The Practical Camaro

We are the proud original owners of a fully restored 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Super Sport, 396-cu.in., 350-hp, numbers-matching car. Our car is not flashy and does not garner very many trophies at car shows, but anyone who takes the time to learn its story knows that it is quite unique.

Sara Kurth with the ’68 Camaro SS 396 she and her husband, Tom, ordered as a more practical— but still fun—alternative to their former Corvette.

After my husband, Tom, and I made the decision that we wanted to have a family, we needed to buy a car that had a back seat, because it would not be possible to put a child in the back of our 1964 Corvette roadster safely. We settled on a Chevrolet Camaro SS in Cordovan Maroon. We sold the Corvette (big mistake) for $3,000, making it possible to buy the Camaro outright for $3,333.12, with license and tax. It listed for $3,740.90. We have all the paperwork for the car because we ordered it from our local dealer, Pat Manning Chevrolet in Marshalltown, Iowa, on September 9, 1967, paid for it on November 22, 1967, and took delivery on November 24, 1967.

We ordered the Camaro to be as similar to our Corvette as possible. We selected the 350-hp 396 because it was close to the Corvette's 327 output of 365 hp. The Corvette also had a four-speed transmission, so we ordered that for the Camaro. The Camaro has a woodgrain Sport Steering wheel, just like the one that was in the Corvette, which cost an additional $30.15 on the Camaro. The rear-end ratios are very similar, too, with the Corvette having 4.11 gears and the Camaro 4.10s. Not all of the Corvette's configurations were available for the Camaro. We were told that a close-ratio transmission could not be ordered in the Camaro with a 4.10 rear end selected, so ours is lacking that.

After taking delivery of the Camaro, we decided we would change a few things on it to better suit our needs and aesthetic tastes. Since it was to be the family car, an engine-block heater was installed to make it easier to start on cold days. Also, at that time, children's car seats were hooked over the back of the seats, so we drilled holes in the package tray to accommodate them. Since we owned a Jon boat and wanted to teach the kids to fish and row when they got older, a trailer hitch was mounted on the back bumper, and an electrical trailer plug was wired into the rear panel of the trunk. Tom installed a citizen's-band radio antenna in the roof of the car—we needed the CB radio to facilitate the operation of our business before the introduction of cellphones. That entailed removing the headliner to drill a hole in the roof and running the wire from the antenna to the radio, but Tom put the headliner back into place so that it is still the original.

We painted over the original white "bumble bee" stripe with black, which Tom thought would look better on a maroon car (we now think that was a mistake). We had ordered the Camaro without power steering because the Corvette did not have it, but after figuring out that the big-block engine was much heavier than the Corvette's small-block, Tom installed power steering a year later. The car also came with a smog-control device installed, but Tom removed it. We still have all the pieces to the unit, though.

We brought the children home from the hospital in it, and it was our family car for about eight years. After that, we used it only occasionally, with a plan to store the car inside until sometime in the future when we could figure out what we wanted to do with it.

Tom and Sara wanted to have as much restoration work done by local businesses as possible, which meant Tom was still intimately involved with the process and was able to do a lot of work himself.

Our Camaro has never been in an accident. Since it was the family car, we never raced it either, and all of this helped the car to retain most of its original parts. In addition to the headliner, the seats, carpet, dash, and the tinted windows are all the factory-installed items. It still has one of the original T3 headlights, too. The original bumper jack, which has "Camaro 68" stamped into it, is still in the car. We even still have one of the original Uniroyal Tiger Paw F70 x 14 bias-ply tires, which we are using as the spare tire.

There was one time when the Camaro was just about sold, back in 1978. We wanted to buy a Class C motorhome to travel and go camping with our children. A man from Washington, DC, offered us $4,500, but we wanted $5,000. Needless to say, we did not sell the Camaro, and are extremely glad now that we didn't!

The Camaro had approximately 55,000 miles on the odometer when it went into storage in 1976—It would stay there for 37 years. The storage area was an unheated building, which kept the car out of any inclement weather, and it was occasionally run to keep it "loosened up."

Finally, in March of 2013, the restoration began. Tom had actually not wanted to do the restoration, but the kids talked him into it. He kept thinking about how much work it would be and wasn't sure if he wanted to tackle it. However, after the project started, it got to be fun and interesting, and Tom did some of the work himself. He served as the gopher for getting new parts—many of them ordered from Classic Industries—that were needed by Bob Sutherland, a retired body shop owner, who likes to work on vintage cars and does excellent work.

The goal of the restoration was to return the Camaro to as original as possible. In order to achieve our goal, several modifications had to be reversed. The bumble bee stripe was painted back to the original color of white, the package tray was replaced, and the engine-block heater was not reinstalled in the 396, because it is extremely doubtful that we will be driving the car in the winter. The inner front fender wells, the floorboards, and the trunk were all solid as a rock. However, parts of the rear quarter panels needed to be replaced; the Camaro had endured too much salt and sand from Iowa winters.

Tom thoroughly cleaned all the original chrome, front and rear bumpers, and the windshield wiper arms. He then refurbished the front and rear bezels, the chrome SS hood louvers, the wheel covers, and the original gas cap. The front and rear tinted windows are original, and were not removed during the restoration because we were concerned about breakage, and the glass was in good condition. The side windows are original, but were removed and then reinstalled.

We did add a few items—including some of the Rally Sport accessories— that could have come on the car when it was manufactured. We added a front spoiler and chrome moldings around the wheel wells and the side windows. We retained the lap belts, but added shoulder belts for the front-seat passengers to make it safer. When the AM radio wouldn't work, Tom took it to Ford & Garland, in Des Moines, Iowa, to have it checked. It turned out that the radio worked, but a resistor on the end of the antenna cable was defective. Replacing that resistor fixed the radio problem. The only item on the Camaro that does not work is the "Tic- Toc-Tach," although the tachometer part of it works fine.

The restoration process was complicated and took many people. Our goal was to have the work done by local businesses, and we accomplished this. The engine was removed by Larry Wolken Jr and Larry Wolken Sr of L&W Auto Repair. The engine was then refreshed by E.J. Stupp. Kasal Brothers Auto Repair of Chelsea, Iowa, suggested we install a four-row core instead of the original three-row. He removed the two tanks from the original radiator and put them back on the four-row core. The new exhaust system was installed by Exhaust Pros and then revamped by Independent Auto here in Marshalltown. Carburetor work on the original Rochester was done by Elgin Spence, who is retired but had previously worked for the Pat Manning Chevrolet dealer. By having these pieces refreshed, we were able to retain as many of the original engine parts as we could.

All of the casting numbers for the car match, and prove that it was built in October of 1967. All of the original paperwork is still with the car, including the warranty book with the Protect-O-Plate on the last page. We have the original bill of sale, the Chevrolet dealer invoice, and the receipt for payment in full. We do not have a build sheet, and were unable to find one during the restoration. The car may not have had one in the beginning, or it may have been discarded by mistake when the car was new. The original window sticker is also not available, but we had one made to match the accessories on the car. We believe that we have the original license plate; our county number, "64," is on the left, with the license number as the big number in the center, and the year number, "68," is in the upper right-hand corner.

When the restoration procedure was completed in October 2015, our family decided to have a party to welcome the car home from the body shop. Our adult children rode the 10 miles to our home in the back seat, just like they had when it was our family car. When we pulled in the driveway, our two oldest grandchildren and a grand-dog were there to welcome us.

Since completing the restoration, we have attended many car shows in our area, so the Camaro now has 57,000 miles on its odometer. We have purchased a trailer to take it to some shows that are farther away, and we want to be able to "garage" it at car shows when the weather is inclement. It's a trailer queen now, but is also still a driver.

Tom and I were 22 years old when we ordered this car; we are now 73, have been married for 54 years. We enjoy going to car shows, sometimes with our kids and grandkids, and sharing stories with other car enthusiasts, but have yet to find a car that is still owned by the same family who ordered it.

Do you have photos from "back in the day" of your muscle car(s) and an interesting story to write? It's high school English class assignment time: Submit your images, memories and contact information to Muscle Car Scrapbook, c/o Hemmings Muscle Machines, attention: Terry McGean, P.O. Box 2000, Bennington, Vermont 05201, or email tmcgean@hemmings.com.