In the Camaro world, little else says performance like the fabled “Z/28” badge, which debuted for the 1967 model year as a way of denoting an especially high-performance package aimed at making a pony car capable of competing in the SCCA Trans-Am Series. That year’s Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 packed a solid-lifter 302 cubic-inch V8 producing a claimed 290 horsepower – although actual peak power output was believed to be well in excess of 300 horsepower – and a four-speed manual transmission.
The most recent Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 – the one launched for the 2014 model year, while the pony car was still in its fifth generation – packed an otherworldly 505 peak horsepower, courtesy of a high-revving (for a production OHV V8, anyway) 7.0-liter V8 LS7 engine borrowed from the 2006 Corvette Z06.

1971 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. Photo: Mecum Auctions
Sadly, not a single fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 seems to be making its way to auction at Mecum‘s 2018 Dallas event next month, but ten other Z/28s from the past five decades will. On the roster are four first-generation (1967-’69) Z/28 examples – including one from the model’s first year of production – along with five from the Camaro’s second generation (1970-’81) and one from the fourth-generation (1993-2002) Chevrolet Camaro lineup. Three of those – a “comprehensively restored” 1971 Z/28 in blue, an unrestored one-owner 1980 car in black, and a genuine 1997 Brickyard Festival Pace Car with just 1,400 miles from new – are being offered with no reserve.

1997 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 Brickyard Festival Pace Car. Photo: Mecum Auctions
As rare and intriguing as the white ’97 Pace Car is, our favorite of the ten Z/28s heading to auction next month is easily the black 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 shown at the top of this page. It’s from the Z/28’s first generation, thus possessing the coveted 302 cubic-inch solid-lifter V8, and boasts a sinister black-on-red color scheme, much like Satan’s Camaro probably would. As if that weren’t enough, it’s undergone a thorough concourse “nut-and-bolt” rotisserie restoration, giving it a beautiful, almost factory-fresh level of purity.
If you’ve got a couple-dozen grand to drop on a vintage Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, be sure to make your way out to Mecum’s Dallas auction event from October 3rd through the 6th for your chance to come away in one of these brilliant cars.
To view the full Z/28 collection on Mecum’s website, click here.
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