First Car to Restored Muscle Car – Mark Reece has owned his 1968 RS/SS Big-Block Camaro for over 50 Years
Many of us at one time or another have wondered what happened to our first car. Is it still around somewhere or is it long abandoned in a field or junkyard? Georgia resident Mark Reece has no reason to wonder. His 1968 RS/SS Camaro is right where’s it’s been for the past 51 years: in his garage.
While a teenager in 1975 and in need of transportation to school and a part-time job, Mark’s brother Tommy (a hot rodder and racer, Mark says) saw the Camaro on the side of the road with a for sale sign on it. His parents parted with $1,400 and Mark had his ride.
The Camaro was Mark’s daily driver until 1982, was stored in a relative’s basement for nine years while he was stationed overseas, and then saw daily driver duty again until 1999, when the three-year restoration began. Mark, his brother Tommy, and friends Howell, Tony, and Anthony Bell performed the work to bring the car back to original condition. The Bells did the body and paint work while Mark and his brother handled the engine rebuild and rest of the reassembly.
The project was made a bit easier because almost all the original pieces were with the car. “When asked, I tell folks there are real challenges to building matching-numbers cars if you don’t start with most of the parts in hand,” Mark says.
Power is supplied by the numbers-matching 325-horsepower version of the iconic 396c.i. big block. This version was the lower-compression (8.5:1) but higher torque (410 lb-ft) power plant that utilized a Quadrajet four-barrel carburetor, while the high-compression 375-horsepower version used a Holley four-barrel and solid-lifter cam. A Turbo 400 automatic transmission feeds the power to the 3.08 gears in the rearend. Power steering and power disc brakes in front with drums in the rear are tasked with controlling the 14-inch Rally wheels that are wrapped in Firestone F70-14 redline tires. The Dupont Chroma Premier red paint was applied by Tony Bell and still shines beautifully more than two decades later.
The interior is black vinyl that matches the exterior vinyl top. The stock dash includes a full tachometer and the optional console-mounted gauges, plus a push-button AM radio.
The Camaro’s restoration has aged well over the past 24 years, and Mark remains grateful that he was able to keep and restore this key part of his formative years. He credits his faith, his friends, and his family, including wife Lesa and daughter Rebecca, in supporting the restoration. After more than 50 years, the Camaro will not be going far from Mark’s garage any time soon.
“My only daughter Rebecca says the car is not for sale,” he says.
Congratulations to Mark Reece for having his 1968 RS/SS Camaro named a Finalist for the Goodguys 2026 Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year!
Photos: Damon Lee
