The Supercar Registry - Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

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Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

My very first car was a Fathom Green ’69 Z28 and I enjoyed that car so much that I have pretty much always owned one or two first-gen Camaros since that time, back in the mid-70s. Because of my enthusiasm for the car, I remember being all excited when I saw a book come out for Christmas in 1978 that was called “The Great Camaro” by Michael Lamm. I really enjoyed the book and maybe some of you other Camaro enthusiasts did as well. I especially enjoyed the chapters that dealt with the early Z28 and the Camaro racing activities since I spent many years at the Trans-Am races in the early ‘70s. One thing I really remember reading about was the first 25 Z28s built and how they primarily went to people who were going to race them. There were lots of famous dealerships mentioned such as Nickey, Yenko, Alan Green, Ron Tonkin, & Roger Penske. Interestingly enough, the very first Z28 went to some dealership I had never heard of before, called Aero Chevrolet in Alexandria, VA. According to Mr. Lamm all this information came from the files of Vince Piggins, who was one of the many GM people interviewed for the book. I think most people recognize Piggins’ name as the person who headed Chevrolet’s “backdoor” racing efforts and also the person associated as being “the father of the Z28”. Well, I was really intrigued with this list of cars but for somebody from Southern California and all of these dealerships not even being remotely close to me, I never thought too much more about the cars. I mean, what would be the chance that any of them were still around anyway? Probably about zero. The cars were already 10 years old at this point. That would be forever for a race car. At least it seemed like that to me at the time.

Fast forward to 1999 and I am the proud owner of a very nice Mountain Green ’67 Z28 which I have only owned for about a year or two. I am thinking in the back of my mind that it would be nice to have a second ’67 Camaro for a project since the green car was an unrestored original. I went to go look at a car for a friend who was wanting some engine pieces for his restoration. The seller was wanting to sell original parts off his car so he could make a hotrod out of it. Well, I looked over his car and could tell it had some racing history behind it as there were signs of a roll bar, side-exit exhaust, patched-over hood pin holes, etc. Now this could have been any sort of race car or just something a kid had hopped up in the past, but I liked its potential and the fact that it was originally a gold car with few options. Granada gold is one of my more favorite colors and I personally prefer 4-speed cars with no console. I made him an offer for the car and he said he’d think about it. Well, a couple of months later he called me up and accepted my offer.

After getting the car home, I was able to spend more time looking things over. From the build date of the car, I knew it was around the time when the first Z-28s were built. The cowl tag didn’t offer much help as it had the 4P code on it. This would work for a very early Z28 but could also indicate an SS350 or 327 4bbl/4-speed. I did scratch around on the paint job and saw some evidence of Z28 striping so I spent some time looking at pictures of old Z28 race cars. If this was a Z28, it would be a very early car and could have been something that was raced in the Trans-Am series like those cars I remembered reading about in ‘The Great Camaro” book. I came across a photo of a Z28 which had broken an axle at a race and the view of the car was of the back end. You could make out the fact that it had a flip-top gas filler cap where the roof sail panel came down and met the quarter panel on the driver’s side of the car. In the same area on the passenger side was a smaller hole for what seemed to be a vent line. My car had patched over holes in what appeared to be the same exact places. Now, this car that had broken its axle was a car that was driven by Johnny Moore and he was from the Alexandria, VA area. I thought I should try and track him down and ask him some questions about his old car. I was able to locate about 30 people named John Moore in Virginia but got totally lucky and made contact with his wife on the very first call. She gave me his number at his shop and we spent about a half hour talking about the car I had and what he used to race. He came to the conclusion that it sounded like a possible match but that he was not the owner of the car back then. He said it belonged to a person named Hugh Heishman and that knowing how Hugh was, he probably still had the original paperwork for the car. Now I thought this was getting pretty interesting. I gave Mr. Heishman a call and had to wait about a week or two for him to return from a vacation. When he returned, we had a very nice conversation and it turns out that he did indeed buy a ’67 Z28 when they very first became available. He said that he did in fact still have the original sales invoice from Aero Chevrolet where he ordered and purchased the car. He asked for the VIN on my car. Lo and behold, A MATCH! (You can imagine my feelings at this point) Now, how in the world did this old race car end up driving around on the street as a daily driver out in California, 3000 miles from where it was sold new? He told me that the car was only raced for a year and that they replaced it with a ’68 Camaro due to uncertainty as to whether the Trans-Am series was going to allow the cross ram and 4-wheel disc brakes to be used on the ’67 models. The last race for the ’67 was at the ’68 Daytona 24-hour endurance race. After that, they switched drivetrains and brakes between the ’67 and ’68 and sold the ’67 to the person who delivered mail to their race shop. The new owner wanted all traces of being a race car to be removed and a repaint to the new Camaro color of Rally Green. Sure enough, it was easy to see the remnants of Rally Green over the top of the original gold. Recollections were that the letter carrier moved to California with the car only a year or two after buying it. Sure enough, the car still has its black California license plates from late ’69. I was fortunate enough that Mr. Heishman sent me the original copy of the sales invoice for the car as well as providing me with a notarized “Certificate of Authenticity” for the car, stating it was the one he bought new. I also contacted Michael Lamm and received from him a copy of the document he received from Vince Piggins way back in the ‘70s when he interviewed Vince for his book. You could clearly see where the car listed as Z28 number 1 was delivered to Aero Chevrolet and was purchased by a local VW dealer (which indeed Mr. Heishman was) and that it was to be driven by Johnny Moore at Daytona. All things checked out! I am truly honored to own this piece of Chevrolet history and my intent is to restore the car as it raced when new. I’m sure there are some who would like to see it restored as right off the assembly line but I feel that the real history of the car was made out on the race track.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...tn_Z28list.jpg
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Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Jon...thanks for working with me on this one....great history lesson here !!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Totally awesome story... how about some more pics of the car in its current condition? I can't wait to see this one done... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Man, what a great story! Z/28 number one---WOW.

Yeah, definately restore it in its original race trim. There are plenty of 'rotisserie' restored stockers out there. The docs are the icing on the cake for sure.

MORE PICTURES!!!

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif x 1,000

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

What a Nice Story!
Great Car with Pix & papers to match. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

I can't imagine a more desirable 67Z. Congratulations Jon, it's in good hands now. Will she be ready for the vintage races up here next July?

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Great story!
It's a great combination of luck, an interest in and knowledge of Camaro history, and the willingness to spend time and effort doing research, all coming together to produce the big prize -- a car that likely would have been lost to history if Jon had not come across it at just the right time.
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Jon, the front fenders seem darker than the rest of the car on all the vintage photos. Is that due to a repaint or a fiberglass front end or what?

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

That story gave me goosebumps. I can only imagine how you felt tracking the history on it. What a neat car to have. Congrats.

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

It couldn't be in better hands Jon. Congrats again!!!

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

I loved reading that story! It will be great to see the "#1 Z28" restored back to it's racing glory! That documentation is invaluable! I would make copies and place the originals inside a fire-proof vault!
We can't forget what happened to the 1968 Z28 Convertible paperwork.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journal...ws/9589264.htm

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Jon, very cool. This car could have been lost, if you did not find this car. I thought the first 25 where sold for racing? 15? Have any other of the first cars built been found? How did they mount the rear spoiler? Is this a early decklid with no cut-outs? Roger

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Look at the names on that list of dealers !!!

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Thanks to all of you guys for the very nice compliments. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif
I was initially a little hesitant to do a write-up on this car for the members ride section because the car is not yet restored. Thanks to Belair for a little friendly coaxing to get me to do it anyway.

I do plan on getting the paint and body work done next year but there would still be a sizable amount of work left to do for it to be race-ready. I can pretty much guarantee that I won't be racing it next year but maybe it will be a little less ugly and I can drag it out to a show or something. Regarding the mismatched paint, it was a case of individual panels being repainted as the need arose and somebody not taking the time to get the color just right. I can tell you that the three paint jobs it has had since then have not been an improvement. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/no.gif

There are definitely no fiberglass body parts on the car. All the sheet metal that is currently on the car is what was on it at its last race at Daytona. The right front fender and right rear quarter panel were replaced because it got up into the wall at Daytona in '67 and the left rear quarter was replaced also but I'm not sure which race they did it after.

All the drivetrain components currently in the car are out of the '68 Camaro that they replaced my car with so I know the VIN of that car too. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif I have done a search in 30 states, but so far no luck.

There is no doubt that the car could have easily been "lost to history" or whatever you want to call it. I am extremely fortunate to have found the car and when you realize what kind of long odds it would be to stumble across a car like this and then actually figure out what it is, you can't help be feel humbled and honored. Another neat thing is that everybody who drove or co-drove the car as a race car in '67-'68 had the initials J.M., Johnny Moore, Jim McDaniel and Jim Murphy. Now there's me. Kinda gives you one of those "meant to be" feelings.

Anyway, here's a picture of the interior currently. The wheel is not the original but is accurate to what they used. It did run an ST-601 Sun tach and 4 SW gauges underneath that in the center of the dash. The aluminum panels you see are copies of what was done and I installed them using the same holes that were still there.

The car did not come with a spoiler as delivered from the factory (I do not know of any '67 Camaro that came off the assembly line with a rear spoiler) and one did not make it onto the car until it's second race at Sebring (late March '67). There are no factory holes to mount the spoiler on the lid. They just drilled what they needed to get it mounted. When the car was sold, they removed the spoiler and patched up the holes.

-Jon

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

When I first heard about this car, and Jon finding it, I knew it was a perfect match. It will be fun to see the restoration process. Way to go Jon!

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Webster needs to create a new word to describe how cool this is. Awesome Jon. What an excellent car and story. But shame on you for not thinking it was worthy to feature considering it's not restored yet. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/wink.gif

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Great car and story with historical significance. Thanks for sharing the history.

Steve

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

What a great story and congrats on getting this Z.

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

That's awesome! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif What a great piece of Chevrolet and Camaro history. I love seeing these old race cars(drag and road race)being restored to their old glory.

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Awesome story. I can't wait to see it brought back to its former racing glory! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again - the cars (and the accompanying stories) belonging to people on this board are simply mind boggling. Wow!
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Way to go Jon! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif Thank you for the pics and sharing the history with us.A real treat to see.

Steve

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

What's that thing on the driver's door that looks like an inside rear-view mirror? It's inside the white number circle ahead of the 4. You can see the SW guages through the wing window in the top photo at Daytona.

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Thanks again to all. The thing next to the number 4 is a number light. The car was running in a 24 hour race at Daytona and the scorers needed a way to keep track of the cars after sundown. The red Mustang driven by Jerry Titus did not have a light on it because I believe they were using a big glow-in-the-dark white background behind their number 1.

I have attached a page which shows Z28s #16-25. I have VIN numbers for 10 of these first 25 and lots of partial information on many of the others. It is my hope to someday account for all of these first 25 cars in one way or another. I am working on a long term book project concerning the '67 Z28 and the personalities involved with them. I have had four '67 Z28s. Wish I still had all four but at least I still have 50%! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

I agree that there are some really incredible cars owned by people who frequent this website. Thanks to all the others who have shared their stories as well. Let's help out Belair and keep him stocked up with member's rides features! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

-Jon

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

I know I have some paper on the #21 Joie Chitwood car somewhere...

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Cool car, thanks for sharing it with us. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Hey, once you get it restored, maybe we can lease the road course at Gateway, or at least do what we did for the Corvair Stingers at a SCR, and set up a autocroos event for the road race cars. I could bring Don's IMSA car and I am sure I could get Mo to bring the Stinger.

A car I would love to see is owned by Vic Edlebrock, which is the Camaro that Don won the 1969 Citrus 250 Nascar race in. I believe it was built by Smokey Yunick.

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

mr70, thanks for the offer to help with info on the Chitwood car. Any help by anybody regarding other cars on the list is greatly appreciated.

Tom, you would not be disappointed by Vic's car. I have seen it on numerous occasions and it is a real beauty. A road course or slalom thing sounds like a blast. Don's IMSA car is really cool and it would be great to see that car in action also. Same goes for the Stingers.

-Jon

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

[ QUOTE ]
Hey, once you get it restored, maybe we can lease the road course at Gateway, or at least do what we did for the Corvair Stingers at a SCR, and set up a autocroos event for the road race cars. I could bring Don's IMSA car and I am sure I could get Mo to bring the Stinger.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe we could get Bob Jane to bring the road racing ZL-1 from Australia. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Jon, that is awesome! I didn't realize how much history there was to your car. Can't wait to see it finished!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif.............RatPack.............

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Here's the car that replaced my gold one and got my original drivetrain. Sure would like to track it down someday. Jim Murphy was the primary driver for this car. Sadly, he passed away a few years ago and I never got to talk with him.

-Jon

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Car owner and driver with THE MAN, Vince Piggins. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif

-Jon

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Jon,

------I have been following this thread and have to tell you how cool your car is! What a piece of history. I couldnt help but notice that the 68 doesnt appear to be a Z28. I guess they didnt actually need a Z in thier minds because they had the 67 Z drivetrain????..........Bill S

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Jon,
Did they swap the rims to the 68 also?

Re: Jon Mello's Z/28 #1

Thanks, Bill. Yes, that's exactly right. The feeling was they already had the racing parts and pieces and didn't really need to buy a Z28 all over again, so they saved a few bucks. The primary purpose was to get a '68 body just to avoid any potential rule restrictions with the SCCA. It turns out after they bought the car, the SCCA went ahead and said you could run the '68 race parts on the '67 bodies. That let them go ahead and run my car one last time at Daytona in 1968. The '68 they bought was a 327 4-barrel with a Saginaw 4-speed and 3.07 posi 12-bolt. That's what's in the car now. Runs pretty well actually. I have driven it a couple of times this year, just around town.

Regarding the wheels, yes they swapped those over too. I'm sure they had spares of everything. Most teams did. They got my roll bar, brakes, gauges and several other things. I am having to acquire things based on what I see in pictures plus asking the original owner and driver what they used. I have made progress in a number of areas. Still lots to do though.

Once again, I appreciate everyone's compliments. I want to get the car done so that it can get out and be seen. I did get it registered and accepted with the Historic Trans Am Registry so it is eligible to race with those old '66-'72 era cars.

-Jon