1970 Chevrolet Camaro SS

Fresh from a £3,200 service earlier in the month, ‘EVB 68J’ is a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro that’s spent almost all of its life here in the UK having been registered here in 1971. It stayed with its first UK owner until 2018 too, spending four years with its second until our vendor bought it in 2022.

His interpretation of the chassis number leads him to think it’s a genuine SS or Super Sport, but, as with so many old cars, this cannot be confirmed. What can be confirmed is that it’s a rare manual car, finished in maroon and black, and benefits from a significant investment in servicing and maintenance only this month.

Fitted with a two-barrel 350 cu in (5.7-litre) V8, the seller drove it from his home to us, reporting that he enjoyed every moment – well, you would, wouldn’t you?

The maroon and black coachwork is striking, isn’t it? Of course, the first thing you notice is the shape but peering closer reveals excellent panel alignment, some rather nice shutlines, and a gorgeous paint finish.

The maroon hue is a metallic that has a deep lustre to it, while the black stripes along the sides start narrow but broaden as they progress before meeting on the trailing edge of the boot.

The seller think it was originally painted green, but we’ve peered hard and can’t see any traces of the original colour. Taken in conjunction with its current condition, we can only conclude that it was done by someone who understood their craft.

The factory-fit PMD steel wheels are finished in silver and their five spokes are picked out in the same maroon as the bodywork. They’re fitted with a full set of B.F. Goodrich Radial T.A. tyres, too.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly.

The badges and lamps are all good too, and the overall effect is of a well-loved car that’s been used lightly and looked after carefully.

Turning to the bits you might like to fettle as and when money and motivation collide, the chrome bumpers do have a healthy lustre to them, but closer inspection shows some tarnishing and light scratches.

The windscreen is also delaminating, and while the paint finish is very good overall that on the panel at the base of the rear screen isn’t to the same standard as everywhere else.

Most serious is the damage to the offside rear wing just aft of the rear wheel, which affects both the panel and the paint. The latter has been touched-up, but it really needs a professional repair.

The cabin is a beguiling combination of black pleather and walnut-effect trim – and if you think that sounds like we’re damning with faint praise then you’d be wrong because it is so utterly of the period that we love it.

It’s in great shape, too. The vinyl-covered seats, which are still plump and undamaged despite being half a century old, have both an interesting texture and design and the result is really rather wonderful.

The rear seats are to the same design but in an even better condition. They also look nice and cosy, making them ideal for children or grandchildren to snuggle down in while you all make memories of a childhood that included the roar of a 5.7-litre V8 engine.

The rest of the cabin is a walk down Main Street USA with a sparkly cue-ball gearknob on top of a Hurst shifter and a ‘Body by Fisher’ plate on the offside sill.

The instruments are set in the same faux wood as that on the steering wheel. They’re as comprehensive as you’d expect to find on a muscle car and cover road and engine speeds, the time, coolant temperature, fuel level, and battery charge rate.

The door cards are in a decent condition, albeit with some damage to the driver’s armrest and the lower edge of the nearside door. There is similar but lighter damage to the armrest on the other side but the offside door card is otherwise very good.

The carpets are good too, as is the headlining.

As for the boot, it contains a full-size and matching spare wheel and tyre combo in addition to the tool kit and the old brake calipers and master cylinder. The rear has air-adjustable dampers too, and these are adjusted in the luggage compartment.

The boot floor has some light surface rust and it would be sensible to sort this out before it becomes a bigger issue.

The only other jobs are to fix the rev counter and to refit a nylon wheel to the window winding mechanism on the driver’s door. The latter came adrift only recently and the owner hasn’t had time to fix it himself.

The service work on the 4th of December 2024 included a new heavy-duty clutch, two front brake calipers and new pads, fresh gearbox oil and brake fluid, a new waterpump, thermostat, and coolant hoses, auxiliary drive belts, engine gaskets and mounts, and a rebuild of the carburettor, radiator, and alternator plus much more in addition to the usual service work.

The final bill came to well over £3,000 but it was worth it as the seller says the car is now running well. The recent 45-minute run from his home to us revealed a “smooth gearbox” and no overheating. Plenty of power too, which doesn’t surprise us.

He did mention that it might be running a bit rich though, so you might want to keep your eye on that.

As the video shows, it starts and idles well though, and revs like a banshee. You buy a car like this as much for the noise it makes as anything else, and this one does disappoint.

The engine bay is very nicely presented with some nice alloy details and bright paintwork. It’s been carefully done, and the result is pleasing, even if there is still scope for further tidying should you be of a fastidious nature.

As for the underside, while it appears to be strong – no MoT tester has ever mentioned structural corrosion – there is some surface rust, so it would be prudent to halt that sooner rather than later before reapplying good quality underseal.

The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted the cable tie below the front bumper. It’s there because the position of the front numberplate means the bonnet release is hard to reach, and the zip tie gives you something to pull.

The Camaro doesn’t have a current MoT certificate, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have it MoT’d at the earliest opportunity. The cost of an MoT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic vehicle, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

The Camaro has had several MoTs since 2012 though, and none of them mention structural corrosion, which is reassuring.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear bar the marker for being an imported car, and the history file also contains a handwritten decoding of the chassis number. The seller tells us that an expert in the ‘States decoded the car’s engine number. This is ‘T0613CNJ’, which his expert decoded as being a “Tonawada-built 350Ci with manual transmission and to SS specification.”

NB: Diligent internet sleuths will see the car was offered for sale by H&H in 2012, when it was described as having an automatic transmission. The seller doesn’t know why this was said and thinks it must have been an error.

Said to be “the last of the high-compression, solid-lifter cam, low-geared, ground-pounding muscle cars” (sounds like something Springsteen would say about the E Street Band, doesn’t it?) the seller is parting with this reluctantly: A long-time muscle car enthusiast – he’s got a ’69 Fastback in the garage too – he’s enjoyed his time with it but feels now is the time to let it go.

But he didn’t just shuffle it off to the auction like some would. Oh no: “I take pride in what I’ve got,” he told us and went on to explain that he couldn’t let it go without having an expert go through it from stem to stern – and this was on top of what he paid back in 2022, which was, he laughed, “probably too much.”

Which is a long-winded way of saying that the £20,000 to £25,000 we think it will fetch represents strong value given its condition and the level of recent investment.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.