Very rare 1968 Dana 427 Camaro

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Very rare 1968 Dana 427 Camaro
read your article titled “Models
and real cars go hand-in-hand”
on the Web, and it brought
back many memories of building
models in the 1960s.
I am now 56 years old, and
bought many models with the
money I earned from my newspaper route. All my money went to
two things at that age — candy
and models.
I have been a “car guy” from
when I was 9 years old and heavily
influenced by my older sister's
boyfriend. He was a hot rodder
who owned many cars, and one in
particular was a ’48 Plymouth 2door. It had a chopped top with a
Cadillac engine and 4-speed
transmission. I made him take me
for a ride each weekend before he
took my sister out, and I always
asked him to spin the tires. The
sound and smell still lingers today,
and I am convinced his influence
led to my model building and me
being a dedicated car guy today. I
got back into the “real” car hobby
10 years ago, and am glad I did.
Attached are pictures of my
1968 427 Dana Camaro SS/RS full
restoration, produced by Dana
Chevrolet in Southgate, Los
Angeles. The car is a very accurate
reproduction, and not a documented original. There are only
six or so documented ’67 and ’68
427 Dana Camaros that exist
today out of the 50 or so that
were built. They sell for up to
$500,000, and the Dana cars are
the least known out of the various
Chevrolet dealers that did engine
I
Greg Zyla
swaps in ’67 and ’68 like Nickey,
Baldwin Motion and Yenko.
It took a five-year commitment
from my friends and me to finish
the Dana. I built the hood and
Dana letters from scratch.
Your article on model cars
brought back a lot of fond memories. — Gary Keyes, email from
Washington.
A: Gary, thanks much. I want
my readers to know that the Dana
Camaro was truly the first 427 Camaro ever, as Yenko, Baldwin Motion and Nickey soon followed.
Unlike Dana, these dealers were
“COPO” dealers (Central Office
Production Order), which means
they were helped along by GM.
Further, Fred Gibb Chevrolet
(see www.nickeychicago.net), located in La Harpe, Ill., through
1984, became a big-time COPO
dealer with 427 Novas and ZL-1
Camaros. We'll have more on
Gary's Dana and the COPO dealers in an upcoming column.
Greg Zyla writes weekly for
GateHouse Media and welcomes
reader questions on auto
nostalgia at 303 Roosevelt St.,
Sayre, PA 18840 or at
greg@gregzyla.com.
Gary Keyes’ 1968 427 Dana Camaro SS/RS features the L71 Tri Power 427, an M22 4-speed and lots
more. KEYES COLLECTION PHOTOS