Paul already created a Curbside Classic on the second generation Camaro, calling it GM’s Greatest Hit #1, but I would be remiss if I did not share these pictures. This early model car has the chrome bumpers used from 1970 to 1972, along with the smaller rear window used from 1970 to 1974. It also includes the Rally Sport appearance package, making it a Z-28 Rally Sport (more on that later).
IF the parts on this car are correct to the model year (and I can identify several modifications to this car), the high back bucket seats (1971-on) and door panels without any storage pockets (offered in 1970 and ’71) narrow this car down to the model year 1971. However, when dealing with pony cars of this vintage, I’d want to check the VIN to confirm the year, the engine serial number to assure myself the car came with the Z-28 engine option, and then check the build sheet or RPO (features) sticker to confirm the Rally Sport package.
Personally, I want to believe this is a genuine Z-28. From the back, the spoiler, badging and stripes all look right, and the car looks ready to launch down the street and disappear over the horizon. Is this brown shade called “Rosewood”? If so, that’s further confirmation it’s a 1971, which was the only “chrome bumper” year to offer Rosewood.
(I didn’t check every color chart, but I also recall a similar color on the later plastic-bumpered cars.)
The interior looks inviting, doesn’t it? If this were a first generation car, that horse shoe shifter would automatically disqualify it as true a Z-28. Those hairy chested, uncompromising, race-car-for-the-street models only came with a stick shift and clutch pedal.
However, these second generation Z-28s offered an automatic with a larger, 350 CID small block to provide more tractable power. I’m pretty sure Chevy didn’t offer a wood steering wheel, but everything else in here looks correct.
I mentioned the RS package earlier. Here’s a closer look at those parts. I’ve always loved the look of this package; the extended grille, small bumpers on each corner, and those unique turn signal assemblies all added up to “European.”
I do find that chrome trim on the turn signal lenses a bit jarring. For a car with such breakout styling, those little tiny cones hark back to 1950s “Jet Age” styling. The pieces are small enough to slip by mostly unnoticed, but I’d prefer lenses that reflected the cars clean tail light design, not this busy filigree.
In terms of overall correctness, the bolts for the license plate bracket are on the correct side, but there should be a small “Camaro” badge on the front header panel located between the black vinyl stripes. Since there are no holes for the badge, I’m thinking some body work and a repaint were done. I believe there should also be a rub strip between the grille halves inside the grille opening. Overall, call it a foul tip- Contact but no home run.
If this is truly a 1971 Z-28, the web tells me it’s one of 4,862 cars (out of a total of 114,630 Camaros built that year), making it a rare car. That brief bit of data will wrap up our detailed look at this car, but before we go, there’s one more thing to mention. When I looked up the second generation Camaro production numbers, they reminded me of something odd about Camaro (and Firebird) sales in the 1970s.
This sales chart shows the numbers; It’s one of the weirdest things in the history of car sales. Despite the fact that the 1970 to 1973 Camaros are generally regarded as the best looking and best performing car of this generation, the later cars outsold them by a considerable margin.
In fact, the best sales year for this platform came in 1979, in the tenth year of production! Few cars ever saw this sort of sales increase over time, especially in the very style-driven Ponycar segment.
Many folks will point to the sales jump in 1974 and say, “Well, of course Camaro sales went up, that’s the year the Mustang II came out.”
Before reaching that conclusion, I recommend checking the Mustang data. While the Camaro saw a 50% increase in sales in 1974, the Mustang II almost tripled its sales over the previous year’s Mustang. In addition, the Mustang II beat the Camaro in three out of the five years it was offered (1974, ’75 & ’76).
In fact, the Mustang performed pretty well against this generation of Camaros. While the Chevy had its best year in 1979, the new Fox body also came out that year, and topped Camaro sales. Overall, the second gen car sold well late in its middle and later years, but those sales do not appear to have come at the expense of the Mustang.
Obviously, the answer is a bit more complicated than weak Mustang competition. While I can think of several explanations for the F-body’s late in life success, I think I’ll shut down and let the debate continue in the comments section.
What a beauty!
A case where the first year really got it right as far as styling. Of course the Feds were responsible for a lot of the more negative changes.
A shrunken, decontended Seville if there ever was one. (As I duck tomatoes). 😉
It is a shame that we have reached the point in a car where there is so much fakery (or “tribute”) that we have to ask whether it’s really what it appears to be.
As for me, I am certainly no F body expert. However, that gray fabric in the seat upholstery does not look period-correct to me. Shouldn’t that be black vinyl? Anyhow, it is certainly a nice car. At least it’s not red.
As for the sales spike in 1974, my vote is that this was probably the year when the “Vega is a POS” thing reached critical mass, so more folks wanting a sporty Chevy would go Camaro over Vega. Just a guess, though.
Maybe if all the cars shows stopped calling them “tributes” and started calling them what they really are. Fakes.
FWIW, the gray cloth was an option, having looked it up last night for the same reason you’re wondering about it. But that still doesn’t tell us anything, as folks have become very meticulous about the details of their tributes. We’ll never know, short of a looksie at the VIN.
In 1970 and 1971 the VIN number only revealed whether the car had the I6 or V8 and which plant it was assembled at. Fisher body would sometimes stamp ‘Z28’ on bodies destined for Norwood but not on bodies headed for Van Nuys, CA. In later years this did change and although Van Nuys cowl tags still didn’t carry ‘Z28’ specifically, “Z28” can be decoded via other codes on the tag which is nice.
It’s quite difficult to distinguish a clone/fake from the real deal these first two years and it’s a shame. This practice has diluted the exclusivity of the once rare models. I have no interest in someone else’s “idea” of how one of these cars should be equipped…give me the real deal please if you (the owner) are showing it.
I get more excited seeing a non-spoilered, non Rally-wheel-equipped example now: at least the base models have a higher percentage chance of being unmolested even if they sometimes are a little sparsely equipped.
Of course I have no business griping about what someone does to his/her own car…I’m guilty of adding a few options to my vehicles over the years…it’s the misrepresentation of the alterations that bug me.
+1
The fact that second-generation Firebirds had unique VIN’s for each of the four varieties helped me choose a Firebird rather than a Camaro. It’s much easier to determine the originality of a particular car. Of course the fact that the Z28 package was simply an option package from GM devalues the whole package as far as I’m concerned because it’s relatively easy to clone one.
Z28s seem to be imported here all the time probably fakes from what I can gather
Neither the seat upholstery pattern, nor the cheapo Pep Boys steering wheel is/are correct, but both of those issues could be remedied easily.
Those look like the cheapie cloth seats out of a late 3rd gen, the upholstery is a close match….
I have no issues with replicas and tributes. Unless you invest in trailer queens, who cares if it is authentic or not so long as it has the performance and looks that you want. Plus it makes for a fun project to take on.
Personally I think most people who insist otherwise are rather arrogant and not true car guys. In this case I happen to know better.
I just get tired of a world where every old Impala is a red SS with a big block and a 4 speed. I see nothing wrong with an Impala being green with a bench seat, six and a Glide (as long as I myself have a Fury to drive. 🙂 ). To paraphrase what they said in The Incredibles, when every car is special, none of them are.
Don’t hang out at car shows so much. Being able to drive the car you’ve dreamed of on the streets daily, without adding miles wear and tear to (or god forbid wreck) an authentic survivor that would likely cost nearly(or above) 6 figures to obtain, has all kinds of appeal. And despite other people doing the same, your faux z28 or whatever will still be far more special than the sea of Camcords and CUVs outnumbering it.
I don’t advocate cloning for profit though, and quite frankly that practice ruins it for the rest of us who want to build an old car we previously could afford (just look at the prices on basket case Mopar E-bodies for an idea). But the desecration of base models? Meh. If you don’t like it, show me the money and save it.
Here is a # matching 71 Z/28 Rosewood all I have left is black stripes
Wasn’t there a strike at GM in ’72 or ’73 that reduced the supply of Camaros? Maybe it split the model year.
I think the upsurge in sales was due in part to the Mustang II, making the Camaro and Firebird the only ponycars left. The Challenger, Barracude and Javelin sales ended with the conclusion of the 1974 model year. There weren’t that many choices left for the hairy chested, burnout craving baby boomer who’d just finished college and now had disposable income. Ford realized this and shoehorned the 302 back in for the 1975 model.
I’d much rather have this than the 2014 Camaro, all reliability and fuel availability considerations aside. That thing is fugly and a garish caricature of the ’69 model. I can’t love it like I’d love this car. The new 2015 Mustang is fugly, too. I knew Ford was in a race with Chevrolet, I didn’t know it was to hit every branch of the ugly tree on the way down.
The current generation Camaro is the only version I have absolutely no desire to own whatsoever. It’s styling is reminiscent of what you’d get from a bored 8th grader drawing a ’69 Camaro in his notebook while the teacher drones on and on.
Ugly, overblown, oversized, and overly heavy.
Don’t forget the Fuherbunker like window slits. I felt clastraphobic when I sat in one and I don’t have claustraphobia.
Syke, I agree with you about the current Camaro boy-racer/video-game rendered styling. (BTW of the 3 current reto cars, I love the Challenger)
But, for me, even more than the current Camaro, I hate Gen 4 styling the most. And, it is for the very same reasons that I despise the Gen 4 Caprice, along with the final Fleetwood and Roadmaster with their oddly proportioned, bloaty & swollen looks.
Have to agree this ones inner structure chassis etc became a Holden the latest one is a Holden.
Agreed. I’ve been trying to like it since the concept but I just can’t. The mild face/butt lift of the 2014s I think is an improvement but it’s still too weird looking for me.
Mark -Driver8, I agree about the 4th gens, but I do miss the svelteness compared to the current one. If the rear wheels were 3-4″ further back they would look a lot better.
The strike (at the Youngstown, OH plant) delayed the introduction of the 1970 model. That is why they are referred to as 1970 1/2 models.
Yes, there was a major, 170 day UAW strike in mid-late 1972 that affected both the ’72 and ’73 models. There was also rumors around this time that GM would drop both the Camaro and Firebird, which no doubt affected sales. I can attest to this from personal experience. As a new college grad with a new job I was ready to upgrade from my old Chevy II and the Camaro was on the top of my list. Problem was, in late 1972 there were none to be had. No inventory and dealers couldn’t guarantee when (or if) a special order could be filled. Opted for a new Cougar XR-7 instead. Not a bad ride, but not my first choice.
Did you order the Cougar or buy one off the dealer lot? If you ordered it, how did you order it? Just curious.
Factory ordered it, as was possible and not too uncommon in those days. Took about 6 weeks to get in. Dark green metallic with white vinyl roof. Ordered a few options rarely seen on inventory cars – 70 series tires and “styled steel road wheels”, which I’ve rarely seen on any other Cougar. Auto, A/C, P.S., P.B. and the base 351 2v as well.
With option packages and limited color selections factory ordering is now a rarity, especially among imports.. Dealers also do everything to discourage it as well. When buying my wife’s Lexus ES 350 a few years back all cars on the dealer lots had the exact same equipment. All navigation cars were also larded with packages I didn’t want, so I asked about ordering one. The dealer discount shrunk and they said it would take up to six months to arrive. They eventually found one somewhat close to what I wanted en route, but the days of a total custom order appear to be over.
Sweet car. I admit to being bias towards its sister F-body, but how could you not love that split bumper.
I kind of like the smaller spoiler seen on the 70 Z28 instead of the duck tail spoiler like on this car. It seems to work better on the Firebirds, while the smaller one works better on the Camaro.
I think a lot of the Camaro’s success late in this generation was due to the fact that there was no real competition. The Mustang II didn’t really compete directly against the Camaro in my opinion. It was really more of Ford’s interpretation of a subcompact sport/luxury car and more directly competed against Chevy’s Monza. Those looking for a V8 muscle car with “old school” styling really were limited to the F-body twins after 1974. Even in the early 1970’s when there were lots of intermediate muscle cars to chose from, they had pretty much all disappeared by the mid 1970’s. The mid-size cars had all become big soft and broughamy and they were far from sporty looking. Even if many of these 70’s Camaros didn’t offer true performance, they at least still had the look.
That said, the 1970-73 is my favourite version of this Camaro and they example posted here looks quite nice regardless of if it is a genuine Z/28 or not.
+1 Very good and accurate observations I’d say.
“The mid-size cars had all become big soft and broughamy and they were far from sporty looking.”
In 1973, GM’s midsizers also became significantly bigger. Someone who liked the size of the 68-72 midsized models might find the F-body a better replacement than the new Chevelles and Cutlasses.
I think the success of the F-Bodies was due to several things:
1. Most of the midsized 2 door cars got VERY ugly starting about 1973, the Colonade cars were hideous. I know they sold well, my mom and sister both had ’73 Cutlasses, but damn, they were as stupid looking as some of the “Whaleshark” mouthed squished egg new cars do, or as hideous as the present Camaro is. Ford styling was becoming just plain odd to me, and a lot of other people, and it continued until about 2000. The F Bodies were kind of like an island with food and water on it in the middle of a sea of blah (at best) cars. To a lot of us, the ~1970 period is the high water mark of car styling.
2. If you wanted a “fun” car, after the Mustang was shrunk down, the E Body Chrysler cars were gone, the AMC Javelin disappeared, what else was there? A lot of ugly, boring cars.
3. Anyone with half a brain can get a V8 Camaro or Firebird to be stupid quick, all you need is money and a little know how.
Best sales year was 1979? Maybe its worth while looking at what else was available in 1979. Yes, the Fox body Mustang was out, but those were the ‘generic styling’ years. And what everybody else had to offer was pretty pathetic.
For the mid-70’s, I’ll completely go along with the idea that the Mustang II competed against the Monza 2+2 rather than the Camaro. Personal experience was that when I was looking for a new car in ’76 I was much more aligned to the smallness of the Monza, and didn’t even consider a Camaro. Even though dad had had two Rally Sports: ’67 and ’70. And the Fox bodies only slowly started pulling the Mustang out of that category.
To a certain extent, by the late ’70’s the Camaro (and Firebird) were almost as unique as the Corvette.
Count me as a fan of this one,even in that rather unattractive paintwork.
+1. At least it’s not traffic cone orange or Kiddie-Brite Yellow. 🙂
How DARE you!! You’ve insulted my car for the last time sir. Now, apologize to it, as I know you will…
Sorry! Your car’s exempt because it was ordered that way! 🙂 🙂 🙂 The new Challenger & Corvette are beautiful and the only new vehicles that appeal to me.
I had owned a couple of later model year Camaros/Z28’s and a T.A., but sadly never one of these.
This body style is in my personal Top 5 of all-time, of any make. No matter muscle, luxury, sport or otherwise. Just look at that face. I love these cars.
The “6M…” starting the license plate number indicates that this car was first registered in California roughly 3-4 years ago (tags stay with the car in CA, and they are sequential; our late ’10 CRV has 6N, and they’re at 7B or C now.) So either the owner moved here then, or that’s when it was resurrected.
Edit: there is one other possibility – it was sold and the previous owner had a vanity plate that the new owner didn’t want to pay for. But that seems a bit less likely.
This generation Camaro is my favorite, especially the ones with the smaller bumpers; one of the contenders for my “Powerball” list.
I would assume the 73 oil crisis and 79 energy crisis did the majority of shaping F body sales. The first crisis essentially removed the majority of the competition from the marketplace, so when oil prices stabilized, sales took off. Then, the next shock comes in and cools the market back down at a time when competition (the Fox) is being re-introduced that competes more directly to the F body formula.
The OPEC embargo coincided fairly neatly with the 1974 model year, though. It started after the ’74 models were on sale and continued into early CY 1974.
When the 1970½ Camaro came out, I was shocked that it became a three-window coupe, and not a real hardtop like the 1967, 68 & 69s.
However, I got over that pretty quick when a guy on base had a beautiful base model in light brown and a saddle brown interior with only the barest accessories, but quite elegant in its simplicity and clean design. I was hooked.
Round tail lights work every time.
You can thank Burt Reynolds for the big F-Body years. “Smokey and the Bandit” was the fourth biggest movie in 1977, grossing over $300,000,000 and product placements everywhere.
Originally budgeted as a $1 million dollar B movie, Burt Reynolds took over as the spirit of the movie growing it into a $5 million dollar flick. Reynolds was the number one Box Office movie star of that era and he put the star power into the script and into the cast of the movie.
But if Reynolds was the human box office star, his Pontiac Trans Am was the super box office star. The Smokey and the Bandit movies were two hour long GM F body commercials showing the car doing what no other car available could do. Reynolds did not drive an old muscle car – he drove the newest Trans Am available. This was a deliberate change from the original story and for filming the movie, GM worked with the director in order to show Reynolds in the newest Trans Am, which was not yet released into the market when the movie was being filmed.
There were three Smokey movies and all of them were hits. Big hits.
With the newfound fame of the F body, Chevrolet re-released the Z-28 as a mid-year refresh, just to meet the demands from the booming Trans Am sales from this movie. Not only were Trans Am sales on fire – GM discovered that the Z sales caught fire as well.
Having the nation’s Numero Uno Box Office Star doing stunts in the latest GM F body Pontiac for two hours in one of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster movies is the reason for the explosive sale of this platform so late in its generational cycle.
Only problem with that is those Trans Ams in the movie couldn’t actually do what they were doing without the modifications they made to them.
Even if they are slugs, but handle well…I too have a love for the 76-78 Black and Gold cars.
Burt is the best sumbitch out there!
You remind me that the Rockford Files began airing in 1974. James Garner’s gold Firebird (very similar to this car) became a TV star as well that year.
+1
Great show, great car. (And proof that stickers and spoilers aren’t everything – “plain old” Esprits could kick some ass too!)
I would say the first 2 movies were hits, the first one being a massive huge mega hit, 2nd highest grossing movie of 1977, after Star Wars, the 2nd one was a pretty successful movie, not as big a hit as the first, certainly not as good, but, well, you watched it, the bad thing about the 2nd one being sort of successful was that it made it possible for a 3rd one…
And the third Smokey and the Bandit movie is a crime against humanity, its awful, bad bad bad bad…..just…..there isn’t a single way to make that movie watchable, not even LSD and Schlitz, which only results in hallucinations of giant Jackie Gleason headed cobras attacking you in the living room while you ride around in a half Jerry Reed half Fred minotaur while your fire cans of Coors beer at it ……as I said nothing can make it better……
Burt Reynolds knew something was missing in the third movie too.
So, he corrected the omission in time for Cannonball Run…
Before the internet I hunted everywhere for Smokey and the Bandit 3, none of the rental places like Blockbuster had it, no stores sold it, and no existing review even had much on it. In fact, I don’t even remember how I became aware of it for that matter, but I was very curious when I did.
And yes, when I did finally find it(bought it at a flea market for $1) I was quite surprised at the pure awfulness. Even the driving scenes stunk(which is all I found entertaining about Smokey and the Bandit 2). I’d say it was equally as bad and disappointing compared to the original as Blues Brothers 2000.
Blues Brothers 2000 was another abortion….
+1
And Burt Reynolds is the coolest damn dude ever.
We should always be grateful for this “sumbitch” for saving the muscle car.
Thank you Burt!
The ’70-’73 Camaro/Firebird will, always and forever, be the pinnacle of 1970’s cars for me. I felt that way when I was 14, when they were new, and I still do today.
We’re the same age, and had the same taste in cars then and now. Along with a zillion other American males born in the mid-fifties. I haven’t driven a Gen2 F-Body since about 1981 though … I’m not sure I want to burst any bubbles. But they sure are nice to look at. And I prefer a fake Z28 to a matching numbers Berlinetta or Firebird Esprit.
I have never been a fan of GM smaller car styling. Bill Mitchell seemed to keep all the great lines for the luxo barges like the 66 Toro and 67 Eldo, but this generation Camaro is pretty nice, almost on a par with the second generation Corvair.
Echo the comments that the Mustang II competed with the Monza, not the Camaro. No way a Broughamated Mustang II Ghia with a Pinto 4 banger could be considered a pony car.
I do find that chrome trim on the turn signal lenses a bit jarring. For a car with such breakout styling, those little tiny cones hark back to 1950s “Jet Age” styling.
Worse than 50s retro, they are copied from the 66 Plymouth Belvedere
Worse than 50s retro, they are copied from the 66 Plymouth Belvedere
Definitely. These Camaros also had two headlights: .another blatant ripoff.
Wow, a nice looking car, but I’m not sure if it’s genuine or a “tribute”. The seats don’t seem correct, the steering wheel is obviously an add on and I’m not sure about the floor shift for the automatic transmission. There are a lot of “tribute” cars, several years ago I was walking my dog and a beautiful 1969 Z/28 was sitting in someone’s driveway. However on closer inspection it had an automatic transmission-something the ’69’s never had. It was probably a secretary’s car that had been modified to look like a “28”. Let the buyer beware.
I did some checking last night, and the seats, console and floor shifter are correct. The steering wheel obviously not, but the original was ugly, and they were often replaced even when new. Fake or real, it’s well done.
Sexiest. Chevy. Ever. And that’s from a diehard Ford guy.
These are such gorgeous cars. My favorite Camaros would be the 1970-1972 models with the stirrup-shifted automatic. I’m probably in the minority when I say these cars look better not jacked up in the rear. I actually prefer a slightly nose-high stance on all the 1970-81 F-body beauties.
While I have always favored gen 1 Mustangs over gen 1 Camaro/Firebirds, I must admit that these Gen II Camaros simply creamed Mustang in design. I have always wanted a Gen II Camaro, NEVER wanted a Gen II Mustang.
I can’t be the only one who’s first thought was “Paint my muscle car prune color, please!” MST3K really gets in the subconscious.
One of the most beautiful cars of all time. It handled great too. The front suspension was same as for the Nova where some tweaking on the Seville allowed it to ride better than a Rolls-Royce. In the Camaro it was tweaked to out handle a Mercedes, and just about anything else.
Best looking Camaro ever it had a long after life downunder in slightly different panel work but all the bolt on panels will interchange.
Are you saying the HQ and subsequent Kingswoods are just a reskin of this?
Apparently the HQ series, Nova, Camaro and ultimately the Seville are spin offs from a shared component set- how much is directly shared I couldn’t say, certainly nothing directly visible.
The HQ Statesman is reputed to be based on a abandoned specialty Oldsmobile project, adapted for the Au market. How true that is we will probably never know!
The Statesman was built in two guises one in regular GMH remember there were on Holden badges on them and one in Chevrolet with full Chevrolet running gear and badging for South Africa but little ole NZ got both, Chevies were always a big seller here amongst the farming community they held up on the bad rural roads so NZ got new Chevs. Aussie got the Holden versions they know and love they could even get 6cylinder Statesmans all ours were 308 or 350 V8s
KiwiBryce has mentioned this a few(?) times. It seems entirely credible, but is there a conclusive reference or source? Statesman an abandoned Olds… the plot thickens.
I’d love to know more too!
The heavy duty balljoints found in 1tonner Holdens are Chev Impala parts a stronger part than the Camaro for a heavier car perfect for a light truck, How do I know A friend of mine campaigned a 66 Impala for years watching it slowly disintegrate it ate sets of ball joints at regular intervals it was far too lightly made for what he used it for but it kept going.
I’lln find the photos one day of the dissected Camaros at LangLang front suspension and steering front 3/4 chassis the firewall front pillars etc are the same as HQ Camaro panels even bolt on, this was noticed in NZ very early on and many replica Camaros were churned out based on cheap HQs for some reason Australians do not understand how GM makes cars they
ve never seen the Opels Holdens have been cloned from since 65, GMH kept everything off the market lest the locals tumbled to the trick
I’m looking at World Cars 1973, Pub. Automobile Club of Italy. It’s pretty comprehensive, but not perfect.
Base Models
Wheel Base: 111HQ, 108Cam
Track Front: 60.2HQ, 61.3Cam
Track Rear: 60.2HQ, 60Cam
Steering circle between walls for Camaro 40.2 feet, not cited for HQ
Recirc ball steering both
Chassis description difference
Front: None
Rear: Upper & Lower radius arms HQ, Semi elliptic Camaro
I’m not nearly going to pretend I know this technical stuff, too many smart eyes on this. To me the above indicates the strong possibility of shared componentry.
I do know that the HQ was specifically designed to understeer and the Camaro most likely not, but I don’t know how much this is component fabrication and how much it is tuning.
But those firewalls look to be in different positions which would make a true Camaro front-end bolt-on a bit difficult. And the A pillars are not the same.
Maybe the clip you had in NZ was shortened. That Camaro ute I put in the last Future CCs is a guy over here who redesigned the trailing edge of the new Camaro front clip to meet the VE contours and length. Then there’s that Corvette replica…
Sharing the love on this. It’s clear we both love the HQ.
Since no one has identified the true reason for the Camaro’s late life success, let me share it now-
Round headlights.
That’s right, Chevy’s sporty car line (Camaro, Corvette, and Monza Coupe) were the only GM cars that did NOT slather square headlights on existing styling. Responding positively to this decision, the public awarded the ’77 and later Camaros with strong sales as those who appreciated classic headlight design flocked to these traditionally styled vehicles.
The reason for the Firebird’s success? Burt Reynolds and big block power.
D/S
I agree that the single rounds made the Camaro work, but I fell in love with the 77/78 Firebirds as a kid before I saw Smokey and The Bandit. I think the quad rectangular lights matched the look of the rest of the car much better than the 74-76 nose did.
To me these second generation F bodies are one of the best executions of platform sharing — one’s clearly based on the other yet each have a clear distinctness about them and each have their own unique following. Personally I gravitate towards the Firebirds.
Agreed. The ’76 Firebird is the only year that looks Camaro-ish. The ’77-’78s will always be my favorite cars so long as they’re not black/gold or gold.
I suspect that the rise in sales corresponds to the rise in affluence of the baby boomer generation . . .
Great looking car — and I’d love to have one as the basis of a resto-rod. Modern engine, better brakes, slightly larger wheels and tires . . . drool.
This is a handsome car.
It is also, according to my betters who have owned one, a well-engineered car, reliable, pleasant to work on and rewarding to drive.
It reflects well on its makers, owners, acolytes and country of origin.
/flameproof comment
This reminds me of that Papa John’s guy who paid a quarter million dollars five years ago to find the raggedy old ’71½ Z28 that he had to sell in 1983 to keep his business going. It’s been featured prominently in most Papa John’s television commercials ever since, almost certainly so he can write-off the purchase price as a business expense tax deduction.
FWIW, if I were going to choose a second generation Camaro, it would be an SS396, simply because they were the only big-block 2G Camaros built.
Funny you should mention the SS396. In my my hot rodding days I saw damn near every muscle car combination there was, and I spent a lot of time at drag strips and cruise spots back when no one but us greasy gearheads cared about these kinds of cars. And I never saw a factory 2nd gen Camaro big block. ’68s and ’69s were common, even saw the odd ’67. But never a second gen. They must have been a rare beast indeed. An L-89 in a ’70 Camaro would have been a mean machine indeed.
Guy in my town had one. But if I recall, his had a 402.
Introduced in 1970, the 402-cubic-inch (6.6 L) was a 396-cubic-inch bored out by 0.030 in (0.76 mm). Despite the fact that it was 6 cubic inches (98 cc) larger, Chevrolet continued marketing it under the popular “396” label in the smaller cars while at the same time labeling it “Turbo-Jet 400” in the full-size cars. The 402 label was used in Light Pickup Trucks
The L89 396 was definitely the hot Chevy ticket in the sixties, regardless of into what it was installed. One of favorite musclecar war stories is how an L89 396 was capable of beating the ‘legendary’ 426 Hemi, but only if you could get the Mopar to race from a standing start. The Hemi, being a detuned race engine, only started coming on in the upper end of the rev band. By that time, the L89 396 had an insurmountable lead because it made its power much lower in the rev band.
Unfortunately, with the arrival of the 454 as a Chevelle engine option in 1970 (especially the pavement-wrinkling LS6 version), the L89 396 was discontinued, and the hottest 396 became the aforementioned 402 L78. That was what came in anything labeled SS396 from 1970 forward.
Along with astronomical insurance premiums, govt smog regulations, etc., the final nail in the big-block coffin were the better handling, more tractable small-block V8s, not only the LT1 SBC, but the Mopar 340 and Ford 351C, finally ending for good when the final big-block second generation Firebird Trans Am big-block (Pontiac 400 or Olds 403) rolled off the assembly line in 1979.
L89 was actually the option # for aluminum heads on either the L-78 396 or the L-71 427. The L-78 was the famous “375 horse 396” which could run with just about anything back then. The 402 actually came along late in ’69. I used to know why Chevy did that but I have long forgotten. I used to build engines as a bit of a side line along with building V-8 Vegas. (never tried to put a 396 in a Vega, but it’s been done). I loved to find a 402 block, because you could bore it .030 and get a 408. A normal 396 block would go .060 and get the same thing but most machine shops didn’t want to do it for some reason. I had a set of aluminum BB chevy heads at one time but I never used them. I sold them to pay for some orthodontic work for my wife. My hot rodding days are over but her smile still looks good!
Yeah, even the ‘pedestrian’ 325hp L35 2-bolt main 396 was an okay street motor, the primary benefit being one of simple numbers; there were so many of them, they were the cheapest to keep running when something broke. Repairing a busted Mopar 383 or even a B-O-P 400 was more expensive simply because there weren’t as many. And with a hydraulic cam, the L35 was good for everyday use, too.
But if I were around ‘back in the day’, for the best, most cost-effective, daily-driver, OEM big-block musclecar, I’d take a ’69 428CJ Cobra. That was some serious go-fast motor for the least coin.
The L-35 was a great engine. I had a “formula” for building these. I don’t recall the cam grind (it wasn’t wild) but I’d go with .030 over 10.5:1 pistons, good quality headers, and edelbrock torker with either a 780 vacuum secondary or a 750 double pumper (if it was going into a stick car with steep gears). With a proper ignition advance curve to make it all work you had a real runner. Put one in a plain jane Nova and there was money to be made on a Saturday night.
The three ‘H’s’ (Hooker, Holley, and Hurst) was pretty standard fair for most domestic musclecars back in the day, like GMs with Quadrajets or Fords with Autolites. The issue with GM products wasn’t so much at getting them to make horsepower as it was getting them to hook up, usually with some kind of axle limiter, like those cheap-ass slapper bars.
I knew a guy who had one of those second gen Novas, and it was so inconsistent at the strip that, in anger and frustration after breaking-out (again), he immediately swung and busted off the inside rearview mirror. Then, when he got home, he was still so mad that he opened the hood with the engine running and wired back the throttle linkage wide open until it blew.
That is one sexy ride…and Im a card carrying Mopar fanboy. Ill say this too: Those are probably some of the best looking factory wheels on ANYTHING.
As a fellow Mopar guy, I agree very much with your comments. In the past year, I added “CAMARO: An American Icon” to my automobile book collection. To this day, I find the second generation Camaro to be one of GM’s best-looking cars ever. Back in the mid-seventies, had two friends/co-workers who each had a 1973 Z-28 Camaro. One was red, auto. with a black vinyl interior. The other was navy blue with the RS front end and 4-speed with a cloth interior. Two of my favorite cars ever.
+1 more Mopar guy. As long as they stay out of the trailer park, the 70-73 Camaros (and Firebirds) are one of the sexiest cars to ever come out of Detroit. Another one of GMs finest from its best years. A 70 Z28 is on my short wish list.
I always wondered though if Chrysler had held on to the Barracuda and Challenger a few years longer, would they have been able to benefit from the ponycar boom of the late 70s.
Probably not. Have you ever seen the styling proposals for what the next cars were going to look like? Not what I would expect…
Oh man that car reminds me of one that got away. Sometime in the mid ’80s I attended a Super Chevy Sunday in Seattle. A guy at the swap meet there had a copper colored ’71 Z-28. It was a full bumper car, base interior with 4 speed and pretty well original. Not a show car, but a presentable driver. 9 grand, non negotiable. At that time you couldn’t import a car newer than 15 years into Canada, or at least not without a huge duty. I wanted that car bad, and it just couldn’t be. To me a real Z-28 has a Hurst shifted 4 speed, solid lifter SBC and not much more and that’s the way this car was optioned. Sigh….
I drove a 73 RS Z28 daily for years up until 2004.
On the VIN tag it had Z28 ON the tag itself.
GM did a masterful job of product extension on the Camaro and Firebird in the mid and late 1970s. The Firebird Esprit and the Camaro Berlinetta went slightly soft and upscale. Trans Am and (reintroduced in 78?) Z28 for muscle. Firebird Formula and Camaro Type LT went a little upscale with a bit of muscle. Plus the basic models.
In the meantime, Ford, Chrysler, and AMC mostly did not build mid size cars with any charisma. The Grenada/Monarch and Aspen/Volare were built to a different style. The Monte Carlo was too big, and the colonnade Chevelle and Regal didn’t really catch on, style wise. The exception that was a huge success was the Olds Cutlass, which masterfully captured the luxury/sporty combo, with strong styling charisma. So the F-bodies and the Cutlass sold like hot cakes. The later metric Monte Carlo and Buick Regal moved into the space as well. But Chrysler and AMC never came back to the space, and it took the jellybean T-Bird and the Taurus later on to rebuild Ford’s mid size presence.
The exception that was a huge success was the Olds Cutlass, which masterfully captured the luxury/sporty combo, with strong styling charisma.
Agree on the mid 70s Cutlass, opera windows and all. I might have been tempted, if I was 20 years older at the time (that would be mid 40s) The Torino was the top selling midsize in 72, but it got fatter, and the Cutlass blew past it. Then Ford gave the Cutlass a tail wind with the LTD II gah!!! Ironic how Olds went from the winning Cutlass to extinct in such a short time.
“Reintroduced for ’77 1/2…”
Car & Driver, April 1977
Eh just a tarted up Nova….
😀
Bwahahaha ha!
XR7Matt… THAT was Classic.
+100
Hopefully the next Camaro will be a well-done update of this model Camaro, as opposed to the current caricature of the ’69.
As for the real/fake thing, the unusual color means it is more likely to be real, otherwise for the high-profile low-production cars it is at the point where you automatically assume they are fake and it is a pleasant surprise when a car is actually real. Cobras are probably the best example.
I’ve been looking for a “split bumper” Camaro Z28 RS for years. Its not that they don’t exist they are out there but so is the silly prices sellers are asking. The Houston CL always has a least two Mustang fastbacks (1964-1970). These cars are usually rusty wrecks with no drivetrain, interior…etc. Yet they have an incredible asking price above $5K. There are a lot of interesting cars out there for a lot less than the asking prices on these earlier pony cars so my wish for a Z28/RS will have to wait.