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I sold my three year old 69 Camaro, that I had bought new, to get my 4 year old 68 Corvette coupe in 1972. I still have it almost 44 years later. The C-3's handling is years ahead of the same vintage Camaros. And nothing looks like a chrome bumper C-3. Lou.
My answer still hasn't changed either: 17 year-old high school graduate/Corvette convertible = $4500 that Dad wouldn't co-sign for..........Camaro convertible = $2700........Dad co-signed/bought Camaro.......45 years later bought Corvette basketcase = $12,000 in parts and paint, and climbing
My story is similar to doorgunners. I bought a brand new Z-28 when I graduated high school. I wanted a Corvette and had the money, but I couldn't afford the insurance. The Corvette insurance was exactly double what I was paying for the Z-28, and the insurance on the Z-28 was already outrageous.
Jump forward 35 years and I was looking to buy and restore a classic Camaro. But as I was looking around I noticed I could buy twice the car if I went Vette over Camaro, and since I always wanted a Vette it just made sense.
I don't think the point was going back in time 45 or so years ago and which WAS better, but about 2016. When these cars were new of course the vette was the superior car if you wanted a sporty car and it cost a lot more because of it.
Oh! Oh! Finally, a topic in the C3 forum I can answer! Pick me, pick me!
I have owned three Camaros, including a 1981 Z28 with air induction, and I have loved each one passionately. I currently own both an older Camaro and a Corvette. Surprisingly, they really aren't that different regarding handling. The difference is power.
I love my old Camaro, and after all these years, it's still a lot of fun to drive, but the Corvette is very, very special. It's just a beautiful machine. It has its own aura. And it is fast.
In my youth I had several Chevelle's and Camaro's including a 70 1/2 Z28....but I was in love Corvette's. So when I got to be 45ish and I had some pocket cash I tracked down my 73 coupe which at the time was the best value around....and I didnt even shop anything else, just the best value for a pre-74 Stringray I could find. Fast forward to today at this point I have enough money in it own the damn Z!...but I think both is the answer...or maybe all three, the wife is jonesing for a Chevelle. Need more garage space
In the day Vette's were sports cars, marketed to upper class males wearing bright polyester suits and **** star mustaches. They were primarily raced in SCCA and Trans Am classes. Camaro's and Chevelle's were blue collar drag racers. Now for those of you that remember GM had withdrawn factory support from all racing in the mid 60's. While Ford and Mopar had the factory backing the likes of Shelby, the Petty's and the Moore bros, Roger Penske and co were taking Z28's and Vette's straight from the factory and winning a lot of races with just some tuning. The COPO program was the only factory help they got.
But I can tell you this, the feeling of excitement taking this car out tight roads on a crisp early sunday morning cannot be matched by any Camaro, or mutang, or anything else sans maybe a period correct horse!
my first car at 16 was a '73 Camaro. I paid $1k for it and the tranny went out 2 days later LOL! but it had air shocks and "mags"...point is, everyone wanted a vette, but nobody at 16 could afford one, so we got mustangs and Camaro's. now that we are older, and can afford vette's, (and I have 3), My generation longs for the cars we had as kids. My wife's first car was a '77 Trans Am...so there are lots of vettes out there with nobody yearning for the vette they had in highschool, yet everyone I know wants the muscle car they had or could have had/friends had, therefore they are willing to pay for the nostalgia.
doesn't make a whole lot of sense really but it is good for us that know better. The Camaro handled for crap, subframe body flex, and they all rusted. BAD! have yet to see any 2nd gen F body that did not have the floor under the rear seat rusted out. subframes rusted, quarters rusted, you think bird cage issues are bad on C3's, look at a rear window setup on the F body's. so add in the cost to properly restore a F body with all the panel replacement welding, cost of steel, etc. and they get quite expensive.
you can buy a vette that looks good enough to drive for <$5k all day long. for that price, a F body will be an ugly rusted out bondo-rat that you wouldn't want to be seen in. the vette may be rusty underneath, but they do a great job of hiding it with the fiberglass body. so again supply and demand. many driver vettes, almost no driver F body's unless they have been restored, justifying the $25k + price point...
as for better, C3's got the better motors, convertibles, (and I don't consider a first Gen F body comparable to a C3, really you have to compare the 2nd gen), big blocks (except 70 1/2 and the TA's), tri power, 4 wheel disc brakes, independent rear suspension, no back seat, higher end interior, (really, look at the stick on fake "machine turned" dash overlay in the Pontiacs...cheesy), real rally rims, later aluminum rims, no trunk, the list goes on...
now that we are older, and can afford vette's, (and I have 3), My generation longs for the cars we had as kids. My wife's first car was a '77 Trans Am...so there are lots of vettes out there with nobody yearning for the vette they had in highschool, yet everyone I know wants the muscle car they had or could have had/friends had, therefore they are willing to pay for the nostalgia.
I had a 77 Trans Am for a while back in the day. It was comfortable, handled OK, but rather sluggish acceleration for a 400. Never cared for the big turkey on the hood, fake shaker hood scoop, and paste on parts, seemed to be more image than performance.
I had a 77 Trans Am for a while back in the day. It was comfortable, handled OK, but rather sluggish acceleration for a 400. Never cared for the big turkey on the hood, fake shaker hood scoop, and paste on parts, seemed to be more image than performance.
I wonder if you had the Oldsmobile motor in your TA. there were 2 400's offered, the Pontiac which was screaming fast (wife's would lay down rubber through 2nd gear with the posi), and the Olds 403, which was a dog...
actually looking it up, maybe hers wasn't stock. her dad had it built and painted for her when she graduated so maybe it had a bigger cam in it, as there was nothing sluggish about it at all (I remember her drag racing all the HS guys "fast" cars and always winning).
I just read through this thread and I got to ask the basic question again: What is the difference between a Camaro and a Corvette? Let's leave the collector and popularity aspects aside. What about driving experience? I used to own a 73 Camaro 30 years ago, because I couldn't afford a Chromebumper Corvette. My memories of the Camaro are a bit shady, but I remember that I never felt comfortable in quick corners and the car felt kind of sluggish and the engine was a dog.
Sitting in my 69 Corvette these days, totally different. Tight, sticks to road like glue but aside from the modern tires and replacement engine, the car is close to original. Sitting closer to the road and practically on the rear axle in the Corvette, I feel much more in control of the car. In short: Leaving engine power out of the equation, in my memory, the early C3 Corvette is technically a much better car than an early 2nd gen Camaro. But...
Reading an old article from 1970 with the telling title "They really are all the same in the dark", got me wondering if my bad memory of the Camaro is tinted. The article compares a 70 Z/28 with a 70 LT-1. Performance and handling were reported to be the same. Given the price of both cars, the Camaro must have been the much better deal. On paper, that could have been true, just looking at the curb weight of both cars. Sure, the Corvette sits lower, the weight distribution is better, the 4 wheel disk brakes and independant rear suspension. But did it really make a difference? If not, what was GM thinking?
Coming back to my own memories of the Camaro, I still "think" the Corvette would run circles around a Camaro. But is it really true? Was the sporty car actually better than the sports car?
Both of them in the same location, some 30 years apart:
2018, my 69 at the harbor of Lake Zug in Switzerland
Flashback to 1987, my 73 Camaro at the same location at the harbor of Lake Zug in Switzerland
Greetings from Switzerland with its winding mountain roads, made for Corvettes and not Camaros
Hi guys.. so being new at cars and all this, I have always wondered whats the big deal between these 2? I personally like the appearance of the Corvette a lot more... but which one is better? performance, price, overall? and which one would you rather get?
Back in the day I had one of each. We called them 'F bodies. Concurrently.
I've had my 69 Corvette convertible for 40 years...continuously.
Whether it was a Camaro or Firebird.. great car for those who need the four seats. Er ahem...disposable!
Still have the Vette. The one and only. Bought another one the 82 CE
No Camaros anymore....they make 444 a DAY! (in Ca-Na-DA)
I had a 68 Cararo and honestly I prefer the C3 hands down. My biggest beef with the Camaro was the subframe.
I put a pretty built engine in it and the frame flex was horrible. It screwed with the clutch, it kept tearing the sail panel, and the whole body twisted up so much at one point that it literally popped the windshield out of the frame when I dropped the clutch one day. I sold it shortly after that.
They are fun, nostalgic cars but for me the C3 is where I want to be or I would have just bought another damn camaro =)
The 2nd gen Camaro must have had a much stiffer body than the 1st gen, didn't it?
I would love to get my hands back on one just for a day to chase it over a couple of mountain passes to see how it compares to my C3 without 30 years between the drives.
I think the big difference in value between the two is the Camaros rusted out and got crushed. The Corvettes were always considered extremely valuable, and the body's didn't rust, so they all got saved. Very few Corvettes have actually been jumked compared to the percentage of other cars. So even though it was a scarce car to begin with, there's a lot more old ones around now.
Last edited by derekderek; 02-21-2018 at 11:35 AM.
I have owned this Z/28 Camaro since 1974.
always was a Camaro guy, always liked the corvettes could not afford until i was much older.
Camaro and Corvette are 2 completely different vehicles, fiberglass glued together on a full frame,
vs metal body on uni-frame. However I did take several corvette features and add them to the Camaro
like front tilt hood, split bumpers front and rear.
The Z/28 i took all the way to National ISCA champion.
I like both equally well for different reasons.
05-15-2016, 12:53 AM
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They were primarily raced in SCCA and Trans Am classes. Camaro's and Chevelle's were blue collar drag racers. Now for those of you that remember GM had withdrawn factory support from all racing in the mid 60's. While Ford and Mopar had the factory backing the likes of Shelby, the Petty's and the Moore bros, Roger Penske and co were taking Z28's and Vette's straight from the factory and winning a lot of races with just some tuning. The COPO program was the only factory help they got. 
