69 Z-28 Looking for History

[COPO]

I'm looking for some early history on my 69 Z-28 that was originally sold out of Martin Chevrolet in Warren Ohio.

It is an X-77 D80 car and was originally Code 71 Blue with white stripes and standard Black 711 interior and currently shows about 300 miles (yes 300) on the odometer. The ownership history is not yet 100 percent complete, but the story is the car was raced from day one, hence the ultra low miles.

Car is 99% rust free and it was not cut up but does have slight rolled rear fender lips and a very slight widening of the inner wheel wells. It has a 6 point roll bar and is now painted black. The entire bottom floor of the car was painted white and the front discs converted to drums for low rolling resistance, both common drag racer mods. There are a couple of old track decals on the windshield and the last one I think is from 1977 and says Div. 3 ET Finals Beech Bend Raceway.

To my knowledge it stayed its whole life in the general vicinity of that portion of Ohio and I purchased it out of Ohio 20+ years ago. Given its life in Ohio, it is still 99% rust free, and that also seems to back-up the story of it being a day-one race car that was garaged with the low miles.

Anyone remember this car?

[COPO]

A couple of additional photos

[COPO]

An update on my car.

Someone posted the pictures to a FB Ohio Drag Racing site and within a day, a member of that group knew the car and prior owners. A site member alerted me and I reached out to him and he gave me one of the prior owners names and I gave him a call yesterday afternoon.

The prior owner knew the full history of the car other than the day one owner. It was sold out of Martin Chev in Warren, Ohio and when the new car had 300 miles on it, the car was stolen and stripped of its engine and trans, cowl hood, etc.

The prior owners drag racing buddy bought it out of the wrecking yard who recovered the stolen vehicle for the insurance company. This was late 1969 or 1970.

The car was then made into a full time race car with some modifications over the years including a 6 point cage, frame connector, rolled quarter lips, a slight widening of inner wheel wells, narrower gas tank, and relocating the springs inward to allow a bigger tire.

They raced it for a number of years with a 302 and 4 speed and it was a very consistent car and the prior owner won numerous regional annual points challenges.

At some point the bottom of the car was painted white and the front discs converted to drums for less drag. A common modification back in the day. The prior owner explained they painted the bottom white not to see oil leaks but to make it easier to change out the 4 speed in the pits at night. The light would reflect off the white bottom and it made a trans swap much easier.

After a few years the prior owner a spoke to bought the car from his friend and continued to race that car successfully. Eventually he sold it to a city police officer in Salem Ohio (or maybe Alliance) and the car sat in a storage unit for almost 20 years.

He later bought it back from the Officer in mid to late 1990's and raced it again with a 302 and 4 speed and was very successful. After a few years he sold it to another acquaintance who kept it a couple of years before I bought it without a motor and trans in 2002 and it's since sat in storage for another 20 years.

The prior owner is 75 years old, but remains quite sharp and was rattling off the ET and MPH he ran. I think it was normally mid to high 11's with the 302.

The low mile and 99% rust free condition are legit as it was never a street car other than a day or two before being stolen. Fortunately, the thieves didn't mess with any VIN's or the TT as those are unmolested and original (pics posted above) It's a blue car with white strips from the factory, but since the theft recovery it has been black as it appears now in the posted pictures.

While it doesn't have exactly 300 miles as they never hooked up the odometer upon making it a race car, the fact it was only drag raced and stored for 40 years without racing it, points to a likely mileage of under a 1,000 or 2.

The car has a clean title and it lists the mileage as 300 actual.

Mystery solved and was great to speak with the prior owner who knew the history inside and out and he was excited to hear the car was still around.

[RALLY]

Great story and a beautiful find.

[dykstra]

Glad you were able to find out more history of the car. Congrats!!

[black69]

Neat car and great history of racing. Nice colors. I personally think it has more that 1000 miles when you look at the wear around the windshield wiper control, and there is a bit of wear on the brake pedal. Not that it matters in the end. Having a rust free car is the most one could ever want these days to save on restoration costs.