Photo: Barrett-Jackson
Say what you want about GM, but these guys have always known how to make a fuss at any auto show. Not necessarily the GM of today, but the one of the olden days, which gave us that little something called Motorama.
Now, Motorama was an entirely GM affair, but the company liked to show off at other events as well, especially after it pulled the plug on its sanctioned auto show in 1961. And the way it did that was by means of extraordinary displays the likes of the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro we have here.
Well, not just one Camaro, but two of them, nicely wrapped in a single package that has come to be known as the Cutaway Camaro or the Double Header Car.
Back in 1968, when it was about to launch new versions of its recently-arrived muscle car, Chevy decided to trek the nation’s shows with a single display that could present, depending on mood and just a push of a button, either a standard Camaro, or an RS/SS version.
The company managed to achieve this by designing some of the car’s elements in such a way as to be easily removed and replaced. We have the standard Camaro shell, with no doors so that people could get a better feel of the interior, and two engines, a straight-6 and a 350ci (5.7-liter) V8, both attached to their own front ends, that could be easily swapped and mated with the rest of the car.
Legend has it GM only made two of these, and this is one of them. It was kept hidden, in a private collection, for the past 52 years, so having it out in the open out of the blue does come as a surprise. And there’s a reason for it doing that, as it is now getting ready to go under the Barrett-Jackson hammer in January in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The contraption is listed with no reserve, but given its rarity and place in the history of the thing, it should make a real splash – we'll come back on this and let you know.
Well, not just one Camaro, but two of them, nicely wrapped in a single package that has come to be known as the Cutaway Camaro or the Double Header Car.
Back in 1968, when it was about to launch new versions of its recently-arrived muscle car, Chevy decided to trek the nation’s shows with a single display that could present, depending on mood and just a push of a button, either a standard Camaro, or an RS/SS version.
The company managed to achieve this by designing some of the car’s elements in such a way as to be easily removed and replaced. We have the standard Camaro shell, with no doors so that people could get a better feel of the interior, and two engines, a straight-6 and a 350ci (5.7-liter) V8, both attached to their own front ends, that could be easily swapped and mated with the rest of the car.
Legend has it GM only made two of these, and this is one of them. It was kept hidden, in a private collection, for the past 52 years, so having it out in the open out of the blue does come as a surprise. And there’s a reason for it doing that, as it is now getting ready to go under the Barrett-Jackson hammer in January in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The contraption is listed with no reserve, but given its rarity and place in the history of the thing, it should make a real splash – we'll come back on this and let you know.
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