Grandad forced to sell 1969 Camaro gets heartfelt surprise when new owner returns to show him the completed restoration
- US content creator bought a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro
- However, after giving it an upgrade she returned it to the seller
- She wanted the grandfather to drive the car he had been forced to sell
Published on Nov 01, 2024 at 4:21 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Nov 05, 2024 at 12:45 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
A big-hearted US content creator returned a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro to surprise a grandfather who’d been forced to sell it and allow him to give it one more spin after a restoration.
“He wants it back,” she said.
She vowed to return it to him when her restoration was complete.
It’s a nostalgic trip for the lucky recipient.
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Forced to sell his 1969 Camaro
Grandfather, Sergio, had to sell the Camaro despite dreaming of passing it down to his grandchildren.
“It’s my baby,” he said in the footage.
“I know I’m not going to get one again.”
Seeing his reluctance to let it go she vowed to bring the 1969 Camaro back to him ‘so that he could live out his dream’.
If you’re a fan of a Camaro, this man spent $77k on Chevy Camaro ZL1 to drive only 10 miles.
Plus, meet the Final Edition 1000HP ‘Exorcist’, it’s the fastest Chevy Camaro ever built.
The restoration and the emotional return
The 1969 Camaro required a full ground-up restoration to get it looking and performing its best.
These upgrades included a new Detroit Speed front subframe, a quadralink rear end with mini tubs, a fully built Texas Speed twin-turbo 408 stroker engine, and custom Forgeline wheels wrapped in Michelin tires.
That’s not all.
Content creator, Emelia Hartford also treated the classic car to six-piston front and rear calipers, two-piece rolled and slotted rotors, a six-speed manual transmission, and added power steering and air conditioning.
A crowd had gathered for the beloved car’s return.
“It’s beautiful,” Sergio enthused. “I’m so happy to see it.”
When Hartford tells him he can drive it whenever he wants – and that day – Sergio tells her that he feels anxious about getting back behind the wheel.
However, when he sees the work that she’s done under the hood she’s raring to go.
It’s an emotional drive despite several issues after he’d owned the 1969 for almost 30 years – and he certainly makes the most of driving a car with such a powerful engine for the first time.
Speaking of automotive history, this $500k Camaro had a wild street racing past and once took a bullet.
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
