Repop '69 Camaro Body Available!!

[Josh]

Well a new era is coming to the street machine world as the first reproduction 1969 Camaro convertible body becomes available! With a price of $12,000 for a tub with doors and a deck lid, it aint cheap but hey, it's a '69 Camaro, well sort of. This is very cool, but I was suprised at the fact that the steel is stamped overseas. OER is at the helm of this offering along with Classic Industries. They seem to be promising tight tolerances and quality steel. This would be a change from the other repop parts they offer. Lets hope they are all they are supposed to be! I hear turn key vehicles are in the works as well.

[andrewb70]

69 Camaro kit cars? Oh boy....

Andrew

[MarkM66]

69 Camaro kit cars? Oh boy....

Andrew

I agree.

It does sound like a good way to get completely buried financially in a car though, .

If you're into that sort of thing.

[TurboLark]

You can read all about it in the newest Hot Rod mag.

[Shay]

I agree.

It does sound like a good way to get completely buried financially in a car though, .

If you're into that sort of thing.

Well they mentioned that a base turn key Camaro would start around 40K. People spend more than that on a new Corvette. I think it's really awesome. In the article it was mention provisions for a hardtop version aswell as possible run on 1 st gen Firebirds. Also they mentioned production runs of '67 Mustang and maybe in the future a 70 Cuda. Another questioned that was raised, and I admit I'm curious, is what impact will reproductions vehicles such as these, have on the value of the originals? I'm figuring not much. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Shay

[Josh]

When full body kits were first available for 32 Fords and the like, there was a lot of resistance to these since they were not "real". Now it is so commonplace for a rod not to be original that people hardly notice or care. Part of this has to be due to the fact that there really are not any real cars left to be built, but the style is still timeless, so people build them from kits. I think this will happen to the '69 Camaro as well. You may be able to buy the real deal now for the same or less, but in 25 years?? The good thing to come out of this is it will help keep the hobby alive and thriving in the future. Just imagine; muscle cars become territory of the filthy rich only, and the young guys have nothing to build. Where do they go?..Tuner cars!!
Give me a kit '69 Camaro anyday over a Supra with a huge wing!

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Well they mentioned that a base turn key Camaro would start around 40K. People spend more than that on a new Corvette. I think it's really awesome. In the article it was mention provisions for a hardtop version aswell as possible run on 1 st gen Firebirds. Also they mentioned production runs of '67 Mustang and maybe in the future a 70 Cuda. Another questioned that was raised, and I admit I'm curious, is what impact will reproductions vehicles such as these, have on the value of the originals? I'm figuring not much. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Shay

Base as in what? 350/Muncie 4 speed? I personally would never pay 40k for a base 69 Camaro kit car. I'd buy a slightly used '04 Z06 any day. By the time you built that car pro-touring style to compete with the Z, you'd be over 80k. Different strokes for different folks though.

A 70 Cuda would be a different story though, because of how much they cost .

[Lowend]

VFN has made a compete fiberglass body for years... Its not a very streety piece, but body's are nothing new

[Pro-touring towncar]

only problem I see is that they have to meet emission standards and safety of a 2005 vehicle. being the car would be registered as a 2005 special construction. give me an older one anyday.

Tim

[Nine Ball]

I know several guys that have spent more than $12K just to repair/replace rusty panels and floorpans on 1st gens. That seems like a reasonable price for a brand new canvass to build on. For those of us with '69 Camaros already, it would probably be cheaper to swap all of our good parts onto one of those new bodies than to fix/repair the original bodies. It would be much less time consuming as well.

[Lowend]

[JamesJ]

On the 32 Ford thing, that was correct everyone hated the idea of a repop body. But that just made the original go up. They just started to make the window moldings and they charge 2500 I think and now people wont take less then that for a decent pair of originals.

[RobM]

im pretty sure the way kit cars work is they have to meet the emissions specs of the car they are modled after. plus i dont think the same rules aply for composit cars i.e. the ultima GTR, i doubt those things have many emission regulations i could be wrong though (does any body know the laws for sure?)

[streetk14]

I think some of you guys are confusing 2 different things here. Classic industries is now offering a complete 69 convertible unibody, but this is not a "kit car". It is just another repro part like we all have on our cars. Although, it seems that you could probably build a 69 Camaro from the ground-up using reproduction parts!
On the other end of the spectrum are the cars being built by Vennom cars. This company is making fiberglass replicas of several musclecars including 69 camaros 66 novas 71 mustang mach1's and cudas. There's a whole article on them in Car Craft, but basically these are tube chassis replicas (like all the cobras out there). A complete rolling chassis is supposed to go for $80,000. I'll keep my real '68!

[MoeBawlz]

My friend at D&R Classics is doin a lot of the work for this project...

He was tellin me that the place overseas is all outdoors, they just use cement slabs to put the machines on and they have it under tents.

first its the 69 Vert, then the 69 Coupe then 67-68 vert
then 67-68 coupe... thats the order that they will be produced in.

i guess they couldnt sell it as a NEW part they have to sell it as a "Replacement" to make it legal.

They will also be repoducing frames as well.

For those who fancy something other than a Camaro... there is talk about Chevelle, Malibu bodies comming out as well. And in the long run maybe even Fox body mustang. they have talked about doing a lot of stuff in the future so it should be cool to see what unfolds in the next few years...

[Geeto67]

only problem I see is that they have to meet emission standards and safety of a 2005 vehicle. being the car would be registered as a 2005 special construction. give me an older one anyday.

This is completely wrong. As far as using the repro shell to build an entirely new camaro all you need to get a frame number (besides reciepts for all components on the car) is a manufacturer's certificate or statement of origin (MSO). streetk14 is right in that the body is a repro of oem sheetmetal and therefore would have to meet the safety standard of a 1969 camaro. However all that is required is an mso from the company that produces it (basically a certified reciept) for it to be registered as a kit car. Now registration of kit cars largely depends on the state. In states without emissions standards (louisiana for example) the car just has to conform to state safety laws which are pretty lax (working lights and sigals, seatbelts, etc...). In some states the year of the vehicle registration and emissions certification depended on the engine used. For example if you built a cobra kit car with a 1992 ford 5.0 liter then the car was titled as a 1992 ford, if you used a 1969 350 chevy the same cobra would be a 1969 chevy. Other states have recognized the popularity of kit cars and have allowed then to be registered as the same make and year of the car replicated, so you could register that glass 1923 tbucket as a 1923 ford, despite coming completely from a catalog. With the new camaros since some states will need an MSO anyway to allow the original vin to be transferred legally to the new body shell you will probably see a few of these cars floating around as completely new constructions registered as 1969 camaros but will differ from the originals in the vin number which will be GM issued for the originals and state issued for the new cars. Anyway that is the gist of it.

[MarkM66]

I know several guys that have spent more than $12K just to repair/replace rusty panels and floorpans on 1st gens. That seems like a reasonable price for a brand new canvass to build on. For those of us with '69 Camaros already

And then they were totally burried in the car. Which is fine, they have what they like. But that's just not me.

[THE PEARL CYCLONE]

I would glading pay $12,000. for this body, I started out with a poor condition 69 Camaro, by the time I added up all the time and labor to get the body ready for paint, I had well over $12,000. in it. Most people dont relize what it takes to restore these 30 year old plus cars. Ya, with the money it takes to restore these legendary cars you can buy say a Z06, but whats the fun in that, there is no more enjoyment in life then to bring these muscle cars back to life, esepically to a Pro Touring concept. Please check out my lasted 69 project, "The Pearl Cyclone"
go to. http://community.webshots.com/user/jimmanfred

[Kenova]

Just finished reading the article in Hot Rod. I especially liked the last line; If you hate Camaros, you're screwed.
Ken

[JamesD]

did anyone notice that the concept drawing of the camaro had a rear spoiler that was a rip-off of tylers 50/50?