What state of disarray is your project car in? Almost done? Completely torn apart? Well, for contributors of Cars in Barns, their project cars, and those of others they spot, are usually in the later category, rusting away while they work on other projects or aspects of their lives. But for one first-gen Camaro owner named Carl, his car is neither torn apart or rusting away. It’s parked in a garage, in need of a little work, but ready to make an amazing “rat-muscle” car in the near future.

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Carl, the owner of this car, speculates that the previous owner was a greasy tuner who'd wrench on the car and race it on the weekends based on the varrying conditions of the interior components.

Bought from a guy in Golden, Colorado in 1981, this particular first-generation Camaro is in pretty decent shape. Aside from a little bit of rust and damage to the drivers seat, the car looks to have weathered the last 40 something years in style with its original Butternut Yellow paint and black rally stripes still intact. 

Sporting Z/28 badges, the car sports what looks to be the original 302ci engine, although the block was decked prior to its current owner’s purchase, so numbers are not able to be readily matched. Either way, it maintains most of its original components right down to the front suspension parts that had to be reloaded onto the car after it was bought and a barely-sat-in looking houndstooth interior.

Sitting in a garage for the last 25 years, the Camaro is set to make its second debut this year sometime in a rough rat-muscle car state, one that can be driven and enjoyed without too much work gone into it, at least just yet. In the future, however, we have a feeling that this first-generation beauty will see a full overhaul.