[William]

Not the only mystery surrounding it.

It was sent back to the Norwood Camaro plant May 24, 1969. For the next 14 months, nothing is known about it. No ads, no dealer re-assignment. Earliest known mention is the October 10, 1970, Daily Item ad stating it is "...3 mos. old". That places its first retail sale July, 1970. The selling dealer is not known. Byrne Bros was a NY performance dealership, not mentioned in any of their ads.

It turns up next in the September 1975 Hot Rod Mart ad claiming that it was sold new out of "Dick Harrell Chevrolet" for $7300. Harrell was not a Chevrolet Dealer and couldn't have sold a car on MSO. But if it was at Dick Harell's shop, it may have been re-assigned to Bill Allen Chevrolet as they have been known to work with Harrell. Considering all that is known about Harrell and Bill Allen, odd it hasn't come up. How would a young guy in NY have known about a car for sale in MO?

As did I, Porterfield maintained a listing of ZL-1 blocks/engines for many years. On his list #12 is shown as having a ZL-1 engine with pad stamping CE07950. That indicates a warranty replacement assembly built in 1970. Warranty replacement engines were built to order; at that time Chevrolet had plenty of complete ZL-1 engines, blocks and partial engine assemblies sitting in stock. What's more, the latest known ZL-1 casting date is early August 1969. Hard to imagine having a bare block removed from stock, shipped to Tonawanda for assembly, when partial and complete engines were in stock.

Not criticizing #12 at all. It is as advertised and one of the nicest ZL-1s known.