possible Baldwin Motion Camaro

[Mike367]

 I went to look at a car that a friend of my wife's late husband had. The husband has been gone for 2 years and car has sat without being started the whole time.
 It is a 1970 Camaro small block 4 speed car. It has the Baldwin Motion paint scheme and also fender badges and valve covers. I am not a Camaro guy so I don't know how to tell if it authentic or not.
 Any help with what to look for or possible Camaro forums that might be able to help.
Thanks
Mike

[libuilder]

Unless the owner has some documentation or the car has been been discussed in detail on some forums, the only sure way is to contact Joel Rosen himself. Rosen, as you probably know, was the principle owner of Motion Performance.  He has retained all of the sales records of Motion so he can verify the car as original or not, along with the original options and build specs.  He is a hard businessman, so be prepared to pay. 

BTW, Motion Performance shop was about 5 miles from my house back in the day.  We younger guys used to go and watch them test their cars on their “test track” which was Sunrise Highway, right in front of their shop!  Although the were most associated with Chevrolet, through their Baldwin Chevy dealership relationship, they did work on all makes, so it was not unusual to see some Oldsmobiles, Mopars and the odd Ford back in the day.  They even sponsored a 1965 or 66 Mustang drag car with a 289 bottom end and Boss 302 heads, called the Hugger Mugger.  It was sold at auction a year or so back by the second owner for well over $100k.

[crossboss]

I went to look at a car that a friend of my wife's late husband had. The husband has been gone for 2 years and car has sat without being started the whole time.
 It is a 1970 Camaro small block 4 speed car. It has the Baldwin Motion paint scheme and also fender badges and valve covers. I am not a Camaro guy so I don't know how to tell if it authentic or not.
 Any help with what to look for or possible Camaro forums that might be able to help.
Thanks
Mike

May I suggest you go over to the CRG Camaro site, and ask. The guys over at that site are terrific, and are very knowledgeable on such cars. Good luck!

[Mike367]

 Thanks for the replies, I will try the CRG Camaro site and also try to call Mr Rosen.
 I'm just trying to establish a ballpark value for her so she can decide if she wants to sell or not.

 Would having confirmation that it is a Motion car add much to the value?
Mike

[CaBossFan]

Article on 1970 Motion Camaro:

http://www.superchevy.com/features/camp-0901-1970-chevrolet-camaro/

[competitionorange]

Thanks for the replies, I will try the CRG Camaro site and also try to call Mr Rosen.
 I'm just trying to establish a ballpark value for her so she can decide if she wants to sell or not.

 Would having confirmation that it is a Motion car add much to the value?
Mike

F yeah!

[libuilder]

+++++++1 on the “F Yeah!”  A true Baldwin Motion car would bring multiple times the price of a run of the mill Camaro. A “true” Baldwin Motion car is one that was ordered through Baldwin Chevrolet or Motion Performance with a list of modifications and delivered new to the buyer by either one. 

Most of the Baldwin Motion cars were big blocks. None were COPO cars like the Yenko. All of them were ordered by Baldwin Chevrolet as 396 cars.  After delivery to the dealer, the cars were moved over to Motion where the engines were removed and if the customer ordered it, replaced by built up 427’s or 454’s.  The 396’s removed were sold through the Baldwin Chevy parts department to help defray the cost of the swap.  Other modifications were made as per the original specs on the customer invoice.  Motion was not a production facility like Shelby and Saleen, each car was made to order on a custom basis. After modifications and testing were completed, the cars were delivered to the buyer with warranties intact. 

What complicates matters is that many people brought their own cars for modification by the Motion crew or bought parts from them to do it themselves.  In the Chevy world, these cars do not have the same value as a car ordered at either Motion or Baldwin Chevy and delivered new to the buyer. 

You mention that your friend’s car is a small block 70 Camaro.  If the original color is green, it could be one of a small run of small block cars they made that year.

I agree that you should seek some help from the Camaro sites who can probably add a lot more detail. I believe there are some websites dedicated to the Motion cars.  They would be of some help too. 

[CaBossFan]

I found where a 1971 Motion Camaro sold at a Mecum action and there was a letter from Mr. Rosen where he could not confirm that the VIN number of the Camaro came from Baldwin Motion:

https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0116-229817/1971-chevrolet-camaro-motion-phase-iii/

If the 1970 Camaro doesn't have a 12 bolt differential, I doubt that it originally came from Baldwin Motion as the Camaros modified by them were either Z28s or 396 engine cars that were equipped with the heavy duty rear end.

[Mike367]

 Thanks again for all of the replies, I'm getting a little bit of an education on these cars. I don't know any of the history of this particular car just yet, other than it seems to have been a midlife crisis purchase and not any type of collector/enthusiast purchase.
 The wife has quite a bit of paperwork with the car but I did not get a chance to look through it. I will look to see if it has a 12 bolt rear end. It is painted blue/white right now and I did not look close enough at the car to see if it may have been green originally. I don't know how to tell if car was originally a big block car. Right now the car has a small block with a Weiand blower.
 I have a Chevy friend I am going to call and pick his brain.

Thanks
Mike

[CaBossFan]

If the 1970 Camaro was built at the Norwood Assembly Plant, I believe the engine code will appear on the Trim Plate:

http://nastyz28.com/camaro/camaro70.html

Back in the day, no one looked at the Trim Plate as my friend had a 1968 Z28 that originally had a 4.56 axle, which was switched out with a 4.11 axle from a 1969 Z28 (I was there when they did the work).  Even though I helped my friend rebuild the engine in the Z28, we never looked at the Trim Plate to see which plant built the car, which was probably the Van Nuys Plant as the Z28 was ordered from Harry Mann Chevrolet.  Good luck! - Mark