Camino LS6

He thinks it is a 250, but I would also guess 230. This car is as plain as a Chevelle Malibu coupe could be - the firewall is almost completely blank. No power anything. The car should be done up right as it is basically a blank canvass at this point and in good condition for a starting point. It does have a 10-bolt posi.

Here it is: By CaminoLS6 It is a straight six with a powerglide and 80k original miles. The current owner is only its third and the car is bone basic and original. The condition is what I would call "original rough". He wants 4k or best for it Doors and rockers are solid, bottoms of the quarters have been patched, trunk floor replaced, gas tank replaced. Sorry about only getting one pic - memory was full on the camera.

Nope. You missed my position entirely. I agree that Alpha should be developed without V8 capability. When I say "upfit" I mean done after the fact like the Mallet Solstice, or a Boss 429 Mustang, or a Firehawk. I don't want to see regular production Alphas bear the cost of V8 compatibility. An Alpha Camaro with Hi-PO V6 would constitute most of the production with the V8 being a special production item independent of the rest.

So, you agree with me? That situation is precisely why I said the V8 would be an upfit and not part of regular production. As for my position on this, I want to see both Alpha and Zeta remain available with Alpha not engineered for a V8. For me, zeta is perfectly sized.

Please clarify, Turbo. I'm not sure what you are saying exactly in that last post.

I've thought this way from time to time myself. Why not take it a step farther? Make all dealerships GM dealerships and allow any GM car to be ordered by any dealer. Then pare down the offerings to the essence of each brand while eliminating the re-badge problem. Keeping all of the brands. It could be an all-around solution for everyone, if the franchise laws allow it and it is done right. It certainly would be more in line with current market share and should save huge money for GM.

Yes, but the rub comes with having to engineer Alpha to handle a V8. That would add weight to all Alpha cars since so many of the hard parts would need to be beefier. That's why I said that I could see V8 Alpha Camaros being and upfit project independent of regular Alpha production. That way V8 availability can remain (although more expensive) and "regular' Alphas can be lighter.

This is the sort of thinking required!

Hard to tell from that pic, and the paint non the car is spotted in a rough - but I don't think so. More tomorrow.

Very Cool!

I'm with FOG, I have no desire to pursue the false goal of "fairness for everyone". Life isn't, has never been, and will never be, "fair". Freedom is far more important than the lowest-common-denominator of the "common good". All of these arguments are moot anyway, in the sense that conservation of oil resources will never solve the problem - only a diversified and steady fuel supply can do that. To expect any human to be happy with a decreased standard of living is to ignore human nature entirely. If sacrifice and acceptance are the strategies you use when facing a challenge, you have already surrendered and thus, have lost!. Innovation and creative thinking as well as some serious reform in certain regulatory practices is where we will find solutions. Adopting a surrender mentality is to invite failure as a result.

Duh. Welcome to 2003. I'd be willing to bet that before too long, minivans (called something else) will be doing quite fine.

The car is pretty cool and different. Details and one pic later. :AH-HA_wink:

Chicagoland: You keep saying "all RWD" and no one here is advocating that! What we are against is all FWD, a strategy that has already proven to be a failure. The B-body cars were not cancelled due to sales, in fact GM was considering expanding the lineup until the Tahoe became an instant hit and more capacity was desperately needed in a hurry. At the time, GM made about 15k on each Tahoe they built, so the sacrifice was made. The F-body is a completely different story. It was chronically underfunded, allowed to wither on the vine, not advertised, built at a one-product plant, was too heavily focused on male buyers, was a no-compromise performance car, and the list goes on and on.. But it still managed to be the most bang for the buck performance car on the market, easily outdoing the Mustang and actually besting the Corvette of the day on GM's own test tracks. The 4th gen was not for everyone, but it did an amazing job despite all of the cards stacked against it. The final blow came from the same incompetent leadership that brought you the demise of Oldsmobile and the financial black hole known as Saturn. To judge RWD generally on the story of these two examples (F and B bodies) is entirely absurd. It is more apt to use them as examples of the casualties of failed management.

I've never been a fan of yellow, but it really did work on cars of this era. The one I'm going to look at is a light blue metallic, lighter and more silvery than Marina blue.

Is that 4100 pound number confirmed?

More power to ya, XP!

I feel the same way Crash, but things look to be heading that way. ehasse: Bleak outlook. I don't think things will be quite that bad.

I think I'm going to brave the heat and go have a look at this car.

I hope that's how it turns out, Charlie - but I have my doubts. I could see a "special" run of upfit 6th gens running V8s, but as a production line product I see huge resistance to making Alpha V8 capable.

Agreed. But, with some GTOs, there was a rubbing issue due to suspension settings that would gouge the sidewalls on the inside of the front tires. I never had that problem with mine.

I love this post! Oh, and I agree too.

I fully expect a 6th gen on Alpha, the rub comes in with a V8 not likely to be offered. I guess that is one of the 5th gen's jobs, to pave the way toward acceptance of a V6 as the top powerplant with Alpha. I don't much like that idea, but I can see the whys of it.

I remember being tempted by a 64 at Carlisle.

Thanks for posting that pic 68, I couldn't visualize the wagon from the back. Now that I've seen it, the rear quarter and tailgate aren't too far off of the 'Camino. I have to say I prefer the Chevy styling at the back,though. The plain round taillights don't work so well with the gate, IMO.