Having to sell your precious ride is an unfortunate yet common reality of being an automotive enthusiast. Whether it’s because of a growing family or because of financial troubles, having to part with a car you’ve poured blood, sweat, and tears into is a heartbreaking moment. Daniel can relate to that feeling all too well.
Back in the 1990s, when he was 13 years old, Daniel and his family would drive by a field in Reno every week where a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Sport Coupe wearing many coats of aging paint sat next to a shed surrounded by weeds.
Let’s step back a bit and turn the clock back a few decades to when that lifeless Camaro was once a shining example of Chevrolet’s highest ambitions. It was delivered new to Guardian Chevrolet in Brea, CA equipped with soft-ray tinted glass, a black vinyl top, air conditioning, power disc brakes, and the Style Trim Group. Its sticker price, including options, was $3,688.15, or around $31,613.77 in today’s money.
One day, when they stopped to ask about it, the owner took them on a tour of the car. Despite obvious rust issues and a missing engine and transmission, the car had potential. The owner was interested in selling it, but Daniel didn’t have that kind of money.
He offered to trade the 1993 RM 80 dirt bike he had been gifted for his birthday the previous year. Although the owner declined at first, the owner’s kids convinced him to take the deal a few days later.
“I still remember the day we picked the car up like it was yesterday,” Daniel reminisced. “I spent hours just sitting in the car, dreaming of what it would look like restored.”
Restoring the Camaro was a 10-year journey alongside his dad.
“I split over 100 cords of firewood, mowed lawns, and worked at the local newspaper to pay for the parts and materials. Dad and I built the engine from the ground up. I even took a college class while still in high school to rebuild the Muncie transmission,” Daniel said. “Every step of that journey is etched into my memory, from late nights in the garage to the first time we fired up the engine.”
The Camaro ended up with a 4-bolt main 350 block and a set of 2.02 fuelie heads powered by a polished Edelbrock 750 carburetor and a Mallory Unilite distributor. The engine sent power through a rebuilt Muncie M-21 4-speed transmission, which they found for $35 at a yard sale, to the stock 3.73 GM rear end.
“When the engine finally roared to life, it was deafening! It shook the garage and echoed through the neighborhood. It was so loud and powerful that I couldn’t stop smiling. That first start was one of the most exciting milestones of the build,” Daniel said. “It wasn’t just about the sound or the power; it was the realization that all the hard work, all the hours spent grinding, sanding, and saving, were finally paying off.”
After sanding down the decades of paint layers and repairing the rust, the body was draped in a custom yellow paint job with black stripes—a nod to the yellow dirt bike that had started the journey. The interior also received some much-needed attention, with a new headliner, reupholstered seats, and an overall refreshment.
As projects tend to do, the Camaro became more than just a car; it was now part of Daniel’s family. It frequently attended car shows and carried his legacy of work wherever it went. In 2011, with two kids and a wife living in Washington, he made the tough decision to sell the car.
“Selling the car wasn’t an easy decision; it felt like giving up a piece of myself. For over a decade, the Camaro had been a cornerstone of my life, a project that bonded my dad and me and taught me countless lessons about hard work, perseverance, and craftsmanship,” Daniel said. “But the reality was that we needed to prioritize our growing family. The Camaro had given me so much, and now it was time for it to provide in a different way.”
After selling it, Daniel kept tabs on it for a few years until it was sold out of state, and he lost track of it entirely. Despite that, it never left his mind.
Back in November of 2024, he looked up the VIN number once more on a whim, and to his utter disbelief, the very first result was a listing for a 1969 Camaro going up for auction. Scrolling through the photos, Daniel felt a flood of emotions but was quickly stopped in his tracks by the Texas license plate.
You see, Daniel and his family had moved to Texas from the West Coast in 2021. And the car? It, too, had moved to Texas, just 45 minutes from his house, and was headed to an auction in Dallas that weekend.
“Do I regret selling it? That’s a tough question. Selling it was the right choice for my family at the time, and nothing is more important to me than them. But the memories tied to that car, the time spent with my dad, those can never be replaced,” Daniel said.
The entire family took a trip to the auction to experience the Camaro after so many years of being apart. Seeing it, smelling it, and hearing it roll across the block ignited memories of Daniel’s youth and the countless nights spent alongside his dad under the hood of the Camaro.
The Camaro didn’t sell at auction and is currently on consignment at Streetside Classics in Fort Worth. After an overwhelming social media response to his story, Nicholas Hultberg, one of Daniel’s friends, set up a GoFundMe to help him buy back his childhood dream car.
The next chapter in Daniel’s and the Camaro’s story is, well, up to you all. If you have the means, we encourage you to give to the GoFundMe campaign and help bring this muscle car back home. As for us, we’re rooting for you, Daniel! If the Camaro ends up back in your hands, you can count on us to feature it in an article first!
