??? actually THAT was a pretty ‘useful’ comment too!
Many years ago in a small town far,far away a local salvage yard operator affected the minds and memories of a lot of people. He took a couple of 1950 Mercury’s and cut them in two. He welded the 2 front sections together and put them on another 50’ Mercury frame. He drove it around for years and startled both young and old by it’s appearance on the street. He left the back section looking stock with a rearward facing seat and it had it’s steering wheel and floor pedals in place. They did not function but it added to the mystique of the vehicle. He sometimes parked it backward at stores, drive-in restaurants and movie theatres. It attracted as much attention as a new Corvette or Thunderbird. I’m sure a lot of people tried to explain it but it was something you had to see to believe. I wish I had a picture.
There’s a similar car on top of columns at an auto repair shop in Goleta, CA; it’s on Fairview near the airport. I saw it first about 20 years ago.
I knew a body repairman in the 50’s that put The front end of a '50 Ford on the back half of another '50 Ford.
Ooh. Nice. Me want.
We did the same thing with my Frankentruck. It was a 68 GMC front and cab, a 69 motor and tranny and a 71 bed. I used to call it a GMC coming and a Chevy going.
Looking at these two side by side, I think you were looking at a Malibu, perhaps even one with a Camaro grille.
How about a Ford Maverick? They were available in 2 and 4 door, were driven by little old ladys and had a slightly similar grill and headlight configuration as the Camaro. Not really the car you would confuse with a Camaro, but at 15 you are focused on the cool cars and not so likely to even know a Maverick existed.
You may have hit on something. The OP mentioned that the car had a little rust and I think Ford Mavericks came from the factory with rust as standard equipment. There was also a very similar Mercury Comet, and Comet and Camaro both begin with “C”.
Mavericks also had the popular long hood/ short deck lid look. 31 years can cloud some memories. Comet could be the winner. I don’t see an elderly woman driving a one off custom only a few years after it was built.
I have faith the op would not confuse a maverick for a camero. I Had to laugh even looking at the pics thinking he could mistake a nova for a camero. What it was we don’t know is why it appeared to be a 4 door camero but in all likelihood was not.
How many Holdens were imported into the USA? They were GMs Australian cars. And they had right-hand drive, like the UK. I can’t see Grandma and her cronies driving around in an Australian import with right-hand drive.
I think the Maverick suggestion is a great one. A 4 door Maverick at a casual glance along with the passage of time and a fuzzy memory could very well lead one to believe it was a Camaro.
It does have a kind of Camaroish look to it at a casual glance.
Question for the OP. If you’re a car nut and saw someone driving a freakishy weird car like this then why didn’t you go over to the neighbors and ask about it?
I’d have been on that car like stink on a skunk.