by Chris Chilton
- Mecum is auctioning a modern Camaro with a vintage twist.
- The 2012 convertible was modded to look like a ’69 Chevelle.
- A 6.2-liter LS3 V8 lies under the carbon-effect Chevelle hood.
We’re all familiar with restomods, the idea of updating an old car to give it the handling, performance and luxury amenities of a new one. But some cars, like this Chevelle pretender, flip the script completely, backdating a new vehicle to make it look older. In the case of this Chev-aro, about 43 years older.
At some point the muscle car in these pictures was a regular fifth-gen Chevy Camaro convertible with a lusty V8 and a smooth automatic transmission.
Related: New Age Camaro Reborn As A ’69 Chevy Chevelle SS
However, when it crosses Mecum’s Kansas auction block in December, what bidders will mostly see is a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, the first-gen Camaro’s bigger, midsize brother.
Think of it as a 2012 Camaro SS with an extreme body kit. The core unibody structure, the interior, suspension layout and powertrain is unchanged, but Chevelle body panels help create the illusion.
The very obviously modern windshield rake and fat A-pillars on every one of these sort of conversions mean that illusion is never wholly convincing, but the proportions aren’t bad and the look is helped by a 3-inch (75 mm) suspension drop that exaggerates the total body length.
And if you only saw it from the front or back you might for a moment get taken in by the charade, though this car’s carbon-effect wrap on the trunk and cowl-induction hood (an optional feature that didn’t appear on Chevelles until 1970) won’t be to everyone’s taste.
Under the hood is a 6.2-liter LS3 V8 which, as an SS automatic, would have pushed out 400 hp (406 PS) when new and probably hasn’t lost many of those horses 34,000 miles (55,000 km) later. Even if it has, the muffler-delete job on the exhaust will help mask the shortfall.
Is Nostalgia Worth the Price?
I’ll come out here and say it, I just don’t get this kind of reverse restomod at all, and certainly not at the $187k this ZL1-based Chevelle went for a couple of years back, great job though Vision Retro Designs did of the build.