• This 1979 Chevy Camaro was painted as a California Highway Patrol car for a police chase scene in the 1982 film, The Junkman, directed by H.B. Halicki, who also wrote and directed the first Gone in 60 Seconds in 1974.
• Unlike the 1979 Camaro Z/28 tested by the CHP for pursuit use, this one uses a 130-hp 305-cubic-inch V-8 and a three-speed automatic transmission.
• This auction ends Tuesday, May 3, with the current bid sitting at $2100 as of Friday.
This might be the first time we’ve seen a Bring a Trailer listing for a car with a gun mounted to the passenger footwell, and this 1979 Chevrolet Camaro only gets more unusual the closer we look. This California-Highway-Patrol-painted Camaro was used in the film The Junkman, a 1980s action movie written by H.B. Halicki, the same director responsible for the first Gone in 60 Seconds. The Camaro has definitely seen some action. The paint is faded, the dash is cracked, and the valve covers are rusty. Not to mention, it has the potential to be in a real police chase, given California’s strict rules against cars resembling law enforcement vehicles.
Even without deploying special weaponry, that chase would likely be over pretty quickly, as this Camaro uses Chevy’s LG3 V-8, a 130-hp, 305-cubic-inch engine with a two-barrel carburetor. And it’s bolted to a three-speed automatic transmission. Compare that to today’s 400-hp twin-turbo Ford Police Interceptor Utility, and it’d be like watching a mountain lion chase a Koala.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the department tested at least a dozen 1979 Camaros for police use, but they opted for the Z/28. They used bigger brakes and were given a CARB exemption that allowed an increased top speed for triple-digit criminal chases. During this Special Purpose Vehicle Study program, most of the modified CHP Z/28 Camaros experienced engine failure, and the department ultimately decided the Ford Mustang was a better choice for pursuit work.
This listing only looks the part. Some of the equipment on this pretend CHP is ordinary. Its black 15-inch wheels are wrapped in Nexen all-season tires up front and Goodyear Radial T/As in the rear. In the trunk, among the road flares and radio wiring harness, sits a fresh full-size spare. The odometer reads 26,000 miles, but the vehicle’s true mileage is unknown. We don’t care, we just want to play with the spotlights and the siren.
It’s far from pristine, but it was in a freaking H.B. Halicki film! And movie cars provide a lot of entertainment despite their many imperfections. They’re often disguised, sliced, taped, and rattle-canned before being catapulted through a brick wall or driven into a lake. This Junkman Camaro is no Batmobile, but it’s still pretty rad. And among the other almost 600 auctions on Bring a Trailer, it stands out as a car that runs and drives for under $2500.
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Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
