The story of the Chevy Camaro Z/28 begins more than a decade before the car came to exist. In 1955, there was a disastrous accident at the 24 Hours of LeMans when Mike Hawthorn pulled his Jaguar in front of Lance Macklin’s Austin-Healey to get over for the pit stop. When Hawthorn got on the brakes, Macklin swerved around him, putting himself in the path of Pierre Levegh’s rapidly approaching Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. Levegh hit Macklin at speed, launching the Mercedes over the dirt berm that separated the track from the spectators area. The Mercedes hit inside the crowd of spectators and disintegrated, sending the engine, hood, front suspension, and radiator careening through the crowd in front of the grandstands. The back end of Levegh’s 300 SLR hit the berm, bursting into flames. The crash killed Levegh, 83 people in the crowd, and injured more than 180 others.
As a result of the 1955 LeMans crash, The Automobile Manufacturers of America agreed to stop engaging in or supporting competitive motor sports. Most of the manufacturers promptly ignored the agreement and began clandestinely supporting privateer racers, giving them parts, cars, and engineering support. The old adage “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” was born out of truth, and the car builders knew it. They were loath to walk away from the potential sales associated with their cars showing up in the winner’s circle. In the early 1960s, the top brass at General Motors were becoming leery of the federal government regulating auto manufacturer’s involvement in motorsports. As GM was the largest corporation in the world, selling more cars than all the other American manufacturers combined, management also feared the federal government declaring GM a monopoly and breaking up the company. In 1963, an edict came from the General Motors top brass mandating cessation of all motorsports participation and efforts. This is why there were only five 1963 Corvette Grand Sports built, but I digress.
Vince Piggins was an assistant staff engineer at Chevrolet in the mid-1960s. As such, Piggins was in charge of product promotion. During the early 1950s, he had led the championship-winning Hudson Hornet NASCAR campaign. In the mid-1950s, Piggins was hired to do the same type of job when Chevrolet went stock car racing. With the debut of the Chevy Camaro in September of 1966, Pigging helped design a package to allow the Camaro to compete in SCCA racing. In a memo to GM Brass dated August 17th, 1966, Piggins described the plan that would give the Camaro “performance and handling characteristics superior to either Mustang or Barracuda.” This package would give privateers a basis to go SCCA racing, while giving a light, fast performance option to the Camaro buyer. Piggins wanted to call the package the “Cheetah,” but it would come to be known as RPO Z/28.
The homologation rules for SCCA racing stated that the Chevy Camaro Z/28 had to have a back seat, meaning it was technically a “sedan,” a wheelbase no longer than 116 inches, and an engine displacement not to exceed 305 cubic inches. Chevy didn’t have a five-liter engine at the time, but had the 283 (4.6 liters) and the 327 (5.3 liters). Piggins wanted to take advantage of every cubic inch, so he put a 283 crank in a 327 block to arrive at a 302 cubic-inch engine. The production version of that 302 Small Block was grossly underrated (a common practice at the time) at 290 horsepower. When Car and Driver magazine reviewed the 1967 Camaro Z/28, they said, “The 290-horsepower figure quoted for the Z/28 engine seems ridiculously conservative.” They added, “It feels at least as strong as the 327, 350-horsepower engine offered in the Corvette.” In race trim, it was rumored Traco Engineering was squeezing more than 500 horses from the Penske Trans-Am racing Z/28.
1969 was the third and final year for the first-generation Chevy Camaro. Production ran from September 26th, 1968, to February 26th, 1970, with just over 243,000 Camaros leaving the factory. Several aesthetic changes differentiated the ’69 Camaro from the previous two years. Flattened wheel arches and a redesigned grille gave the ’69 a more aggressive appearance. The rear quarters, rear panel, doors, header, and valance were all unique to the 1969. Optional four wheel disc brakes were available on all trim levels.
The 1969 Chevy Camaro Z/28 still came with the potent 302 Small Block. Standard with the Z/28 package were dual exhaust, special performance front and rear suspension, a quicker steering box, four-speed manual transmission, front or four-wheel disc brakes, fifteen-inch Rally wheels with raised white-letter tires, Z/28 emblems on the fenders, grille, rear panel, and stripes on the hood and trunk lid. Air conditioning was not available with the Z/28 package.
Our featured 1969 Chevy Camaro Z/28 has been treated to a fantastic restoration. It is finished in attractive LeMans Blue with white stripes over a blue vinyl Deluxe interior. It was factory ordered without a rear spoiler. It is powered by a DZ-suffix 302 Small Block fed by a rare dual Holley 600CFM/cross ram intake manifold setup fitted after delivery. Backing the 302 is a Muncie M20 four-speed manual gearbox and 4.10 Positraction rear end. The Z/28 is equipped with power steering, power disc brakes, fiberglass cross ram hood, GM cross ram headers, pushbutton AM-FM radio, ashtray light, rosewood steering wheel, console gauges, deluxe seat belts, blue rubber GM floor mats, and an auxiliary trunk light. Included in the sale is the Protect-O-Plate, NCRS Shipping Report, vintage photos of the car, numerous receipts, three original broadcast sheets, owner’s manual, and Camaro Hi-Performance certification.
This unique 1969 Chevy Camaro Z/28 will cross the Mecum Auctions block at their Kissimmee, Florida event Friday, January 10th.
Comments
Nice !!! Will go well up in the 6 figure price !
Highly doubt that hood is fiberglass. Springs are awful heavy for a glass hood. Don’t think GM offered a‘glass hood on these.
The headers, dual quad setup and the fiberglass hood were all available for order at the parts counter back in the day.
I believe those cowl induction hoods were made of metal.
Steel cowl induction hoods became available as a regular production option part way through the ’69 model year. But only on COPO’s and Z/28’s. They were standard equipment on Pace Cars. The fiberglass cowl hood was never a regular production option and was only sold over the parts counter.
The ZL2 hood was also available on the SS. I ordered my 1969 Camaro Z/27 (SS) convertible with the ZL2 hood. I drove this car to two SCCA National Solo Championships (1973, 1975). I was virtually undefeated at the local level (three SCCA regions – Southern New York (Region of Record), Central New York, and the Glen) and the independent Taconic Auto Sports Club. I owned my 1967 Camaro Z/28 concurrently and ran both cars at the same event twice. I never lost to a Z/28; the torque of the 350/300 hp engine (380 @ 3,200 rpm vs. 290 @ 4,200 rpm) made it a much better choice for autocross.
Header panel was not unique to 1969.