Re: Earliest date of 1967 big block Camaro build...
Hi,
I have a pretty interesting story from the original owner of a 1967 L78 Camaro. The car is still owned by the owner and has only been repainted once in the '80's. It is butternut yellow and is pretty devoid of options save for the L78, a factory 4:56 rear and I think a M22. The guy still drives the car and neither engine, trans or rear have been apart. The car was bought at Hechler Motors (a very performance oriented dealer in Richmond...1969 ZL1 'vette fame being one example)and was a twin to another L78 they had at the same time. The other car was optioned (or lack of..lol)the same, except had a 4:10 rear. The cars were bought from Hoyt Rotella (the main performance car salesperson who also retailed the 1969 yellow ZL1 vette) to race. They were bought by 2 friends that worked at Dupont together and were occasionally raced at Richmond Dragway. I was told that the owner met Grumpy Jenkins recently and mentioned he owned a 1967 L78 Camaro. When they started talking Grumpy mentioned that he had tried to get a L78 Camaro for racing and had found out about the 2 Hechler had, but was told they were already sold. I would think these 2 cars would have been pretty early cars as Hechler was very tied to the zone office and had many "inside" connections. They were responsible for dealer swaps on a few Camaros and Chevelles and there is a rumor that they might have even gotten a few COPO Chevelles built in 1967 with L72s. I will try to get ahold of the owner of the L78 if anyone is interested and get his cowl tag data and a few pics. Just email or post.
Respectfully,
Gregory Carlson
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