Earliest date of 1967 big block Camaro build...

[John]

Originally Posted by ;766578

Hi,

I have a pretty interesting story from the original owner of a 1967 L78 Camaro. The car is still owned by the owner and has only been repainted once in the '80's. It is butternut yellow and is pretty devoid of options save for the L78, a factory 4:56 rear and I think a M22. The guy still drives the car and neither engine, trans or rear have been apart. The car was bought at Hechler Motors (a very performance oriented dealer in Richmond...1969 ZL1 'vette fame being one example)and was a twin to another L78 they had at the same time. The other car was optioned (or lack of..lol)the same, except had a 4:10 rear. The cars were bought from Hoyt Rotella (the main performance car salesperson who also retailed the 1969 yellow ZL1 vette) to race. They were bought by 2 friends that worked at Dupont together and were occasionally raced at Richmond Dragway. I was told that the owner met Grumpy Jenkins recently and mentioned he owned a 1967 L78 Camaro. When they started talking Grumpy mentioned that he had tried to get a L78 Camaro for racing and had found out about the 2 Hechler had, but was told they were already sold. I would think these 2 cars would have been pretty early cars as Hechler was very tied to the zone office and had many "inside" connections. They were responsible for dealer swaps on a few Camaros and Chevelles and there is a rumor that they might have even gotten a few COPO Chevelles built in 1967 with L72s. I will try to get ahold of the owner of the L78 if anyone is interested and get his cowl tag data and a few pics. Just email or post.

Respectfully,

Gregory Carlson

...... I own the 1967 396/375 Camaro that was Sold at Hechler Chevrolet in Highland Springs ( Rickmond, VA.)
... It still has ALL ORIGINAL PAINT
... It has 1122 Actual miles
... It has 4P on the Cowl Tag
... The Rear Tail panel is Original Paint and is Blue that matches the rest of the car
... Car was built March 29, 1967
... I was told by Camaro Research Group that it was built 2 days after
Grumpy Jenkins 1967 396/375 Camaro
...
... So I think Grumpy Jenkins Camaro was built on March 27, 1967
...
...

[Steve Shauger]

I know there is an old thread debating whether the #1 IPC or Grumps car was the first. Yes the IPC was detuned to L34 spec at GM Eng, but was built first as L78 IIRC.

[plumL78]

The one yellow l78 from Richmond is owned by Robert Carroll (the orig. owner) I believe its a 7B car. my brother has a La L35 396 car and I believe its a 02B car. I will check to see what the body # is

[plumL78]

My brothers car is a 02A and the body # is16042

[1903USMCUnertl]

While researching a 1965 L78 Corvette roadster which came from Hechler, I spoke to a couple of guys who knew the dealership. Apparently Hechler had at least 4 L78 Camaros in 1967, which is interesting given the number built and the dealerships relative size. They were a large (sold units) Corvette and high performance dealer but tend to “fly under the radar.”

The confirmed ‘67’s to date (might be a couple of more based on conversation)

1) Blue non-RS (member here)
2) Butternut Yellow non-RS 4:56 car (Original Owner)
3) Butternut Yellow RS 4:10 car which above owners friend bought at the same time and car was totaled
4) Capri Cream or Butternut Yellow car non-RS thought to still be around but different car than the OO car.

Apparently there might have been a red L78 which was thought to have been sold at Hechler as well and possibly (?) went to Motion for some work. Was supposed to have been owned by a guy with a sketchy background (drugs and girls) who also owned a C3 ‘Vette Motion worked on or built. Rumor is he had some connections to Frank Lucas.

Also possibly another blue RS car which ended up a drag car