Published on 2022-05-30
Last updated on 2023-06-19
Making and distribution
Where you from
The Camaro was manufactured by Fisher Body in Norwood/Ohio. The cowl tag shows the production date in the 4th week of February 1969. The VIN ends with „614XXX“ and shows that the car was finished in the middle of March.
NCRS – National Corvette Restorers Society
The National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS) Shipping Data Report states that the Camaro was completed on March 14.
How did you look
With the information provided by the cowl tag, it is possible to determine the basic configuration of the car. It might have looked like the following, the white stripe on the side are not present.
Where are you going
The car was transported from Norwood in Ohio to Albany in California, on the east coast of the San Francisco Bay. Through the dealer East Bay Chevrolet Company, delivery was made to the first buyer. The dealer number is 212 in region 6, which also secures the Black Plate and its remaining in California.
With the numbers I find the address of the dealer. This was located at 916 San Pablo Avenue in Albany.
Since there are countless Chevrolet dealers in the US, one can assume that the first buyer also lived in the immediate vicinity. There are at least five dealers in Albany alone. So it makes no sense to drive many miles to buy a vehicle somewhere.
Further stations in the USA
Radio from Gridley
As we renewed and fited the footwell air ventilation we found behind the kick panel at the passenger side an mice housing. Fortunately it was empty. Since I assume that the mouse does not gather the paper scraps over several kilometers, the owner with his garbage, the car and the mouse should have lived in close community.
In the insulation for the nest is an old invoice torn. This I puzzle together at home.
It can still be seen that the invoice was issued by Radio Shack on June 3, 1988. To be exact, from Radio Mart Electronics. It reads “15…GHWAY 99” and the beginning “GRI…”. Also, the number “95948” which is a zip code.
From the remnants, it can be determined on the internet that the store was located at 1562 Highway 99 in Gridley. Today, that too is no more. The store is run by another company. Purchased was an AM/FM radio for $ 99.95 plus tax, which may have been intended for the Camaro.
Now we’re getting ahead of the story and know that David Cooper was working in the Auto Center at the Highway 99 in Yuba City, just 19 mls away, in the year 2007.
Spare tire
The Cooper came to us in Europe with an old spare tire. Because the dimensions of the rim not fit over the disc brake I store the wheel in my garage.
The DOT is M3A6 21 PX 431<. You can do quite a bit with that.
Let’s break down the essentials:
- M3 – stands for Michelin North America Inc. in Greenville, South Carolina, so not a European tire.
- A6 – is the sizecode
- 21PX – is a manufacturer typecode
- 431< – means week 43 in 1991
So we know that the Camaro got at least one new tire, which was produced in the last week of October 1991. It is a Michelin Roadhandler Plus in the dimensions P205/70 R14 93S. The tire is an M+S, i.e. winter tire and is used as a typical vintage tire with a white stripe on the sidewall. It can be assumed that the owner put on a complete set in the winter of 1991/1992. Since the radio was purchased and safely installed in 1988, the car will still have been moved in the early 1990s. It was also only a good 20 years old then.
Cooper Cobra tires can be seen in the ebay photos from the Coopers as well as the American Collectables photos. This means that Mr. Cooper gave the Camaro new tires and certainly did not put an old tire from his garage in the trunk as a spare.
I assume that the Camaro was then decommissioned sometime in the mid-90s. It was then sitting around somewhere so the mouse could deposit the bill. There is another 20 years between tires (1991) and Cooper’s resurrection (2012). The walnut shells found in all the cavities also bear witness to this.
Life cycle
If I plot the stations of the car known so far on a map, the following results:
Between delivery (red arrow) and radio purchase (blue arrow) there are 19 years and about 128 mls. The radio store is 24 years and about 17 mls away from the last owner in the USA. All locations are in California.
I’m doing more research.
The last owner in the US
The documents also show that the last owned by a Cecelia Rena Cooper in California and was exported to Europe, i.e. Holland, in the summer of 2016.
In my research on the internet, I fond an Interview from 2007 in which David Cooper introduce himself.
Appeal Democrat
February 9, 2007
David Cooper of the Highway 99 Auto Center has raced in the NHRA for about 25 years.
The most interesting information of his interview is:
- His family: wife Rena; three sons Michael, Brian and Todd; and daughter Jennifer.
- Question: if you could have any car from any year, what would it be?
- Answer: a 1969 Chevy Camaro (5 years later it was).
Using the Vehicle ID Number, I find an old ebay auction that I’m pretty sure is my Camaro.
Unfortunately, the “Black Plate” did not arrive. The “6MWL844” mentioned in the title does not fit to a “Black Plate”. These had only 6 digits.
The “6” as the leading number was available for (new) registrations from 2011 onwards. The Coopers therefore had to re-register the car in 2012, presumably because it had previously been deregistered. The car then got a new “6” number. The “Black Plate” had a different number.
The highest bid is listed at US$ 24,656. This is approximately the declared customs value. I write to the former owner via ebay and ask him to contact me. Unfortunately he does not answer.
In the listing, Mr. Cooper writes that the interior was installed by Cool Customs. This is a small company that specializes in customizing the interiors of vehicles and customizing them according to the customer’s wishes. Headquarters is at 598 Garden Highway 16, Yuba City, CA 95991, just a few miles from the Coopers’ residence.
In addition, we received non-original car keys. These were made by a locksmith. The Key Pedaler company is a chain and a branch was also located at 455 N Palora Avenue, Yuba City, CA 95991 so also not far from the Coopers.
In addition, all places on a map:
The Camaro was deregistered on 5/18/2016. It will then be released for export by the customs authorities at the port of Oakland/California on 6/23/2016. It seems that the Camaro even passed through the Panama Canal on its way to Germany.
The hole print on the title says the following:
| VEH EXPORT | Vehicle Export |
| +6-23-16 | June 23 2016 |
| CBP Oakland | CBP = Costums and Border Protection Oakland |
Europe
Purchase by American Collectables
Import to the EU is done by American Collectables. The company is located at Latensteinseweg 2, 4005 EG Tiel, Netherlands. It specializes in buying vehicles in California, Oregon, Montana and Nevada. American Collectables purchased and then imported the Camaro. Since the dealership also has a nondescript showroom, the car was certainly offered there.
20.05.2019
Hoping to get more information, I look up American Collectables’ phone number on the Internet.
I call and talk on the phone for a good half hour with Dennis van Lith. He is the boss and owner of the company and tells me about his work:
Daniel flies to the USA several times a year and visits other dealers or large sales days. He describes that these are large areas, meadows and the like, on which then hundreds of vehicles stand. Very good ones are sold within a very short time. He inspects each vehicle extensively and buys the vehicles on the spot. In addition, he follows up on tips and drives across the country to find vehicles. However, finding good cars is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive.
Often, he reports, he sells vehicles back in the U.S. directly to American dealers. Camaros and Chevelles are also in demand in the U.S. and trade at very high prices.
On average, he brings 130 vehicles to Europe every year. When he finds and buys a good vehicle, he sends the first photos to his dealer colleagues in Europe. In this way, some vehicles are resold before they arrive in Rotterdam. Daniel has his own containers into which he loads the vehicles and has them shipped. Once his containers are full, they are made ready for sea. It takes between four and twelve weeks from purchase to arrival in the EU.
In the Dutch workshop, the vehicles are checked again and then sold on.
When he asks me about the car, I briefly describe the Camaro. He actually remembers immediately that the previous owner lived in Yuba City. He tells me that he was there and talked to the seller for over an hour. Then he took a good look at the car and bought it. The previous owner had the Camaro restored and styled to a Z/28 for over $ 10,000. He owns several other different cars himself. How and where the Coopers got the car, Daniel doesn’t know either. But he confirms what we know, that the Cooper has a super body and the interior is completely new and got the new hood.
He is sure that all documents and accessories were passed on from him to the German dealer. When and where the Black Plate was lost, we unfortunately do not know anymore.
Arrival in Europe
On 08/03/2016 the customs/import formalities are processed in Holland. In the customs certificate, the vehicle value is stated as EUR 22,678.00. This should be the purchase price in the USA. Based on the exchange rate from February to August, the purchase price in the USA was around USD 25,500.
The German dealer bought the car at American Collectables and had it shipped to Germany.
Germany
The car arrived at the German dealer, Classic Car Ranch, with a mileage of 76643 on 04/16/2017.
After that, my story with the car begins.