Member of

Camaro 1972 project

Latest news: The rebuild of this car has started (30March 2008)
Click here

The Camaro Story
In 1976 and 1977 I worked for United Nations Development Fund in Kuwait. There I bought this Camaro RS 1972 with a 350ci V8 and a TH350 automatic transmission. After my contract was finished we drove the Camaro back to Sweden. The route was Badgad -  Aleppo (Syria) - Kusadasi (Turkey) - Samos (Greece) - Athens - Brindisi (Italy) - Milan - Geneva (Switzerland) - Copenhagen - Kalmar (Sweden).

The we's in this sense included my ex-wife Anki, and my two daughters Maria and Karolina. The rear seat was stuffed with pillows and soft bags and a small mattress so the kids had a flat area to roam on and to sleep on. They were 8 and 3 years old at that time. It was a long trip, but also a vacation, and we used three weeks to cover the distance. We had two mechanical break downs, first a rear brake failure in Aleppo. The T-junction for the brake lines decided to start leaking and we had to find a new one.

The second break down was a fuel pump seal leakage, so engine oil leaked out. This started somewhere in Germany, but we managed to reach Sweden by adding enough oil......

Back home in Sweden, the car was kept for 6 months and then the plan was to sell it dutyfree. However, by the time it was time to sell, I had changed my mind about selling and wanted to restore it. So, in 1978 the interior went out and a small rust hole was repaired at the rear window. The engine was moleculeized and overhauled and put together again by myself. This was my first engine build and successful. The car got a nice candy apple red paint with lots of clear on top, and a new white vinyl interior, sewn up by myself. Rear tires became 15x8 radials and front 14x6 on Cragar chrome wheels with a wire spoke basket insert. I added front and rear spoilers, so the looks were like a Z28 with the RS package.

After some summer seasons, the Camaro was stored away in the same barn as where the Chevy 35 went while I was in Curacao.

This year, 2005, my good friend in Sweden, Rolf Johansson, took the Camaro out of the barn, had her checked up and then took her to road inspection. There were three remarks (after almost 20 years storage), One parking light did not work, one brake was uneven, and another small thing. This is quality stuff!

The paint looks still reasonable, but needs to be stripped off and done again (in a different color probably).

The engine  needs a major overhaul, but I am thinking of a LS1 instead. This will be a pro-street g-machine!

The interior is still reasonable, but the dashboard is warped etc etc. I did the seats myself 20 years back and they still look good, I must say!

Next page ---->