Junkyard Find: 1989 Chevrolet Camaro RS
Third-generation Camaros are so plentiful in wrecking yards (and on the street) that I don’t pay much attention to them unless I see something special. Say, Iron Duke power with an automatic transmission, resulting in the slowest Camaro of all time… or a lovingly customized example, covered with unique airbrush work, as we see in today’s Colorado Junkyard Find.
The hood mural has suffered extensive weathering, but we can still make out the muscular horned demon having his way with a supine redhead. You can practically hear the Slayer cranking out of the swap-meet Sparkomatic stereo, circa 1991.
Look, it’s got a five-speed! That’s metal.
T-top roof as well. Also metal.
However, things sort of fall apart for this car when you take a close look at the details. First of all, the Rally Sport trim level was the cheapest one in 1989 — not something to brag about.
The second (and most important) problem becomes apparent when you look in the engine compartment. That’s the 2.8-liter V6 there, the base engine in 1989 (the Iron Duke was discontinued as the F-Body’s base engine after the 1986 model year). It was a perfectly good engine, pretty reliable after a rocky start earlier in the decade, but it made just 135 horsepower.
The use of a Pro Mod Camaro in this “Heartbeat of America” TV advertisement should have been outlawed as cruel and unusual punishment for those stuck with the 2.8 Camaros.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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It's just bursting with Rally Sportness!!
A friend of mine had one of these. Slightly used. Same 2.8 V6 and a stick. She came over to show me and handed me the keys. First thing I did was rev the engine, pop the clutch, and lay down two patches of rubber. She was all smiles surprised the car would do that. They really weren't bad cars at the time.