1969 Camaro Value?

[Irun]

I've owned a 1969 Camaro for almost 30 years. Since 2002 the car had been sitting in the garage of a secondary home, gathering dust, mildew and dead mice. This past week I finally dug it out.

Although my original plan was to keep the car and build it when I retire, the way I felt about muscle cars 30 years ago is not how I feel about them today. I know that if I do build it, there will be another vehicle in the garage that sits largely unused. Knowing that, I've decided to sell it. With that in mind, I started looking at how to price it, but prices are all over the place.

In terms of the car, it's all there and not a rust bucket. It did have some less than perfect body work done before I bought it, but it's not a hard fix to correct it. Also, since it hasn't been started since 2002, and the keys went missing, there's work on that end as well.

All that said, anyone here have any idea how to price this thing? The reality is that will a little work it would be road worthy pretty quickly. There's a 400 small block under the hood mated to a Turbo 350 transmission. I haven't had time to clean it up yet, but here's a picture after I drug it out of the garage. FWIW, ignore the Z28 badge, because it's not. The previous owner put the badges on and I decided to not remove them. Thoughts?

 

[MaximusLJR06]

Just for a ballpark number I would say between $15-20K. Hard to actually tell without lots more pictures and actually seeing it.

 

[g.hayduke]

It's also important to know what is original and what is not, starting with the engine & transmission.

Cars with "matching numbers" are worth considerably more than those with engines replaced, for example.

Somebody on here can probably provide a proper definition of what experts use as a definition for "matching numbers" but I know it speaks to the originality of the vehicle.

 

[Daryl]

Hello fellow Camaro owner. I’ve owned four 1968 Camaros and can say that @MaximusLJR06 is in the ballpark with his pricing and @g.hayduke is also correct with his comments. Go here: https://www.camaros.net/forums/whats-it-worth.66/ and post your question to get a more detailed answer. These guys know their Camaros just like this forum knows TJ’s. It would also be a good place to sell it.

 

[Tranz Zam]

I've owned several 69s. The market on them is usually pretty good, although numbers fluctuate greatly when you factor in options, amount of rust repair done, and what it started life out as.

If it's a base model, they tend to be worth more restored as a resto mod than back to original.

If you come up with a number, I'd be interested in it. I've been thinking about building another 69.

Let me know!

 

[Rooscooter]

To get good money you need numbers to match and some rare combination of engine, trim etc. From what you have described I think if it ran well you'd be in the $8K-14K range. What was the original trim/engine/transmission?

My wife's HS graduation present was a 69 RS/SS 396 that was in decent shape. It was worth about $3K back then. It is a numbers matching car and had no rust or body issues.

We've dropped over $35K into over the years and we recently took it off the market. We were asking $80K for it and got several offers over $70K. My wife can't part with it..... so I know about the car that sits in the garage and never gets used.

 

[Bas-NL]

In my country it would be around the 30-35K...classic US cars are getting more and more popular in the EU.

In the last 5 year..more and more " specialised US car import companies" are entering the car trade business. most of the time it is just "mom/dad company " with family in the US which help with the search and the export documents. And the car arrives in the Rotterdam harbour port ( main harbour of Europe ).And they sell them for top money..

 

[Irun]

It's definitely not a numbers matching car for sure. I'll have to look at the tag when I have a chance. From what I remember though, it was a base model V8 car. It has power steering and non-power drum brakes. The bottoms of the doors and bottoms of the front fenders have filler. The rear quarters were replaced, but the trunk and floors are solid.

Since the keys were lost, I'm going to get new keys made at some point. Also, someone tried to steal the car while I had it stored, and they drilled and destroyed the ignition lock. Fortunately, I have a tilt column in the trunk, once I can get it open, which will take care of that problem.

For the engine, I did crank it over by hand first, then filled the carb float bowl. I jumped the existing HEI and tried to get it to fire. Unfortunately, there was no spark, so I ordered a new HEI distributor. I forgot how cheap SBC parts are, but my goal is to get this thing to run for the first time in 20 years!

I appreciate all the input and will do take a look at the camaros.net site. Thanks again!

 

[Fixer6]

You should really just donate it to me. I promise to love and cherish it like one of my children. I can’t give you any money for it as I would need it to bring her back to her full glory. Any other money donations from anyone else would also be greatly appreciated as well.

 

[Axeman]

I would agree with @MaximusLJR06. I recently sold my 2nd gen Camaro earlier this year. The 1969 is probably the most coveted year of the Camaro, so thats what buyers are really paying for. Fake badges and non-number matching isn't really a big deal. Even with the less than stellar bodywork, the fact that it is complete goes a long way. Having to search and buy little things like headlight bezels and A pillar trim, etc. all add up. The 400 is a good small block, TH350 is okay, but the rear end will be an important factor (10 bolt vs 12 bolt). I would start at $18-20k and I bet you'll get some reasonable offers.

I understand the selling of it. My Camaro sat way more than I drove it. I live in a city and traffic is miserable. I really only would take it to a few cruise nights in the summer and it just sat in the garage the rest of the year. Back when I was more into muscle cars it was a blast with the Muncie and Posi rear end.

 

[Hog]

Nice vehicle... the numbers stated are in the ballpark... the one thing in your favor is you have it with a nice motor.. and there is someone out there that wants what you have.. trying to find that person is tough.. I would put a little money into it like brakes, oil, crack lines, etc.. so when you show it , they can’t start knocking things off like”it needs brakes”. Etc.. have someone detail it and find a good place to sell it either In a vintage catalog, auction, or eBay.. if your patient and persistent, you will get top dollar..

 

[Irun]

I would agree with @MaximusLJR06. I recently sold my 2nd gen Camaro earlier this year. The 1969 is probably the most coveted year of the Camaro, so thats what buyers are really paying for. Fake badges and non-number matching isn't really a big deal. Even with the less than stellar bodywork, the fact that it is complete goes a long way. Having to search and buy little things like headlight bezels and A pillar trim, etc. all add up. The 400 is a good small block, TH350 is okay, but the rear end will be an important factor (10 bolt vs 12 bolt). I would start at $18-20k and I bet you'll get some reasonable offers.

I understand the selling of it. My Camaro sat way more than I drove it. I live in a city and traffic is miserable. I really only would take it to a few cruise nights in the summer and it just sat in the garage the rest of the year. Back when I was more into muscle cars it was a blast with the Muncie and Posi rear end.

This is exactly my fear, i.e. it would sit, so I absolutely wouldn't build a show car. If I do decide to keep it, the approach would be to get back into SCCA racing and build a car for that. In addition to the car, I have a stash of parts, including a Monster built 700R4 and a very nice Camaro/Nova posi 12 bolt.

 

[Irun]

Nice vehicle... the numbers stated are in the ballpark... the one thing in your favor is you have it with a nice motor.. and there is someone out there that wants what you have.. trying to find that person is tough.. I would put a little money into it like brakes, oil, crack lines, etc.. so when you show it , they can’t start knocking things off like”it needs brakes”. Etc.. have someone detail it and find a good place to sell it either In a vintage catalog, auction, or eBay.. if your patient and persistent, you will get top dollar..

I'm in no hurry at all to sell and, as you said, am considering replacing a few parts to make it more saleable. The fact that it's all there, in reasonable condition and a '69 are in my favor.

 

[Axeman]

Monster built 700R4 and a very nice Camaro/Nova posi 12 bolt.

^This will certainly add some significant value. I have no regret letting mine go, building the TJ and wheeling has been so much more rewarding than the guilt I had looking at the dusty Camaro in garage.

 

[Irun]

I have no regret letting mine go, building the TJ and wheeling has been so much more rewarding than the guilt I had looking at the dusty Camaro in garage.

This x10!