Here’s another Outtake from Iowa City, courtesy of my uncle. As the previous owner of two mid-Seventies Camaros, he noticed this one right away, but the large dog peeking around the corner kept him from getting additional photos. This picture could have been taken in 1975, 1989, or a couple weeks ago. Nice find.
I suppose this model Camaro/Firebird was underappreciated because of the era. I knew several who had them in Panama and Later in Guam during the seventies. I liked most of them. They were still making them with a 250 (similar to the 1st generation covered earlier by Paul) and that was enough to keep anyone happy who wasn’t infected by the speed bug.
Anyway, I never owned one and I wish I had.
These were one of the handful of cars that wore the cow catcher bumpers pretty well.
I am a sucker for second gen F bodies though so it could just be my biased eyes.
I thought you were going to ask; ITS 1975, What Do You Buy?
so,
1975 Fleetwood Brougham in mauve
1975 Mark 5 Aqua Pearl, or silver rose
or an Imperial…
then I wanted a Firebird Espirit…or a convertible.
Was The Berlinetta around then? I liked that model name almost more but I liked What I consudered more masculine persona of the Firebird, as I percieved the styling…much like i felt the Toronado was the Most Masculine of its Riviera near twin. The Eldorado was something “Status above” the other two…about $5,000 … I don’t Think the Firebird Had More Than a 2-300$ premium in pricing?
iirc
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Did you miss the CC on the Givenchy Mark IV?
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1976-continental-mark-iv-givenchy-edition-aqua-couture/
Yes, Thank You, I enjoyed both that, as well as The piece about The MAuve Fleetwood recently. I Love The kitche factor. Creamy Leather In soft unnatural colors are pretty cool.
To me This Camaro looked too much like like smaller Monza hatchback for my tastes.
Speaking of convertible, 1975 was the last year for GM B-bodies convertibles (Caprice/Delta 88/Bonneville/LeSabre) while the Eldorado got one more year. It’s a bit sad then they didn’t keep it up for one more year. Imagine what if there was a 1976 Caprice convertible with squared headlights.
Loved my new 1977 Camaro LT with a 305 V8. Flat cornering, great highway stability, and reasonable gas mileage for the day. Fully optioned with everything power operated (locks and windows), tilt wheel, and limited slip, it cost less than anything “sporty” I test drove in April of 1977. Still miss this car…
I almost bought a rusted-out ’74 for $600 from a friends neighbor a few years back. It was the type LT model, A/C, cruise, power windows, 350. Some random guy passing thru a neighborhood spotted it and bought it on the spot, before my tax refund could come through 🙁 .
The car WAS a rustbucket, so maybe that was somebody from above saving me from making a huge mistake.
I ordered from the factory a ’74 Type LT with the 350 engine and 4-speed manual shift. I believe it was $3600 on the sticker. It was the beginning of a series of bad GM cars for me. After taking delivery, I drove to the gas station (remember when dealers gave you almost no gas in a new car?). After filling the tank, the gas gauge showed 1/8 full. The beginning of a series of broken things. The car got very poor gas mileage. And it had no acceleration (too much smog cutting shortcuts). It was later traded in on a ’78 Sunbird – another troublesome car – but that’s another story.
I had a ’74 with a 250 six and a three speed on the floor.
Mine did not have the wraparound rear window – a ’74.
Those bumpers were made out of heavy aluminum.
…Champaign-Urbana Illinois in 1974.
My first car, in the year 1977 was a 1974 Camaro Type LT, 350, 2 Barrel, 4 Speed Saginaw. Shortly thereafter the rear quarter panels rotted out, requiring a visit to the town body shop, some bondo and a new coat of Bright Yellow and she looked like new…. Of course, some mods were in order, so, on went the Z-28 Ducktail Spoiler (I believe I ordered that through Baldwin-Motion when they were then doing mail order). A Hurst Competition Plus 4 speed shifter eliminated the bad tendency of the shifter linkage binding up without warning, with the end result being a tow job to the nearest gas station where the linkage was sorted out. Later on, headers, a Holley street dominator intake with a Carter AFB 4 barrel really awakened the L-48. My final modification was going to the local Chevy dealer in Beaufort, NC, close by my first Coast Guard unit, where I ordered 2 1977 Z-28 resonators and tailpipes. In the end, it was a poor man’s 1974 Z-28. And with those factory tuned new-for-77 resonators, it had a unique and sweet sound to her.
As most people who hold affection for their first car, i miss that car today. At the time, in 1980, with some OPEC gas crises under my belt, not so much. Too bad the GM sheet metal was so poor and rust preventative techniques were not yet in the vernacular. I always liked the first years of the Kamm-Tail Corvette inspired rear end, 70 1/2 to 73, but this version, with the big bumpers, is a car finally gaining acceptance in the Camaro community.
Disgusting!
I liked the white one with blue striping I saw in the old days when I was an Adonis-like specimen of Disgruntled Young Coot.