1969 L-89 Convertible 4 Speed For Sale

[raw muscle cars]

according to kevin suydams website there were eleven built and he and roger gibson claim its the only one left out of the eleven.

[mike s]

in my opinion kevin suydam does not have the only L89 convertible but in the same right i do not believe that car is correct as a real L89 but even if i am wrong which i could be without documentation its not worth that kind of money in my opinion

just my 2 cents mike

[Salvatore]

I don't think it is either, Mike.

[Jeff H]

Yeah, that's a steep price tag for an undocumented car, but then look at the flip side, how's a Hemi Cuda conv without the original motor worth $1 million?

[Kurt S]

Noone knows how many L89 ragtops there were. 11 is a guess, I think it's more than that, seeing I know of 3 plus the two pacers. Still, they are rare.

It would have been nice to have one clean pic of the whole pad, but I don't see any issues with the engine pad. The first 5 digits of the engine partial VIN match with another known block. Yes, the other pad has a foot on the 1.

[Charley Lillard]

Thankyou Kurt.....

[raw muscle cars]

so whats the verdict here after all the discussion is it real or not and what would you all pay for this car? it seem that seans copo chevelle is a steal at the price he is asking.

[camarojoe]

In comparison with this one, I'd have to agree. But i'd take a 427 car over a 396 car w/aluminum heads even with equal documentation, just based on personal preference. Keep in mind that asking price and selling price are often far removed from each other too though. JMO.

[69L89RAG]

Okay, I have sat back and watched all the fun so here is the history of the car:

I bought this car in August 2002. I was looking for a 1969 Camaro Big Block convertible. After searching and looking at cars for 8 months I came across an ad for a 396/350 Convertible. It was an old ad on a family’s website. I tried to contact the seller but the email address did not work. So I tried the family whose site had the ad and they sent me a new address for (Owner 5). After contacting him and asking him what he had in the way of Big Block Camaro convertibles he mentioned the L-89 and a couple of others that he had. The L-89 was intriguing. But (Owner 5) did not want sell it. After about a month of phone calls and prodding for some pictures I got (Owner 5) agree to sell the car. Then I did something you will all appreciate I tried to negotiate price! He listed the car on Camaro.net for sale. He called me and told me I had 24 hours to decide if I wanted it or he would sell it to the next person who wanted it. So I bought it. Can’t blame a guy for trying!

The car's condition at the time was decent, an older restoration from the mid 1980s but the car was never really used after that. The motor had been rebuilt but not totally put back together. (Owner 5) had the car for around 4 years. Car was located in Arizona when I purchased it.

(Owner 4) sold the car because he was going through a nasty divorce and his wife did not know about this car so he sold it. In that time he owned it he had started to have the engine rebuilt and did some detailing to the suspension. He did tell me that an employee of his carefully took out the instrument cluster. He said that it was absolutely original to the car and never taken out or touched before. (Owner 4) owned the car for 9 years. The car was located in Southern California.

(Owner 3) sold the car because he decided to restore it and was really unhappy about the job that was done especially to a ¼ panel that was replaced. (Owner 4) happened to visit (Owner 3)’s shop at the right time and bought the car. (Owner 3) obtained the car when he saw the car pass him going the other way while driving. He turned around and chased the car down. He noticed the 396 and SS badging. He noticed that the car had a high horsepower tach. He noticed that is had the correct deep groove pulleys. He also noticed that the car had the wrong manifold and carburetor. Asked the driver if he wanted to sell it. It seems that he was more than happy to sell it because the gas prices and mileage were killing him. He sold it and bought a Datsun!

The car when purchased by (Owner 3), for $3,500 I might add, it was in decent condition for an old Camaro. It was wearing its original Fathom green paint, black top, black interior. He decided to have the car restored. He said to me when I spoke with him that “just because someone made a color mistake when they order it, doesn’t mean that I am going to make the same mistake when I restore it”! He had the car redone in Lemans Blue and White. He never noticed the heads being aluminum because the engine was fully painted. He did tell me that he remembers the JJ codes on the block because he had a friend named JJ and he kept telling him he had a car with his name on it. (Owner 3) was in the business of buying and selling Camaros and their parts. He said he liked the big block convertible and 4 speed but it still was just another Camaro to him. You should hear his stories about cars he sold and parted out over the years for a few bucks!!!!!

(Owner 2) had seen an ad for the Convertible Camaro and bought it. He lived at the time in Michigan. He really wasn’t into cars and did not know much about this car when I talked to him. He does remember that the car had the High Horsepower Tach because when he was moving from Michigan to California he said he had the car at redline for like 20 minutes! And he did not blow it up! He did tell me that while he owned the car he blew the trans and had to replace it.

(Owner 1) I did not talk with because he passed away sometime ago. I did talk to his son-in-law. He told me that all he remembered was he went with his father-in-law to pick the car up in East Jordan, Michigan. When they got the car it had no engine and trans. He said a week or 2 later his father-in-law told him he had gotten the original motor and trans.

That is where the trail runs cold. Michigan purges their record after 10 years. I do have a lawyer who does insurance work trying to get the NICB to search their records.


In regards to some of the replies on my thread.

As far as listing a car like this on ebay. Ebay is one of the best places to market an automobile in the world. Cars that have value in the millions have sold. D-Type Jaguar $1.2 Million, Ferraris for over $1.5 million. Purchasers from all around the world monitor ebay for automobiles. Where else can you have 20,000 people take their time and look at a car you are trying sell?

As far as parts that are incorrect on my car. I know the car does not have the correct spoiler. The restoration shop has one painted for me if I wanted to put it on. I could not find a Walnut wheel that was worth the money when I restored the car so I left on the Rosewood wheel. Headlight buckets are now painted black. I had seen a lot of cars both ways so I did not know which was correct. The car has the correct fan blade but it is not date coded correct, the intake manifold is correct but has the wrong date code. The Trim tag that is on the car is a new one because the original (which I have) had the paint and interior color restamped. I was afraid to have it corrected because it would crack. I left the white interior in the car because it was the only way I like it with the Fathom green color and is easily changed. I have the original air cleaner top but it is not on the car because it was not as nice as the rest of the engine.

I do not have any paperwork. As I mention in my auction I have owner history, which is listed above. Would I like to have paperwork? Sure but do I believe that paperwork guaranties authenticity? Absolutely not. Just because a car has no paperwork does not mean that it a fake. In the ideal world I would like to have ALL paperwork and talk to the all the owners of the car and the selling dealer and the car would be untouched and original. Those cars are out there but they are far and few and on a different level. What matters is that the person who buys a car be comfortable with the purchase. Not the opinion of others.

As far as the question of the Block Stampings, I have requested, from Jerry, a copy of the stamping in his database that he compared with mine. From all the comparisons I have done, while I have owned the car, seem to match. Granted I might be tainted since I own the car. I also have had 3 knowledgeable, known, experts look at the stampings and say that they looked original and correct. But until I see exactly what Jerry looked at I really can’t respond to his comments directly. I would like to post it so everyone would be able compare them and make there own determination.

There is a better current shot of the pad and stampings attached.

As far as price goes, how do you put a price on car that one like it has never sold before? This car will make its own market price. Whatever price it sells for will be the baseline. It will only go up in value from there.

Thank You

[camarojoe]

Good post, better info right there than in the ebay ad description.