Antalya Turkey, early 1989. I've been going through 6 years of old negatives & scanning the interesting ones. I was into Camaros back then (had an '84) and saw this on the street. That's a real Camaro emblem on the side, the SS looks legit. If you remove the front end, you can kinda see a 1st gen body. Is this real? Did someone stick emblems on a Russian econobox?
Grill is built inside the factory nose, and just looks like bumpers are covered with rubber. Side skirts are goofy. It’s definitely a camaro.
OK, this thing is very interesting. First things first. It is a first generation Camaro. No doubt. From what I can see, the "camaro" side badge is from the 80's not the first generation Camaro script badge that was used.
The nose treatment could be someone customizing it by using another car's grill set. But what car has grill pieces that fit inset into the outside edges of a Camaro's front fenders? The center piece is easy enough to explain.. probably custom made to hold the grill pieces in place.
Then there is the fenders. That fender shape / wheel opening does not match any of the first generation cars. Neither does the rear quarter. I assume it is either a 67 or a 68 since it doesn't have that long character line running into the door that was a trademark of the 69. But when I look at the 67 and 68, they all have flared out wheel openings, not the squared off treatment on the car you have in that picture.
Strange indeed or just a very elaborate custom car??
1967
1968
1969
The headrests on the seats look like 69 IIRC.
In reply to JOsworth :
The wheel openings are kinda '69 looking, squared vs rounded, but added a strange little "bubble". I wish I had gotten some interior photos.
I thought for a moment that this might be based on a 1967 Ford Falcon, but the lack of vent windows, the door handle, the curve of the rear fender and , most significantly, the position of the rear bumper point to 1969 Camaro. This is a weird car.
Whatever. The star of this photo is clearly the Lada/Fiat behind it.
I'm going with a 69 Camaro. If you look closely you can sort of see the factory styling line running behind the front wheel well opening. It's kinda hard to see because they ran that trim piece right in top of it down the doors, but it's slightly above it on the front fender.
I disagree. Although you have the style line at the rear of the fender from the '69, you also have a raised offset that runs all the way around the front wheel opening. That's no where to be seen on the Camaro. If that's a Camaro, the front fenders have been completely remade and they added that kickout on the rockers. And I'm still not convinced it's a real Camaro
im with Nick and NO TATAS on all of the above. re the Turkey car, it's definitely based on the '69 camaro as Nick stated.
Re the post above with the '68 mislabeled as a '67, there are a couple other differences:
'67 nose emblem said "Chevrolet" in script and "camaro" in the rectangle
'68 nose emblem said "Camaro" in script and "by Chevrolet" in the rectangle (below):
'67 had round parking lights (below):
'68 had oblong (taller than wide) parking lights
Looking at the bumper as well, my guess is the car had a front hit and cobbling together a grill assembly from parts was easier/cheaper than sourcing a replacement grill and bumper. If you look at the grill, the slats are rather uneven. Not that there's anything wrong with it. The car looks presentable and is back on the road.
ultraclyde said:I disagree. Although you have the style line at the rear of the fender from the '69, you also have a raised offset that runs all the way around the front wheel opening. That's no where to be seen on the Camaro. If that's a Camaro, the front fenders have been completely remade and they added that kickout on the rockers. And I'm still not convinced it's a real Camaro
i see the different shape at the rear of the front wheel arch but i wouldn't get too hung up on that, considering the changes to grille, side skirts, bumpers, etc.
FYI, If you google "Turkey Camaro" you get some funky pictures.
I'm with the "It's based on a '69" crowd due to the shape of the rear wheel opening. The nose doesn't look home made to me.
Possibly someone got some of the stamping dies and built these in another country under a different name? It's happened before.
All I can say is that thank God, GM does not have a design studio in Turkey, always loved the looks of the 1st gen, but that thing is hideous!
NOT A TA said:Top pic in post above is a 68 not a 67. 67 had vent windows and no side marker lights, I've owned both. Currently have a 67.
The headrests on the seats look like 69 IIRC.
Thanks, fixed it in my post. Hate when I mess up...
SaltyDog said:FYI, If you google "Turkey Camaro" you get some funky pictures.
I'm with the "It's based on a '69" crowd due to the shape of the rear wheel opening. The nose doesn't look home made to me.
Possibly someone got some of the stamping dies and built these in another country under a different name? It's happened before.
I did just that... funny what you find. I am starting to lean towards the 69 feeling as well. It is just the front fender and door are not the same as a domestic 69. And I have been searching and searching for examples of foreign cars built on that platform. No luck yet.
I am really leaning on this being either a foreign continuation car where GM sold the tooling and they modified it a bit, or there are some really bad aftermarket parts out there that somehow made it onto this car.
I can find lots of examples of continuation cars, but almost all the examples involve the original OEM to some extent. If GM was involved in some Eastern Europe, Middle Eastern continuation of the first gen F Body I cannot seem to find it on the interwebs.
Lunch over... back to work..
This thing is so weird that it's bothering me. It's like one of those cars in Grand Theft Auto that looks similar to a real world, existing car, but isn't.
Judging by the lack of vent windows and the shape of the rear quarter, I'm going with 1969. The simulated vents in front of the wheel well are missing, but since they had the skill to transform the rest of the car into whatever it is, I'm sure they found a way to fill these in.
When I saw the negative, my first thought was "this is going on GRM"...
"Continuation cars" you say? Never heard that term. Would it be like the Beetle being made in Mexico for, like forever? (Edit: I'll see if I can get more details from the full-size scan.)
Or the second gen Jetta still being made in China.
JOsworth said:I am starting to lean towards the 69 feeling as well.
Say What? 
GameboyRMH said:JOsworth said:I am starting to lean towards the 69 feeling as well.
Say What?
My 2c includes guessing/conjecture but I too have heard stories of companies selling the "tooling" to other countries. I don't have many specific examples, but like you may find that Mercedes S cars from the 80s or 90s are still produced brand new in some parts of the world. The model years and models and styles can vary quite a bit in different countries. This Camaro might have been repaired with what was on hand, making it fit or something along those lines. In Cuba they aren't allowed to import parts even, so every car is a Chevy from the 50s or some hodgepodge thing still on the road...
All these comments and no one has thought to just run the plates?
Patrick said:GameboyRMH said:JOsworth said:I am starting to lean towards the 69 feeling as well.
Say What?
Oh Boy.........
Jerry said:When I saw the negative, my first thought was "this is going on GRM"...
"Continuation cars" you say? Never heard that term. Would it be like the Beetle being made in Mexico for, like forever? (Edit: I'll see if I can get more details from the full-size scan.)
Continuation cars are vehicles that are continued after the car has been retired in it's primary/original market. They are either made by the original manufacturer or the tooling sold and made by someone else.
Here is the last Kombi van built in Brazil. This is a 2013.
Or the 2009 Chevy Blazer, again from Brazil.
As you can see, they also tweak the body sometimes. I have always found these interesting. You mentioned the Mexican Beetle. That is an example. The main market was Taxi service. There was another continuation car that took it's place in Mexico. Old Nissan Sentras sold there until just last year... again, mainly as taxis. They called it the Tsuru.
Then there are the strange ones built for places like Mexico exclusively, based on say a US truck.
1999 Dodge Ramcharger.
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