The Chevrolet Camaro was introduced as a 1967 model motivated, I think, by two factors: Ralph Nader’s book “Unsafe at Any Speed” and the terrific success of the Ford Mustang, introduced in late 1964.
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Before the Camaro, Chevrolet was producing the Corvair which would have been their competitive model for the Mustang. After the book, Chevrolet management wisely decided to throw in the towel on Corvair and put their money and talent on a truly competitive Mustang fighter, the Camaro.
It took Chevrolet about two years to bring the Camaro to market, which is pretty fast in the car business. Chevrolet management had a big press conference on June 28, 1966, to announce the new car and in keeping with their practice of model’s names beginning with the letter C, announced the new car would be named Camaro. An Automotive Press writer asked, “What is a Camaro?” The answer received was “a small vicious animal that eats Mustangs.”
For model year 1967, Chevrolet sold 220,906 Camaros, a nice increase over the last Corvair model year of 1965 when only about 6,000 units were sold. Naturally, Chevrolet wanted to promote its exciting new car and one way to do that is to have it be the official pace car for the Indianapolis 500 race held Memorial Day weekend each year. That race attracts millions of viewers around the world and anywhere from 200,000 to 250,000 people attend this very noisy event.
There has always been an American pace car since the track opened in 1911, when a Stoddard-Dayton led the assembled starting grid around the track. Other pace cars used over the years with grand reputations and names now only seen in history books included Stutz, Marmon 6, Duesenberg, Cole V8, Rickenbacker 8, Studebaker President, Hudson, Nash, plus almost all the Big Three makes. I suspect some serious form of compensation is exchanged with the Indianapolis 500 management by manufacturers to get their car designated as the official pace car.
Manufacturers typically make 2,000 to 3,000 replica models of the pace car that are sold through their dealers. That is the situation with our feature car today. Danville’s Bill O’Connor has owned this issue’s 1969 Chevrolet Camaro convertible replica for about 14 years. “I found the car online out of San Jose, and it had just come out of an estate sale. It was pretty much done. Just little things needed to be done, like the power top didn’t work.”
O’Connor claims he is not really mechanically inclined, but I believe he has more than pliers and a screwdriver in his tool box. Over the years, he’s worked on 30 collector cars and currently owns half a dozen. O’Connor’s had different makes but is partial to Camaros. The first Camaro was purchased soon after he married in 1979, when he found one at the College of San Mateo parking lot with only 60,000 miles and he bought it for $1,500. “That kind of got me interested in Camaros. Then I bought a ’67 Rally Sport Camaro, then we bought a ’67 Camaro convertible, then a ’68 Camaro convertible, then this one popped up and I thought the price was right.”
The proud owner paid $40,000 for the car and estimates the current market value in the $60,000-to-$70,000 range. And he takes good care of this car. “I drive the car often in the summer, and not much in the winter months. It’s never seen water since I’ve owned it. I clean it with detailer and keep it waxed. The car is really reliable, and it is geared for freeway driving.”
O’Connor’s car is equipped with a 350 cubic inch V8 with a manual 4-speed transmission with power brakes and steering. It is nicely upholstered in orange and white matching the exterior colors. The owner thinks when new this car would have sold for about $3,000.
The car has been repainted and O’Connor installed the “OFFICIAL PACE CAR” decals on the doors. He gave me a ride; the car is quiet, tight and quick plus it has the beautiful sound of a Chevy V8 engine that is music to most car nut’s ears.
Have an interesting vehicle? Email Dave at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To read more of his columns or see more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles, visit mercurynews.com/author/david-krumboltz.