The history of the Z/28.....

Musclecar Review is featuring Z/28's this month so I thought I'd touch on how the "Z" came into being. In the mid '60's the SCCA had a road racing series called Trans-American Sedan Racing-"Trans-Am" for short that was very popular. Oddly-at the height of the musclecar era-the displacement limit was 5 liters-or 305 cubic inches. The 289 V8 Ford Mustang and 273 V8 Plymouth Barracuda did nicely. Ford won the championship in 1966. When the Camaro was introduced Chevrolet pulled out all the stops. Instead of running the little 283 V8 that powered countless Novas, Malibus and Pickups-they took the 327 Corvette block and put a 283 crank in it making it 302 inches. It also had 11:1 compression, a hot solid-lifter cam, Corvette "Fuelie" heads, an aluminum intake and a 780 Holley carb. It was rated at a ridiculously low 290 hp. The buff magazines figured its true output was closer to 350 hp, and that race versions were putting out 460-470 hp. SCCA rules said you had to sell at least 500 to the public to race them. Exactly 602 were sold in 1967 making them legal. The brass couldn't think of a catchy name so they just used the option code-rpo Z/28. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue kicked ass. Winning a lot of races in '67 and the championship in '68. Ford fired back with the "Boss 302" a Mustang with Tunnel-Port 351 "Cleveland" heads on a 302 block. Parnelli Jones and others gave Donohue a helluva run. The competition was fierce and the races were more popular than ever. 1969 was the best sales year to date-of the 200,000+ Camaros sold that year nearly 20,000 were Z/28s. The F-bodies were completely redesigned for 1970-this bodystyle would last until 1981. Since the SCCA changed the rules and now allowed destroking-Chrysler got back into the fray with the new Challenger and 'Cuda by destroking the 340 V8 and Pontiac de-stroked a 400 to build a 303. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue were now racing AMC Javelins with a 304 inch V8. The 1970 production Z/28 now had a 350 V8 with all the 'Vette goodies on it and it was rated at 360 hp in the Z/28 and 370 in the Corvette.  The extra cubes really improved torque and drivability. For the first time an automatic transmission and air conditioning were offered. In 1971 GM lowered compression ratios across the board so cars could run on low-lead gas. This lowered hp to 330. Donohue and AMC won the Championship in a Javelin-but by '71 Ford and GM both had pulled the major factory support so it was kind of a hollow victory-a factory backed team beating a bunch of privateers. In '72 nothing really changed-except a UAW strike at the Norwood, Ohio plant that built Camaros and Firebirds nearly killed the breed. Very few were sold, and 1100 cars that couldn't meet the stiffer 1973 5-mph bumper standards had to be scrapped. GM actually considered killing the F-body line. Only the efforts of Herb Adams and others at Pontiac kept them alive. It was a good decision Trans Ams sales quadrupled that year and Chevy sold nearly 12,000 Z/28's in '73-the best year since 1969. However-the solid-lifter cam was replaced with a hydraulic one, and the aluminum manifold ad 780 Holley was replaced by an iron one with a Quadrajet. For some insane reason-in late 1974 Chevrolet killed the Z/28 option. AMC Killed the Javelin, Ford turned the Mustang into a re-badged Pinto / Capri and Chrysler killed the 'Cuda and Challenger, and Road Runner and Charger for '75. The 454 was longer available in a Corvette-a 350 was the biggest motor you could get and you couldn't even get a 4-speed in California!  Gee, wonder why Pontiac Trans-Am  sales were skyrocketing-they sold nearly 50,000 in 1976-and that was before "Smokey and the Bandit"-that film was released in June 1977. Realizing the error of their ways Chevy brought back the Z/28 in March 1977 after a 2 1/2 year hiatus. Power was an L48 350, but you got a 4-speed with 3.73:1 gears or an automatic with 3.42:1s and sport suspension and graphics that copied the T/A. They were good performers for the time-0-60 times in the 7 second range and 1/4 mile times in the mid 15s. I know a V6 Honda Accord is faster than that now-but these were the darkest days-The advent of Catalytic converters and ever-tightening emission standards killed everyone's performance for several years. '78 and '79 were record sales years. Obviously-if youw wanted a musclecar then-you had two choices-a Trans-Am or a Z/28. "Cowl Induction" was brought back for 1980-a vacuum-operated hood scoop that opened under full-throttle acceleration. It didn't really help performance, but man did it sound cool. In '81-things got worse-you could only get a 350 with an automatic. If you wanted a 4-speed-you got a 305 that wheezed out 145 hp. In 1982 the F-bodies were completely redesigned and this body would last until 1992. The top engine option was a "Cross-Fire" injected 305 with 165 hp,that was only available with a 3-speed automatic. If you wanted a 4-speed you got the 145 hp carburated 305. Yuk. In 1983 things started to get better. The L69 305 "H.O." was introduced that had 190 hp and you could get a 5-speed stick or a 4-speed automatic with it. In 1985 "Tuned Port Injection was introduced and bumped power to 215 hp. As a homage to the "International Race of Champions" race series the "IROC-Z" was introduced.  However-Ford had put the 302 back in the Mustang-with real tube headers and a 600 Holley on an aluminum manifold. The Mustang was not only faster-but several thousand dollars cheaper. In late '86-Chevy stuffed the L98 'Vette 350 into the IROC-Z-but only with an automatic-and they still weren't as fast as a Mustang-that now had even more power with their fuelie 302. The line soldiered on until the big redesign of 1993, that lasted until the demise in 2002. The LT1 and LS1 engines brought great performance in the '90's-but GM priced them into oblivion. A loaded Z/28 was $37,000 in 2002 dollars!!  More than a BMW 3 series, more than a Mercedes C-class, and more than a Lexus IS300!! For a car with a ten year old body, a laughable rear seat, poor visiblity, high insurance rates and 15 mpg fuel economy. Why were 40 year olds-who could afford them buying the luxury / Sport sedans I mentioned instead of Camaros? Because they weren't 17 anymore, and needed to accomodate their wife and kids!  Car and Driver said it best-"This car is absolutely coveted by people who can't afford it." ( Young males under 25.). Ford was selling twice as many Mustangs as GM was Camaros and Firebirds combined. For a good reason-a well-equipped V8 Mustang GT stickered for about 25K-a full ten grand less than a Z/28 or T/A. That's about 300 bucks a month difference in the payment!! Gee, you think that might have made people buy Mustangs??  GM killed them at the end of 2002. The Camaro was resurrected in 2009-with a 300 hp V6 model priced at 22K a screaming bargain. For some reason the "Vette motored LS3 with 400 hp was called the "SS" and not "Z/28". They started about 30K. But again-GM has priced them out of the realm of people who want them. A loaded 400 hp 2014 SS is well over 40K. And guess what? A Subaru WRX that costs 27 grand will give it a helluva run in a drag race or the twisties. So will a Nissan 370Z that starts at 32k.  Yeah-the top dog with the 580 hp blower motor is a rocket and is called the ZL1. I think for 2015 there going to call it "Z/28" again.  But they cost $75,0000!!!  Does GM ever learn?  Apparently not. If I'm going to spend 75K on a sports car-I'll buy a Jaguar F-type or a Porsche Cayman or  a two or three-year old Nissan GtR or Porsche 911 or Aston Martin Vantage or a six year old Ferarri F430 or a '90's Lamborghini Countach!! Not a freakin' Camaro!  Mastermind