1977 Chevrolet Camaro

The disappearance of 2nd-gen F-bodies has been a very slow process, compared to most of the platform's contemporaries. You still see them now and then, but such sightings get a little less common as each passing year sends more '70-'81 Camaros and Firebirds to the cold jaws of The Crusher. This '77 wouldn't have attracted a passing glance in Alameda even five years ago, but now it stands out as a nice original car.

This car lives in front of the Baptist church in Alameda's pricey East End; is it possible it's an original-owner minister's car? Driven only to church and back?

In any case, it's in great original condition, about as nice as a street-driven unrestored 30-year-old car can be.

I've always thought the 2nd-gen Camaros were pretty good-looking cars (if we overlook the tape-stripe monstrosities of the late 70s, of course).

The sad thing about these cars is that GM never really got the build-quality thing right, with the F-body hovering somewhere between "execrable" and "shoddy" on the Quality-O-Meter.

By '77, Malaise Era smog regs had dried up most of the sap under the Camaro's hood; a 110-horse six was standard, with a 145-horse 305 and a 170-horse 350 available as options).

Here in California, you can't even swap a better small-block into your '77 without running into the Kafkaesque world of emissions laws; you need a '75 or older for that.

In this case, though, a minister probably doesn't need the added sap of a souped-up small-block. However, the priest at the Catholic church around the corner drives a 280ZX, so this Camaro's owner might be in trouble if he gets suckered into an all-reverend drag race.