Statistically Speaking-Attrition rate of 1st Gens

[ko-lek-tor]

Is there any data that would suggest how many, by year or otherwise, 1st Gens are left on the planet? Maybe in just the US? Out of the 250k (roughly) in each model year, how many are left? If someone wants to take this further and take  a model and try and give a statistic, like how many 69 Zs are left? ( I know, 40k, lol). Or, 396 cars?

[bcmiller]

Based on the ones that just I know were parted out, I would guess less than 40 percent overall - but higher horsepower cars were probably kept in better condition and have higher surviving (not survivor) percentages.

If we had full access to DMV data, we could figure it out.

[rich69rs]

My knee jerk response would have been surviving percentages around 20% max... but as I said - just my knee jerk guess.

Richard

[crossboss]

'I' would guess off the top at least 50% did not survive, on any older vehicle. Now, that said since Camaros and Mustangs are very popular cars, especially the 'performance' versions, 'I' would guess a higher percentage did. The rare versions, aka ZL-1s, and Boss 429s were limited production and therefore less likely to be abused, 'I' again would guess quite a number have survived. More so on the ZL-1 than the Boss 429 in my opinion. Back in the 1980s when I was just a kid and getting into cars, I would see all sorts of Muscle Cars on a daily basis. Nowadays, Its a rare treat that I see them driving around. Just yesterday I saw a nice '56 Chevy.

[GMAD_Van Nuys]

I rarely ever see a first generation Camaro or Firebird on the road in Southern California and even the 2nd generation have disappeared.  The last time I saw a 1969 Camaro was when I was driving down the freeway to San Diego and the license plate on the car was "REALZ28," and I believe it was a real Z28 as he was in the slow lane, going 55 mph!

[169INDY]

I would Offer to a "degree"  (*% unknown) the Convert tended to be also better cared for at times, but then again when not properly stored they go down hill faster than a coupe.

[Kelley W King]

I would think in the US half rusted to oblivion. The base cars were just that. After the rear and front windshield leaked it took a short time to finish one off.

[william]

As someone that has been chasing '69s for over 45 years, I would be surprised if 10% of the 243,085 built survive today. As noted, up here in the rust belt they had rust perforation before the warranty was up. The average buyer was a younger person who didn't maintain a car, parked outside, got into accidents. There were always Camaros in junkyards back in the the 70s-80s. Between myself and a few  other people I became acquainted with over the years, I would guess we easily parted out several hundred cars. There was a collector here in WI that that had 50-60 parts cars on his property; he showed me a shoe box full of body tags he saved over the years.

I have 1969 paperwork from a local dealer. They sold 10 Z/28s in '69; only one was still registered as of the early '90s. Of the 1,066 COPO Camaros in 1969, about half still exist.

10% would be 24,000 '69s. Between auction records, ebay data, other lists, there is a long way to go to hit that number. 

[crossboss]

As someone that has been chasing '69s for over 45 years, I would be surprised if 10% of the 243,085 built survive today. As noted, up here in the rust belt they had rust perforation before the warranty was up. The average buyer was a younger person who didn't maintain a car, parked outside, got into accidents. There were always Camaros in junkyards back in the the 70s-80s. Between myself and a few  other people I became acquainted with over the years, I would guess we easily parted out several hundred cars. There was a collector here in WI that that had 50-60 parts cars on his property; he showed me a shoe box full of body tags he saved over the years.

I have 1969 paperwork from a local dealer. They sold 10 Z/28s in '69; only one was still registered as of the early '90s. Of the 1,066 COPO Camaros in 1969, about half still exist.

10% would be 24,000 '69s. Between auction records, ebay data, other lists, there is a long way to go to hit that number.

William,
I would agree on your comment considering the Mid-West and East Coast cars. Where I am from (Ca.) that is rarely an issue. Maybe that is why 'I' did see so many during the 1980s and 1990s.

[uscrichter]

I grew up like William in the Milwaukee area in Wisconsin in the 70's and 80's and bought a lot of Camaros  for hot rodding and most of the plain jane Camaros were only worth a few hundred bucks back then once rust got to them and most weren't worth trying to restore to even driver quality and I'm talking cars that were less than 10 years old! However looking at more desirable versions like the Z-28's or SS cars were garaged and babied much more and seem to have a much higher  survival rate from what I have seen.

[MO]

As someone that has been chasing '69s for over 45 years, I would be surprised if 10% of the 243,085 built survive today. As noted, up here in the rust belt they had rust perforation before the warranty was up. The average buyer was a younger person who didn't maintain a car, parked outside, got into accidents. There were always Camaros in junkyards back in the the 70s-80s. Between myself and a few  other people I became acquainted with over the years, I would guess we easily parted out several hundred cars. There was a collector here in WI that that had 50-60 parts cars on his property; he showed me a shoe box full of body tags he saved over the years.

I have 1969 paperwork from a local dealer. They sold 10 Z/28s in '69; only one was still registered as of the early '90s. Of the 1,066 COPO Camaros in 1969, about half still exist.

10% would be 24,000 '69s. Between auction records, ebay data, other lists, there is a long way to go to hit that number. 

Hard to argue with that logic. I was thinking 20-25% percent, but that seemed too low until you put it that way.