Outside of the air in the tires, this well-worn, completely original 1973 Camaro is as delivered from the factory. The original 350ci small block is still there, the original jack is in the trunk, no one converted it from a column to a floor shift at any time, the hubcaps are still on it, and the desert baked paint is kind of hammered but there’s no rust to speak of under it. In short, this is a heck of an interesting car because it has made it from 1973 to 2017 with only Mr. Sun taking its toll on the coupe.

While in our dreamworld we always think about Camaros with big blocks, four speeds, and 12-bolt rear ends, the reality is that the car you see below was the volume seller. A V8 engine (although a pretty tame one), air conditioning, a column shifter, and hubcaps. While it is kind of a workaday package, this was once someone’s brand new factory hot rod. The person who drove this car off the lot during the Nixon administration was likely beaming with pride. We like to think about the buyer for the car by looking at the options. This Camaro could go one of 100 ways. The fact it has a V8 says that someone wanted some power. The fact that it has AC says that someone wanted cruising comfort, and the fact that it has a column shifter tells us it was not a kid.

The natural question is what to do with it? It would be a great car to restore, right? Solid and rust free it has great bones. For the same reason it would be a good car to hot rod because you’d not be spending time rebuilding the whole thing from the ground up. Which way would you go with it?

Click here for the CL ad featuring this into 1973 Camaro