Rides from the Readers: 1969 Chevrolet Camaro

Hagerty readers and Hagerty Drivers Club members share their cherished collector and enthusiast vehicles with us via our contact email, tips@hagerty.com. We’re showcasing some of our favorite stories among these submissions. To have your car featured, send complete photography and your story of ownership to the above email address.

Today’s featured car is a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. Though Chevrolet did not introduce significant mechanical changes in 1969, the final model year of the first-gen Camaro wore unique sheetmetal, sporting a more prominent “V” in its front grille that produced a more aggressive fascia. The body lines trailing behind each wheel are also visual giveaways. The 1970 Camaro had the benefit of a larger budget and more planning time, but for those who treasure the historical allure of the 1967–69 cars, there’s no substitute.

This particular Camaro belongs to Korby Boulet, whose love for the ’69 muscle car was sparked to life by the monster Z/28 built by the father-son Gottlieb duo and christened “Big Red.” Boulet knew that some day he’d own a red 1969 Camaro—he just didn’t know when that day would come. He discovered this car on Kijiji (Canada) when he was 29 and, bleary-eyed from working night shifts, drove four hours to see the car and talk with the seller. “I got there, tired, jet-lagged, and sort of nervous, until the garage door opened and I first saw the car in person,” he writes. “I awoke in an instant, and I was like a kid at Christmas.” Korby drove home and went back to work without any sleep—but his childhood dream had finally been realized.

Boulet refurbished his beloved Camaro, which he named Lolita, with a new black-and-red interior, a factory tilt column and console, an SSBC brake kit, a new differential, an engine overhaul, and a new exhaust—and he did all the work himself.

“While she’s not actually perfect, and may never be perfect to many people, she is to us,” he writes, “and she will never leave the family so long as we both have air in our lungs and children to carry the love and care for it along after we pass.”