not to dispute what was "listed" as available , but custom orders and dealer swaps make definative answers difficult. 283 was available in 1968 and it was the last year so anything was possible.

 

26 years ago I had a rusty 67 camaro with a 283 and a powerglide pretty sure it was original. Made to Sell by my dad in Bartow Florida (to a long haired lion tamer named Gunter Gable Williams!!) for real.

a friend of mine had the "base" camaro with (I think) 232 V6.

 

I don't have any specs on it and it is long gone. I uesd to but alot of them back then and they were cheap. I remember it having the 283 emblems on it and I did end up pulling the motor out. It spun a main. The car had never been painted but I see your posted info and have no idea why it does not show up. Maybe like you said a dealer optioned car. I paid $500 for it. And I sure wish I had it now. But for that matter I could have bought an 69 indy pace car vert for $500 too. And here is one that still makes me sick. We bought a 66 SS396 convertible Chevelle. It had factory air and a power gilde on the column. We bought it for $100 dumped gas in the carb and drove it to the guy we traded it to. We got a used set of 375 horse 396 pistons and some old slicks. He then pulled the motor and front end and curshed it. No rust origional paint car. GRRRRR

 

I was staying out of this one....but I had a friend in H.S. that had a base model 68 with a 283. We use to get someone to buy us beer, and sit outside of town and get shitfaced. One night after a few brews he starts reving the shit out of this poor tired old 283 until the motor said "fuck it" BOOM. We ended up walking about 3 miles back to town at 2 am. Man that was some good times

 

Not to butt in with useless trivia, but 283's were never an available option for Camaro's. I'm sure if you really wanted one you could get it through COPO but your friends probably either had non original engines or 327's.

In fact, Dano's friend must of had a replacement engine because we all know 327's are indestructable..LOL!

 

I had a friend with a 67 RS that had a 327. My cuz has a 67 w/ a 327, his 69 conv is a 307. I do remember the 68 my buddy had in HS was a 283, the car was 10 years old at that time and already a piece of shit, so I'm not sure if it was the original motor. And I was in my infancy when it came to cars. But I do remember going to about every boneyard in eastern Mich. with him looking for a good 283. Even back then everyone was telling him not to waste his time with another 283. I'm sure it prob came with a 6 cyl from the factory. Now that I think back, he was kind of a BS'er. The car he had before that was a Dart GTS with a 383 - 4spd that he kept telling everyone it was a 440.