One of only 217 examples built over three years the Zagato-bodied Alfa Romeo was still in good condition and was sold for a whopping $640,000. Talk about a hidden treasure, right? Well, here is another classic gem that was recently discovered on Italian soil.
It’s not as rare as the Giulietta SZ, but it’s a rather uncommon vehicle in the Mediterranean peninsula. Because it’s a first-generation Chevrolet Camaro.
So how did this car end up in Italy? Well, that’s a bit of information I don’t have, but it’s not the only mystery surrounding the building in the video below, coming via YouTube’s “Steve Ronin.” Not only we don’t get any info as to where exactly this abandoned mansion is located in Italy, but the story of its previous owner is worthy of a mystery book.
By night, the doctor was an alchemist and locals reported “strange bright lights emanating from the basement of the mansion.” What’s more, it turns out that he went missing sometime in the late 1960s, leaving everything in his mansion behind. Of course, this story is probably nothing more than a local myth but the mansion does look like it h as been abandoned for decades.
Found sitting close to a huge entrance and surrounded by debris, the pony car is still in one piece. To be fair, there’s no confirmation that it has been sitting there since the owner of the mansion reportedly vanished, but if that’s the case, the Chevy is in surprisingly good condition.
The interior looks even better, with almost everything intact. Our host doesn’t give us a glimpse of the odometer, but it sure looks like this pony car wasn’t driven much based on the condition of the upholstery and the door panels. They’re not flawless, but they’re pretty close to new.
It doesn’t have one of the bigger, more desirable V8 engines either. Based on the badges on the front fenders, this Camaro left the factory with a 327-cubic-inch (5.4-liter) mill. However, we don’t know if the V8 in question is the two-barrel LF7 or the four-barrel L30. While the former was rated at 210 horsepower and 320 pound-feet (434 Nm) of torque, the latter delivered 275 horses and 355 pound-feet (481 Nm) of twist.
How do we know it’s a 1968 model and not a first-year 1967 version? It’s because the front turn signals are rectangular, while the doors do not include vent windows. The 1967 variant came with vent windows and round turn signals.