The last Camaro....what's it worth???

[Zedder]

No, this car was not sold at auction. My friend is a GM dealer here in Ontario and got the car directly from GM. The letter from GM Vintage Services dated Feb 5, 2003 states:

"...the final Camaro/Firebird produced at Ste. Therese was a Camaro convertible , VIN XXXXXXXXXXXXXX467 on August 27, 2002, at approx. 8:49 am. This vehicle has apparantly been retained by Chevrolet Division, and has not been offered for sale to the public.

Your vehicle was the second last Camaro, and the third last convertible produced at Ste. Therese.

The second last Convertible, and the last Firebird, carries VIN XXXXXXXXXXXXXX466.

We trust this is the info you require...."

Does anyone know the VIN of the ebay Camaro? Thanks for the responses so far!

[camarojoe]

I specifically remember the car to be red too... It was highly publicized, i even remember hearing about it selling for 70k+ on the radio one morning on my way to work... I wonder how the car your buddy has could also be the last camaro? Unless maybe they later decided to sell the very last one they claimed was going to be "retained by Chevrolet and not offered for sale", which was the red car that brought 70+k. If thats the case, it makes the black one alot less collectible IMO.

[zmanrc]

I don't have the VIN but will email the owner when I get home. Below is the news release from the Associated Press after the Ebay auction.

Last new Camaro sells for $71,500 at auction

Published Tuesday, September 3, 2002
AUBURN, Ind. (AP) - The last new Camaro to be sold by Chevrolet - a red, T-topped Z-28 - brought a tidy $71,500 at a charity auction.

"I got a little crazy," said the buyer, Mark Gembinski, 32, a business manager from Mayville, Mich. "I paid a lot more than I wanted to, but I wanted it bad."

When Gembinski was born, his father took him home from the hospital in a 1969 Camaro.

His Z-28 wasn’t the last Camaro to roll off the assembly line - that car is headed for Chevrolet’s museum. Gembinski’s car was second-to-last, produced last week at a General Motors plant in Canada.

More than 4 million Camaros were sold since the muscle car debuted in fall 1966 with the 1967 model. It reached its heyday in the 1970s but sold poorly in the era of sport utility vehicles and imports, and last September, General Motors announced it would stop making the Camaro.

[Zedder]

I did a little searching on-line and found the ad for the Kruse auction that sold the red car. It clearly states that the red car is the "last Camaro saleable in the United States"...hmmmmm...so maybe it isn't THEE last Camaro after all??? I also found a number of sites stating that the "very last" Camaro was retained by GM and they still have it. This could get interesting! Anyone know the VIN of the red car?

[zmanrc]

Any chance your buddies was the last CONVERTIBLE sold to the public?

[Zedder]

Yes,according to this letter it is the last convertible, and maybe the last Camaro period. The Kruse auction description for the red car is VERY specific that it was the last Camaro offered in the UNITED STATES. I've located the owner of the car and asked him what the VIN is. My guess is my buddies car has a later VIN as I doubt GM would sell off the car they retained.

[MosportGreen66]

Zedder... Maybe your buddy's car is the last Canadian sold Camaro?

[Zedder]

Can anyone resize the scan I have of the letter and post if for me please? My guess is that this is THEE last Camaro sold to the public...anywhere...

[WMCC Gary]

I emailed the Fbodfather about 2 People claiming to own the last Camaro Built for the public!!!


Here's a brief story from the Fbodfather................

Waaaaaaaaayyy back in, I believe, early 2001, I put in a request to have
the last Camaro and Firebird built for the GM Collection.........and one
for sale. The two going into the GM Collection would be 'non-saleables'
and the third car from the end would be the 'last saleable
Camaro'......(period!)

I know that GM of Canada was concerned when they asked for the cars and lo
and behold, I'd already tied them up .....perhaps a year or so beforehand.

Now......it's important to understand that you could not build two
Convertibles in a row........simply because of the build process. In fact,
to my knowledge, the only time it happened was the LAST TWO CARS coming
down the line.............(see below)

I can assure you that the last three cars off the line........on the
conveyor..........final assembly......were:

172461...........Red Z28 Coupe.........LAST SALEABLE 4th Gen CAMARO. was
third from end -auctioned off at Kruse Auburn Auction over Labor Day, 2002.
172466 ........Red Trans Am Convert............LAST 4th Gen FIREBIRD
BUILT.....NON SALEABLE......second from end........resides in GM Collection
172467.......,,Red Z28 convertible..........LAST 4th Gen CAMARO
BUILT....NON SALEABLE

Is there a 172465.......172464............172463........and 172461?

Yes.........those are the VIN sequences.....but that is not how they came
down the line. Our Friend who won the auction at Kruse bought the LAST
SALEABLE 4th Gen Camaro .........it was the third car from the end.......

While I do not know what GM of Canada did with the last Camaro and FIrebird
built for GM of Canada, I suspect that the Black Convertible in question
was the last Saleable Camaro Convertible........or the last Saleable Camaro
for GM of Canada.........but it was not one of the last three cars off the
line.

[Zedder]

We spoke with GM Canada this morning and their records do not show the time of manufacture for all cars produced. They had the time of the last one because it ended the production process. Accordingly, my friend decided to list the car on ebay next week as the "Last Convertible Camaro" and I emailed this to Marc this morning prior to him forwarding your email message to Scott. So everyone is happy I believe