A 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS stolen from a Minneapolis dealership nearly six decades ago has resurfaced as a remarkably well-preserved barn find, now for sale in Duluth, Minnesota. The twist: the thief who took it apparently wasn’t after the car at all, just what was under the hood.
A Theft That Was Really About the Engine
The Camaro was sitting on the lot at Merit Chevrolet in Minneapolis when someone got to it, drove it off the property, and disappeared. Police eventually recovered the car, but by then investigators discovered its original engine, a rare L78 396 cubic-inch V8 rated at 375 horsepower, had been pulled out. No further details about the suspect were ever released. Whoever took it clearly wanted that engine badly enough to abandon a stolen muscle car once they had it.
The L78 wasn’t a common option to begin with. Chevrolet built 235,147 Camaros for 1968, with coupes making up more than 214,000 of that total, and while several 396-cubic-inch engine options were available that year, the L78 was considerably rarer than the more common 327-powered cars. Losing one out of a limited production run made this particular theft sting more than a typical dealership car theft would have.
Getting Back on the Road With a Different Big-Block
With its factory engine gone, the Camaro was fitted with a brand-new L88 427 V8 sourced directly from a Chevrolet dealer, a period-correct fix that kept the car running even though it broke its numbers-matching status. That swap, along with aftermarket headers and an updated exhaust system installed at some point in its history, means this car will never be an originality-judged show car, but it’s also never pretended to be one since the day it left the dealership missing its original heart.
Where It Stands Today
After relocating to Virginia and eventually landing with its current owner, the Camaro still wears most of its original paint and sheet metal, and the interior is described as mint with minimal wear. The Rally wheels are still on the car, and everything from the lights to the radio reportedly still works. It’s listed now in Duluth as a no-reserve auction with a $50,000 starting bid and a $75,000 Buy It Now option, described as road-ready.
For a car with this kind of backstory, a stolen muscle car recovered without its factory engine, then quietly kept running on dealer-sourced big-block power for decades, the swapped engine isn’t really a flaw. It’s part of what makes the history here worth telling.
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