by I still remember the super-awesome 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda that emerged from such a place back in 2020, after a whopping 35 years off the road. The car was still in great shape and still wearing a gorgeous layer of Sublime green. But that’s not the most spectacular basement find I can remember.
Back in 2019, an incredibly rare Alfa Romeo was discovered in a basement somewhere in Italy. Unearthed after the owner had passed away without a will, the classic in question turned out to be a 1962 Giulietta Sprint Zagato. The Italian coupe had been stuck in its subterranean tomb for 35 years due to a broken car lift.
One of only 217 examples built over three years the Zagato-bodied Alfa Romeo was still in good condition and was sold for a whopping $640,000. Talk about a hidden treasure, right? Well, here is another classic gem that was recently discovered on Italian soil.
It’s not as rare as the Giulietta SZ, but it’s a rather uncommon vehicle in the Mediterranean peninsula. Because it’s a first-generation Chevrolet Camaro.
Granted, this pony car is far from rare at almost 700,000 units built over three model years, but not that many of them were sent to European soil. And needless to say, not too many people were able to buy one back in the 1960s when most of the continent was still recovering after a devastating war.
So how did this car end up in Italy? Well, that’s a bit of information I don’t have, but it’s not the only mystery surrounding the building in the video below, coming via YouTube’s “Steve Ronin.” Not only we don’t get any info as to where exactly this abandoned mansion is located in Italy, but the story of its previous owner is worthy of a mystery book.
According to our host, this property, which was reportedly built sometime in the late 1700s, was purchased by a doctor in the 1930s. Described as a “man of mysterious means,” he bought the mansion from a noble family and became a popular doctor in the neighborhood. However, word has it he wasn’t only providing treatment to the sick.
By night, the doctor was an alchemist and locals reported “strange bright lights emanating from the basement of the mansion.” What’s more, it turns out that he went missing sometime in the late 1960s, leaving everything in his mansion behind. Of course, this story is probably nothing more than a local myth but the mansion does look like it h as been abandoned for decades.
And it still houses vintage furniture, some of which might be worth a lot of money, old photos, and all sorts of things you expect to find in an old home. The mansion also has a massive, creepy-looking basement, which would make for a great dungeon in an epic fantasy film, but it’s nowhere near as baffling as the presence of a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro in there.
Found sitting close to a huge entrance and surrounded by debris, the pony car is still in one piece. To be fair, there’s no confirmation that it has been sitting there since the owner of the mansion reportedly vanished, but if that’s the case, the Chevy is in surprisingly good condition.
Yeah, it’s covered in a thick layer of dust, to the point where the white paint is almost gray, and cobwebs, but it’s not too rusty. There’s some surface rust here and there and the paint has peeled off in certain areas, but man, this Camaro is totally restorable as far as the exterior is concerned. It’s almost like it was kept in a heated garage, but the owner didn’t bother cleaning it from time to time.
The interior looks even better, with almost everything intact. Our host doesn’t give us a glimpse of the odometer, but it sure looks like this pony car wasn’t driven much based on the condition of the upholstery and the door panels. They’re not flawless, but they’re pretty close to new.
But is this one of the rarer Camaros from the era? Well, not really. Based on the front grille and the hidden headlamps, this Chevy was ordered with the RS package. It’s not an SS model and it doesn’t even sport the optional stripe around the front fascia.
It doesn’t have one of the bigger, more desirable V8 engines either. Based on the badges on the front fenders, this Camaro left the factory with a 327-cubic-inch (5.4-liter) mill. However, we don’t know if the V8 in question is the two-barrel LF7 or the four-barrel L30. While the former was rated at 210 horsepower and 320 pound-feet (434 Nm) of torque, the latter delivered 275 horses and 355 pound-feet (481 Nm) of twist.
How do we know it’s a 1968 model and not a first-year 1967 version? It’s because the front turn signals are rectangular, while the doors do not include vent windows. The 1967 variant came with vent windows and round turn signals.
