You could have knocked me over with a feather.
I anxiously counted down the months, until the time when I would be able to claim my beloved prize. With a mere 6 months to go, that beautiful Camaro was stolen out of her driveway, where it had been parked for 25+years, never to be seen again.
Ugh!
Oh man, how awful!! So sad…
D’oh! That sucks! That must’ve broke her heart. :'(
Just goes to show the interest that is in them now. This car mirrors the one that
Mike Brewer purchased on Discovery Channels Wheelers Dealers on the Road..
one lady owner 327/glide base .Sold to a US expat in Kuwait for a big mark up.
Guess its like the Miata market.. try to find a stock, non tribute, is fast becoming hard.
Eh, still can’t get excited about it.
Yep, same here.
But Dan, you own a ’67 Mustang. 🙂
Yes, Mustang – the car the Camaro was desperately trying to copy. GM all perturbed about getting caught with its pants down. 😛
It’s still an SS. It may be fully documented and restored to the most pristine state of Norwood Assembly imperfection, but it’s still just another nice 1st gen Camaro SS. Give me a stock base model, especially a stripper or one with oddball (3 on the tree and power windows) or rare options. That gets my attention at a car show.
Agree, Aaron.
Sweet looking Camaro. I’ve always loved this generation Camaro. 🙂
Yeah I like early Camaros the new model is awful, but these were cool cars.
+1,what a difference between this beauty and the 4 wheeled gargoyle that’s todays Camaro.Ford and Mopar got the new Mustang and Challenger right,there’s nothing I can get excited about with the latest Camaro
Ever Ford Or GM man?. Like current Camaro better than the to EuroStang.
Going to be sold in the UK with EcoBoost 4cyl And RHD. I think Ford UK have missed the point by trying to make it to mass market Note to Ford see Sevile.. LHD and V8 is how us Brits see American cars.
I agree. Today’s attempt to replicate yesterday’s style makes today’s model look awful.
The only one that looks halfway decent is the Challener. The Camaro is just too hideous,a mish mash of styling cues that just doesn`t work at all. I know that I`ll probably get a lot of heat for this,but ditto for the Corvette.Just ugly.
I agree. At least someone did a good job of bringing the vintage look into the modern age. 🙂
The Challenger was blessed by the fact that it only had one basic design to emulate since it never made another generation(Yes I’m aware of the Mitsubishi based Challenger). The Mustang and Camaro have(or had in the Mustang’s case) the unfortunate task of emulating the major hard details of the Gen 1s whilst simultaneously integrating many details of the subsequent and immediately preceding generations, resulting in some very bulky and busy detailing.
I utterly hate Pro-Touring builds, and Pro-Stock for that matter(that fad seems to be mostly dead at least). Seems like both styles are solely constructed to be car show trailer queens and auction off. Both are overdecorated with overdone interiors with the BS notion that they’re streetable.
There’s two things I love about this example: 1. It’s an 67 RS which in my opinion looks way better than the contrived slatted headlight door 69 RS. 2. it’s an SS with the SS stripe and the SS vented hood – Every other Camaro I see from this generation usually sprouted the 69 Z28 cowl induction hood as well as it’s stripes, even the tribute SSs.
The “Official Douchebag Car” at my high school circa late ’70s… although they were typically Bondoed-up rotboxes with wheezy 307’s, Cherry Bombs, and their ass-ends jacked a half a mile high. Pass.
Don’t understand the dislike for the new generation. Remember folks, there was a time when GM was selling the Monte Carlo and a bit later on, the SS-R, as a suitable enough replacement for the Camaro………
Everyone loves the pure lines of the original and the second generation; but thanks to intrusive government regulations, crash and safety standards blowing up the weight to unimaginable levels unheard of in ’67, there will be no going back to that earlier time of automotive innocence. I’d rather have a new Camaro, Mustang, Corvette and Challenger in my life today to appreciate then not. They light up a sea of bland and anonymous cars on the roadway when you spot one passing by. I’m glad they’re here.
Nice catch of a classic, honest icon!
Regulation and safety isn’t responsible for the bloat, it’s perfectly possible to build a smaller car that’s safe. What gives the Camaro it’s bloat, and the Challenger it’s bloat, and even the Mustang it’s bloat is the fact that RWD platforms exist only in LARGE configurations for the big three now a days, despite ponycars historically being compact based(or smaller midsized). The S197 and current S550 are derived off the Mid-sized DEW98, the Challenger is based on the Full-sized LX platform, and the Camaro was based on the Full-sized Zeta platform, all originally of which originally intended for big sedans.
I’ve seen so many 67- 69 Camaros and 1970 Chevelle SSwhatevers on Mecum and BJ auctions that I’ve become utterly bored with them. Loved them as a 16 year old, but really over them now. Anyone want to buy my 72 442?
I’m not a big fan of the ’67-8 Camaro-I prefer the ’69-but this a beautiful car. It is so much better looking than the current model and makes the 2016 look like a POS.
I’m surprised to read that someone else shares the same opinion as I do, of the ’67-68 vs ’69. I was ten years old when the Camaro was launched and it made a huge impression compared to the suddenly boxy-looking Mustang. Those curves! The Coke- bottle shape! Better looking than a Ferrari, and soon I could admire them everywhere, while Ferraris were rather scarce. When the ’69 was introduced, my then-12 year old self thought it was terrible: bloated and fat just like Mustangs had evolved. But by 1980 or so, the ’69 shape had really grown on me and has remained attractive all these years. And the ’67-’68 just looks dated now. Nice, but nothing special.
Even though I like oddball cars, I consider the first-generation Camaro to be commensurate to Elton John’s or Tom Petty’s music. I get the appeal, I get why they’re so popular, but I just don’t really go for it.
However, every once in awhile I’ll hear “Rocket Man” or “You Got Lucky,” and I won’t change the channel.
This gold Camaro is a lot like that…for some reason, I just got it. 🙂
Now, I’d love a ’70 1/2 Z28!
This car brings back memories of a time when this shade of gold paint on cars was Hot Hot Hot! And when it is so smooth and shiny like this one is, I can see why new car buyers in 1967 lapped these up.
when i had my tonsils out , i was given the corgi model of this car. they had removeable wheels on all 4 tires. the easier to lose them. you could reach under the headlights to open them revealing rhinestones. same colors on the outside. removeable top possible , i cant remember at the moment. ill look for the original survivor.
coincidentally or maybe not , 10 years later, in 76 that my first car was a silver blue firebird automatic 326. i loved that car . it was a 17th birthday gift my father had picked up but showed me first for approval, maybe he had also picked out the corgi (?)
him letting me choose, ok his first choice, and i did! was as much a sign that i was old enough to make up my mind on anything, be it school, car or whatever life called for.
Popular then, popular now. Like the tri-five Chevies etc. Why were they so popular? Because they were good looking fun to drive cars. Still, when I go to a car show I’ll walk by all of the popular models to check out something like an old Citroen DS or Studebaker Hawk GT. Funny though, earlier this morning I saw an very tasteful,red orange 57 Chevy Bel Air hardtop wearing fuel injection badges. It was stock appearing just lowered, with a little rake. It was running a floor shift four speed. I followed it for several blocks changing my position so i could get different views of it. Like the Camaro, these cars deserve to be admired.
Like all the sixties’ ponycars, there really is no disliking these. They had archaic, rudimentary underpinnings but, damn, did they look good and, with the biggest engines, were terrors in a straight line. Camaros and Firebirds, in particular, ran better than their competitors because the engine compartment better accommodated the big-block engines. On top of that, being a Chevy, keeping one running was as cheap as was possible.
So, yeah, they’re everywhere at the car shows (few in original condition), but there’s good reason for it.
I think this is the best looking generation of Camaros. But, but they don’t do much for me either. The same can be said for the Tri-Chevies…..I get it….but to me there are just so many running around I can’t get excited.
Always like these 1st gen Camaro’s. Grandma had a brand new ’68 Convertible 350 auto/AC that I always admired. The pea soup green color even didn’t look too bad for the time. Nice color on the pictured example.
I had a comic book when I was a kid, and one of the featured cars was a gold Camaro with that black stripe. I am not a fan of ponycars, they just don’t speak to me like big luxo-barges do, but I understand why so many people like them.
60s era Mustangs and Camaros really are small…I had custody of a 65 Mustang convertible for several months, and was amazed at how tiny the car was, and how little space there was around that big steering wheel….I couldn’t even get my left knee up between the wheel and the door…had to keep my leg sticking straight out toward the pedals.
How tall are you, David? I find that my ’65 Mustang has as much front legroom as my ’65 Buick Skylark does, although it definitely doesn’t have the width.
I’m about 6 ft 1…I have back issues and I can sometimes alleviate the pain by moving my left leg around, but I couldn’t do that in the Mustang. I was also brought home from the hospital when I was born in my mom’s 65 Mustang convertible…honey gold, white top and base interior (no pony), 6 cylinder, 3 speed manual. It got totaled in 1968 and was replaced with a VW Squareback…my parents had already ordered a tan VW with brown vinyl, but the Ford got destroyed before the tan one came in so they wound up with a red VW with black vinyl interior.