RR of the Day: Camaro goes around, comes around
Another Camaro entry was submitted to the Autoblog Flickr pool, and while certainly not as significant as the first two Camaros we featured this week, Flickr member Lex9000's 1986 Chevy Camaro IROC Z has an interesting story nonetheless. Lex had always wanted a third-gen Camaro in black and he finally found one in good condition back in January of 2001. He got to enjoy the car for one Utah summer until financial trouble forced him to sell it the following October. In October of 2005, Lex was cruising the car lots when he happened upon a similar looking third-gen Camaro. You can guess what happened next. Turns out the Camaro on the lot was the same one Lex was forced to give up exactly four years and one day earlier.
We're not going to pretend that 1986 was as good a year for the Camaro as 1967, because it assuredly wasn't. The pony cars were still recovering from being neudered after a couple of oil shortages, and this particular car was distributing what power it did make through a four-speed automatic. Still, Lex apparently has fun with it and has installed a set of Z06 wheels that look positively strange on a Camaro, seats from a 1995 Camaro Z/28 and tinted the glass. In his own words he says, "Four years and a day after I sold her, I had my baby back. I'll never sell her again."
It's the age old tale of boy meets car, boy sells car, boy and car reunite and live happily ever after. How many of you have ever come across vehicles you've parted with out on the street again? It's an awkward situation that happened to me before, and while I didn't offer to buy the car back, I did wonder if the new owner was taking care of it as well as I had.
We're still willing to continue our Camaro theme this week if more submissions come pouring in, but if not we have no problem dipping deeper into the pool to find something special for you. Follow the jump to find out how to submit your vehicle for our RR of the Day feature.
How to submit to RR of the Day:
Create a Flickr account if you don't already have one. Search for and join the group called 'Autoblog RR of the Day'. Upload up to three photos of your ride to your own account at a size no larger than 450 pixels wide if possible and include as much information about it and yourself as possible. Even if your ride is sweet, it will not be chosen if there's not a lot of info accompanying it. Click on each photo and just above the picture it will say "Send to group". Click that and select the Autoblog group. You're done, that's it!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jim Macafee 4:42PM (11/03/2006)
I like it!
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vectorbug 7:26PM (10/26/2006)
Black on black is always a winner in my book. Even if its a giant sled. I just ordered a set of black konig minus' (15", 11lbs). Can't wait.
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Kevin White 7:46PM (10/26/2006)
Not bad!
"How many of you have ever come across vehicles you've parted with out on the street again?"
Well, I sold an 86 RX-7 (which I loved dearly and modified quite a bit) and a 91 Stealth R/T Twin Turbo (which was stock and which never really clicked for me) to two different guys who each lived within half a mile of my parents' house (needed college tuition money). My vehicle after that was a 95 Saturn SL2; often whenever I'd visit my parents (frequent), I'd particularly see (and hear!) the RX-7 driving by (my parents live on the corner of a sort of main thoroughfare); that used to tear me up... ugh.
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RWD fan 8:14PM (10/26/2006)
www.betteroffdeadcamaro.com
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chuck goolsbee 8:18PM (10/26/2006)
It is spelled: "neutered"
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ohmy 8:21PM (10/26/2006)
I like it, both the car and the story...
I had a black 1991 Trans Am GTA that if I found in a used car lot now I would most likely buy...
I know there is no way this one will win, but for what its worth, it will get my vote - there is just something about these 3rd gen f-bodies that I always liked, probably always will...
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Big Al 8:27PM (10/26/2006)
Not to harsh on another man's ride, but those wheels are lipstick on a pig. My stock '04 Tahoe could probably outrun (and likely outhandle) this generation of Camaro.
I admit to having owned a '94 Camaro Z28 (with the requisite mullet-mussing T-Tops), but at least that thing had some LT1 juice under the hood and a Posi' rear end. The engine was the only salvation my car had, so I can imagine how bad the previous generation must've been.
My "reunion" story is kinda unique: I sold my '91 Eagle Talon TSi AWD and 3 years later received a notice in the mail that it had been impounded by the police for expired tags. I called them and advised them that I had sold the car some years ago, to which they replied "not according to DMV". Long story short, I got the car out of impound for $500.00, spent a few bucks on repair, got it registered, drove it for a few months, and re-sold it (properly this time) at a profit of $3000.00. Nice!
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Misaniovent 1:07PM (10/29/2006)
Back when I was a wee lad of 10ish (seven years ago), my father drove a pretty excellent white '65 GTO, with a number of performance modifications.
When he sold it due to financial problems, my older brother took off the shifter's grip.
About a year ago, I was at a tiny local car show, and there I saw it again.
It was pretty neat.
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That One Person 8:48PM (10/26/2006)
They may not be the fastest or best handling cars (stock) but they are fun to drive around in. There will always be a place for these cars (and 80s Mustangs/Capris). Cool ride, though!
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big d 9:37PM (10/26/2006)
so in other words big al, you scammed some dude out of his ride and sold it again
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Rob 10:56PM (10/26/2006)
Yeah these and the Fox mustangs are great to buy for under $2000, fix them till they run good enough, beat until they break, and resell for the same you bought it for. Ive done it to 4 Mustangs, even after the cost of the cars and parts im still up about $1000 after selling each of them.
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D Man Sux 11:30PM (10/26/2006)
The last Camaro was in 1969. 1973 was the final year of the "sorta Camaros."
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Kevin White 11:50PM (10/26/2006)
"so in other words big al, you scammed some dude out of his ride and sold it again"
Scammed? Doesn't sound like he scammed anyone, sounds like some deadbeat didn't bother to reregister the car and then abandoned it. Turned out alright in this case. I always do the Motor Vehicle Transfer Notification when I sell a vehicle, which absolves me of responsibility, because being the legal owner years later CAN bite you in the ass in other cases...
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salguod 12:44AM (10/27/2006)
I had a 1976 6 cyl. automatic Camaro in High School. Slower than molassess, but it looked OK. Anyway, a year or two after I sold it I saw it again. Not on the street, in a junk yard. I was looking for parts for my college ride, a 1980 Chevy Monza (yeah, I had some real winners), and there was my old Camaro.
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Jay 4:58AM (10/27/2006)
I had a 1990 Ford Taurus that was a great little car for a long time, then all of a sudden with 130,000 miles on the clock, every engine part that could be replaced and the transmission all decided they needed to be replaced soon, likely all at the same time. By that time it was ten years old and already not worth much, so rather than dump a bunch of money into a lot of different things, I decided to sell it off and get something else. Despite the impending mechanical failures, it had a flawless interior and body. I saw it some time later being driven by its new owner (a telltale window sticker I'd put on was definite confirmation). In the short time they had it, they'd already smashed the whole right side of the car. >(
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Paul 8:02AM (10/27/2006)
Ill agree the last year for the camaro was 69... until 98 when it got the Ls1. That car was as much a camaro as any other.
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UpIrons 10:48AM (10/27/2006)
I had a 1986 Camaro Iroc-Z as well - with T-tops even! (what ever happened to T-tops anyway?)
I loved that car and it was unique because it had a very rare red interior with black exterior. I would buy that car back in a second!
Oh, and Autoblog you need to spell check! As many have pointed out, it's "Neutered".
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Lex9000 11:16AM (10/27/2006)
Thanks to Autoblog for picking my ride, she's my true love. While admittedly a mullet-mobile, it's the best looking example that I've seen on the road for a while. Usually they're either bondo/primer-grey or some EXTREME paint scheme. I've always thought the angular style of the design of this car always had some sort of appeal...like the F-117 with wheels. I've got more plans to class it up.
Also, the power on these cars stock isn't so great compared to the horsepower war going on right now in the automotive world, but for 1986 was respectable (but still not amazing...). But as mentioned earlier, these cars make excellent starting platforms for motor/chassis modification that can make these cars compete in the 400 hp bracket relatively cheaply.
One of my best friends owns an ex-highway patrol Mustang, white. It's pretty sweet cruising together, him in his white 5.0 and me in my black Camaro. Good times...
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Allen 1:14PM (10/27/2006)
In fact, I did not scam anyone. The guy I sold my car to never registered in in his own name, so when the Police checked with DMV to see who the owner was, my name still came up. Not my fault the dude was a loser.
PS: Chris, bite me.
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Chris 2:20PM (10/27/2006)
Go bite yourself on HAN :o
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