In the realm of stupid expensive 1960s rare factory parts, there may be a new king in town. The seller of this matched and date coded pair of carbs and cross ram intake manifold is looking for $27,500 and it doesn’t seem like he is in the mood to negotiate. Think about the amount of crazy ass car stuff you can buy for $27,500. Hell, you can buy like 5 pretty nice cars and have money left over to register them for that money!

Chad is our resident Camaro expert/freak around here so we’re going to have to hear his opinion on whether or not this stuff is worth it. We’re not sure what “verified” early Z/28 Camaros are going for but they must really be fetching some insane money if the intake and carbs can be listed for $27,500 and not have it be come kind of a joke, right?

Famously those that wanted the cross ram intake manifold got it with the car but it was not installed. The parts and pieces were shipped in the trunk of the car they were intended to be installed on. We’re not sure if any of the parts you see in the photo below were installed or run on a car over the course of the last (nearly) 50 years but the stuff looks like it is in nearly perfect condition. The seller says that the date codes on the carbs and intake line up. Both were produced in April of 1968.

I guess the last question is whether or not the buyer scores this thing for a restoration of if they buy it, sit on it for 10 years and then relist it for $40,000 down the road? Maybe it is just us but this is freaking comical that these parts are listed for a price that is roughly 800% the cost of the original car.

Chad Note:

I will admit to being a Camaro Freak, although I do think it’s funny that over the past few years people know me more for wagons. But I digress. I grew up with a 1968 Camaro in the garage. My entire life has been with a Camaro that has been owned by my dad since new. When I drove it for the first time it was like magic. If my dad’s car still had the cross-ram setup on it then, yes you read that right, it would not have been any cooler of a ride. With that said, my father sold his cross-ram intake, carbs, and cowl-induction air cleaner assembly sometime in the late 1970’s I believe for pretty good hard to find parts money, but not collector money. Let me be clear, my dad’s 1968 Z/28 did NOT come with the cross-ram from the factory. He worked at a Chevrolet dealer and when they came available he bought the setup. In truth, no Z28 actually “came” with a Crossram Intake, as they were a special service part that the dealer would have ordered and installed, not like the headers that were in the trunk of cars and to be installed once delivered at the dealership.

So is this setup here worth $27,500? I guess it depends on who you are. But considering that there are several online for $20,000 to $25,000, I would say that this all matching setup just might be. There aren’t any real hard numbers on how many of these were built and sold in 1968 and 1969, so it’s hard to tell what the real “rarity” is.

Consider this though, the crossram plenum air (Cowl Induction) air cleaner and assembly for a 1968 Camaro will cost you $1500 for a reproduction and we’ve seen NOS parts go for as much as $15,000 and some for sale for more than that right now. Again, they are super rare parts, and they are for a Camaro so that means expensive. 

Would I buy one like this if I could afford it? Probably not. I’d get an aftermarket copy and a repop plenum air setup and call it cool. Maybe even install a dual Holley Terminator setup on it!

Here’s the ad in case you have $27,500 burning a hole in your pocket