1974 Camaro Nickey Stage III - "The last Nickey"?
 

I'm interested in learning more about any other known Nickey '74 Camaros but from my research there's not a whole lot of information for the 1974 cars.

This one seems to be pretty well known but I haven't found it on this site anywhere.
I'm also not sure why the car has a 1975-77 front header panel and grille, all '74 Camaros came with the emblem on the grille. The car is also missing the LT trim on the rear tail panel which is seen in the as-found pictures.

From the history I can find online the car was found in 2010 (less the L88), restored by Muscle Car Design in Minooka, IL, and auctioned off a few times with bidding up to 125k and then eventually selling for 87k in 2015. I haven't seen or heard where the car is today.

As found-
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1974...aro-swan-song/

2014 Mecum Auction-
https://www.mecum.com/lots/CH1014-19...aro-stage-iii/

2015 Mecum Auction-
https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0515-21...aro-stage-iii/

This car resides in a private collection. The L88 was out of the car, but the engine and all components were still there.

The NicKey Chevrolet Dealership was closed down at the end of 1973. The NicKey Chicago Speed shop on Milwaukee Ave was opened and they continued to build Hi-Performance Cars until approx 1977.

Thanks for the information! Glad to hear the original engine was still with the car, the phrasing of the article made it sound like it was missing.

Are you aware of any other '74 Camaros? Sounds like there were almost certainly more built but I haven't heard of any others currently around.

----Stefano,,, I like the decal on the valve cover. Don't think I have ever seen one before. Do you have those,,,possibly for sale?......Bill S

There's an old post on this car somewhere and a few of us mentioned about the grill and header in the thread. It might have been the owner at the time chimed in to say it was an early car and restored as it was found. Going by the as found pictures, it's clear the later header and grille were there. The thing about the car being early isn't relevant since my '74 Z was built before this car and mine came with the correct header and grille from the factory. This Nickey car probably did come out of the factory with the correct stuff. My guess is that at some point the header/grille was damaged and replaced. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any pictures as new. Replacing the header due to damage happened enough and since the '74 header and grill are a 1 year only part they replaced with whatever they could get easily. It happened to my car as well.

Yes, very true. Almost all '74s I see don't have the original grille or header (mine included). I was just surprised to not see it on a car of this caliber but it seems by what you said it was restored "as found". And I agree, if anything being an early car would only ensure it came with the 1 year only parts. I haven't heard of any very late '74 cars coming with the '75-77 style but it would not surprise me.

I also just noticed they swapped bumpers as well to ones that have the bumper guards. Most people don't prefer those so that's an unusual change as well. Regardless it's a neat car with a few changes I'd make to change it to be slightly more original. Luckily I've scored a couple extra '74 grilles over the past few years!