My car nut spark came from the 1969 corvette L88. But my camaro spark came after my senior year. I was going into the national guard and planned to used my 20k sign on bonus to buy a 69 project I'd seen for sale (it was 14,900 and needed little work. The other 5k was to go to new paint and a fuel injection conversion for the 350 it had.) - I knew I wouldn't want to drive it in bad weather so I was looking for a 3.8 V6 camaro to beat on. I found one for 4,000 not too far away so we went to go look at it. I'm glad I brought my stepdad along. He's a ASE master tech, and his eye caught what mine didn't.
It had wonderful paint - a new job, green with a bit of pearl that almost made it look dark blue from certain angles. I loved it instantly, and would have bought it then and there, with no test drive. But my stepdad wanted to take it out. He drove because I was still learning stick (I knew how to drive stick at the time, but not well enough to trust myself with the dealer's car - you break it, you buy it, right?) and he commented on a wobble in the shifter. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but he thought it was odd. When we got it back to the dealer, we squeezed under it and had a look around, including a closer look around the outside. Apparently somebody had wrapped it around a pole and repaired it. Hence the new paint. The frame was bent horribly - the corner of the windshield was sticking out a little bit! I was devastated.
We went home. My mom knew I was upset. A few days later, she called me while I was at work and said "If you're still interested in a Camaro... I know where you might be able to get one, if you want to go by after work and look at it..." It was older than what I was looking for, and she thought I might not like it. But it was worth a look, and it only had 90000 miles.
It turned out to be a 1986 IROC.
We took it for a test drive and it ran ok, but needed a new carb desperately. We talked it over for a little while and I decided to buy it. Went to the credit union and took out a loan for 2,000 and picked up the car. Had the new carb (a new edelbrock 650) in a few days later and did my first major work on a car. Before that the hardest thing I had ever done was an oil change. I fell in love with that car. Its a bond that will probably never break, even though I had to sell the car. I regret that sale every single day. EVERY one. I wish I had kept it and just scraped together to pay the insurance on the two cars. I absolutely want to own another camaro some day. The new camaro reminds me of my 86 in a lot of ways... Ways I'm sure only a former IROC owner would understand. This car captures more than just the 1969 turned retro. Its a true camaro, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Xanthos will be born again, and, this time, I'm never going to let him go.
- Xanthos