1973 Camaro Stunt Car- Need Feedback

[Kburman12]

I purchased a 73 camaro a few years on eBay for real cheap. I was in high school and had every ambitions of restoring it from the ground up. (What was I thinking?) The car didn't come with a title or a full vin number. The seller mentioned that the car was a stunt car for one of the fast and furious movies, but had no official documentation to go with it. Years go by and I finally find out through friends in law enforcement that it is indeed a stunt for one of the fast and furious movies. The car was meant to copy the FBomb camaro that Hot Rod had built a few years ago. There were only 6 cars built for this movie. Three are still known to existence. I have every reason to believe that this is the 4th. Should I restore this car to movie specs or should I make a pro touring version of the FBomb camaro and make it my own? Let me know what you guys think.

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

No title or VIN makes it difficult to do anything with it. Got any pics? If it doesn't retain anything resembling the F-bomb, or have any certificate of authenticity from the studio, it's not really worth anything as a "movie car".

[Kburman12]

It's the same matte green as the movie cars. I was able to get a full vin number and i am acquiring the title history as we speak. The car is rough. I bought it for $250 in high school. It has dents on both rear quarters, holes in rear valence, no front fenders, no interior, no drivetrain, and no trunk floor pan. Also the roof has a hole in it from what looks like a sun roof was being made? I'll try to post pics in a little bit.

[mikedc]

They rigged one of those F-bomb clones with a big weighted arm sticking up off the back end for doing wheelies. From the kind of damage you describe it sounds like it could have been that car body.

They ended up having to use an enormous amount of ballast on the F-bomb wheelie car in particular, because it had to do a wheelie on a dirt surface. IIRC the figure might have been 2200 pounds. The first time they tried a dirt wheelie with that much weight it started bending the whole body in half. They had to go back & brace the cantilever arm thing into the car's entire rollcage to keep the car holding its shape.


(The counterweight rig may have been photoshopped off this pic. They were erasing it in the final movie footage.)

129341

[1BADBET]

I would paint it the same matte green but make everything else your own bad ass version pro touring camaro. Maybe your own spin on the f bomb graphic too, would make a good conversation starter at car shows and maybe a bump in value if you can legally register it and get the documentation to prove it was a movie car.

[Interceptor5588]

Race car only, or street if you have a VIN and lots of ambition. Unless it's signed by Vin Diesel or Paul Walker it's just another beat up 73 Camaro. I would check the whole thing for structural damage before turning a wrench.

[mikedc]

Hollywood actors signing cars doesn't hold much water. They'll make appearances at car shows and sign cars all afternoon. And they often make mistakes about which one is screen-used or not. (You would be surprised how often they misidentify a car that they spent days or weeks sitting inside. They are actors, not car-guys.)



Missing VIN's & paperwork is common with movie cars, just because there is so much liability BS surrounding those cars after they are used. Some crews literally yank the VINs off all their cars during the construction process, whether the car was scheduled for getting damaged or not.

You have to just do what you can for verifying it. Get whatever paperwork is possible, bills of sale, past ownership, etc. Photograph the heck out of the car and try to amass whatever evidence you can that links it to the movie cars (or better yet, one specific movie car).


now, whether this particular Camaro shell has much value because it was a F&F#4 prop? That's a different question. It won't add value like a Vin Diesel '70 Charger, that's for sure. But it might help a little bit with the right buyer. No telling.

--

[84TXGN]

#1 Contact this guy (http://www.vehicleeffects.com/). He coordinated the cars for that movie and is most likely the best person to confirm if your car is legit.

#2 If it is a movie car and you are interested in maximizing its value, I would restore it to look like it did in the movie and try to get the actors to sign it.

#3 If you don't care about its value then do what you want. I'd still confirm its heritage because it'll be a cool story to go with the car.

[Kburman12]

I can't thank you guys enough for the help. I've should've come on here a long time ago and asked. There's definitely information I probably couldn't have figured out myself.

I believe this car was the wheelie car from what I was told. The roll cage has been taken out. It's evident where the roll cage was mounted. I have emailed the crew at Hot Rod magazine looking to get more information and to get their insight on the possible future of the car.

I have thought about doing a pro touring/Autocross version of the car. Instead of the matte green as the base, have the matte black as the base with a matte green stripe and then another rendition of the FBomb artwork. I thought that that would be a pretty cool idea.

The value of these cars weren't all that great when they went off to auction. I believe mine was sold for a whopping $19,000. Now, if another car was in the same condition and at the same auction, it might be sold for less, yes. How much less? Idk.

[1BADBET]

I think that's a cool idea, $250 for any camaro is a good deal! The way I look at it is, dents in the quarters that's fine make fender flares, no trunk.. Tub it out, no interior... Full cage and custom interior, no fenders... Run fiberglass or maybe a different year camaro with the fender vents. At the price you paid I would look at what it doesn't have as a positive and move on. I mean you are already 1/2 way to a sun roof too!