Of all the muscle car stuff that I am interested in, rare parts are pretty close to the top of the list. Not necessarily because I know everything about them, where they came from, who invented them, or that type stuff but more because they have great and mysterious histories. This is a (claimed) original Camaro cowl air cleaner the likes of which are often spoken about, now reproduced, but rarely ever seen in original form. Even this piece isn’t 100% original because over the years it has been modified in a couple of ways. Firstly, someone made a little clearance panel on the backside for distributor clearance or some other reason. Also the metal snout length was modified over the years but then put back to the correct length by the time the seller got hold of it. These were likely modifications produced by a racing team. On what level is anyone’s guess.
One piece that we see missing is the rubber coupling that held the air cleaner to the duct that connected it to the cowl vent of the Camaro this originally appeared on. The seller claims that this was pulled off of a 1969 Z/28 Camaro at some point in the 1980s and then set aside in a dry storage area. The thing is pretty awesome and if it is original, there is certainly some value in it. The big question for us is about the modifications and how they change what it is worth. Seems kind of like a baseball card to us, right? Bent corner, crease, and water damage kill value. If someone was desperate for this thing they could lay out the big money and then have a top shelf fabricator fix it so no one ever knew anything happened and likely doubling the spend in the process.
We know that restoration freaks pay HUGE sums for OEM parts…is this one that they’d kick the money out over?
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS AND THE LINK TO THE EBAY LISTING OF THIS RARE CAMARO COWL AIR CLEANER –
Hey Lohnes, where is the full parts list for the 388 you were going to put up yesterday!?
Sorry man, working on it! On the road and trying to get the story together.
Thanks for the update! Looking forward to seeing the parts list.
I gotta say this is a thing that annoys me a bit….yes, I get that rare = $$ but ( at least in Australia) is the trend that old = $$ whether or not that is a rare part…shits me to tears. Heres an example… you may have heard of Falcon GT’s, particularly GTHO phase 3’s. In the 80’s, phase 3’s were worth money. Regular GT’s were cheapish and pretty well unloved and non GT models were dime a dozen. Now, phase 3’s are north of a million, regular GT’s are not far behind, replica’s are asking huge money but what shits me is six cyl stockers are also worth heaps. Worse, pretty well any part, GT or not, is all of a sudden worth big bucks. So if you are just a legit owner of an old car, rare or not, every damn part is worth stupid money….need a fender cos you had a little bingle? Cough up – and its a seller’s market….
http://www.heartbeatcitycamaro.com/store/product/27220/Cowl-Plenum-air-cleaner-GM-1967-1968/
New-Old-Stock GM for $6,800 complete.
The same seller has a reproduction unit for $895 complete.
As for what the unit on ebay is worth, modified, no history: $500 or less.
I don’t know how ‘rare’ that thing is, ‘obsolete’ is a better term. Those were used from back in the early ’60’s on. Jenkins had them on his Impala’s, as did other racers. Most all stock class racers ran that piece, (if class legal) This was an over the counter part that any one could purchase. They were the precursor to the cowl induction hood, that everyone raved about when it first came out on late ’68 Camaro’s. It was a rehash of an old idea.There probably is a GM generic part # on the thing, I’m sure, but it’s not a unique part # to a ’69 Z/28
The Air Plenum was an option on both the 1967 and 1968 Z/28. It definitely was not an option for the 1969 Z/28 as it had the Cowl Induction as an option.
You could also order from the factory, though they weren’t installed, they came in the trunk, headers for the 1967 and 1968 Z/28.
There were four Z/28 option codes for the 67 and 68 Z/28:
Z28BA: Z28 performance package
Z28BB: Z28 Performance Package with Air Plenum
Z28BC: Z28 Performance Package with Headers
Z28BD: Z28 Performance Package with Air Plenum and Headers
Seriously, do people really enjoy this hobby? Sure looks like all the joy was sucked out of it 10 years ago. I mean, I get the whole nostalgia thing, but you can’t buy back your youth chasing casting numbers and VIN tags.
Its definitely worth some money. But I’d say that the rarest part for a ’69 Z/28 is the Rosewood steering wheel.
It is a chevy part……..wont it just break???? that’s what chevys do……they break.