Million dollar camaro....

[67ss350Camaro]

[ QUOTE ]
Al was so precise in the restoration process that he purchased a perfect car with the same production date within days, he removed the speciality RPO JL8 and cross ram set up to be re-installed on the rag top

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
the only Z convertible was built with the special options installed to get Pete to drive the car, of which he approved of the set up and the rest is history.

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How do these two statements make sense together?

[MotownMadman]

The cross ram and rear disc were parts that could be bought over the counter at that time for racing purposes(such as Trans Am), but could not be ordered as a RPO for a street vehicle. Even over the counter parts are date coded. The car he bought to use date coded parts from had been outfitted with those over the counter parts by the owner at the same time he took delivery on the car new, so the date codes were correct on the parts even though they too were not an assembly line part. The concept that I find humorous about the over the counter high performance parts available at that time for TA racing were designed and sold for one purpose only, Racing......this from an automaker who had withdrawn from the racing programs. Pete's rag top Z was an experiment in the feaseability of these hi performance add ons having the ability to function with some degree of normal operation in traffic conditions. The package passed the test and was then introduced as a dealer available RPO.
Thanks,
Motown

[Jeff H]

Well, the JL8 option became a reality(even though it was expensive) and the cowl hood became an option as well, but the crossram setup would not have made the best daily driver. I like the fact that Chevrolet was doing all this "behind the scenes" despite the fact that they weren't into racing. Chevrolet, Ford and Mopar came up with some interesting parts because of the Trans Am race series.

[68l30]

Was the R&D on the cowl hood done during the 68 model year or 69....Was it availiable to the Trans-Am teams for testing even though not it was not an RPO to run.I'm just trying to figure out why the delay in offering the hood in 69 if it was used so early on a 68 demo.Was it a retool for a single carb application and the rest of the components necessary plus production in steel?Is the AIM section on the hood dated? I don't have a 69 AIM......


Steve

[Mark_C]

the cars not an early Demo. It's a late July build of 1968. The JL8 option was already issued for the 69 model year by that time. Look in your Assembly manual. The RPO was released on 5/6/68 and the first Revision to the RPO was made on June 2 1968, so it had already been issued 2 months prior to the convertible Z28 being thought of. the car was a test bed for nothing, it was a car built for a VP with all the high performance options the engineering group had, or had on the drawing board at the time. The car is unique and has a place in the history of the Camaro line certainly, but I think alot more has been attributed to it than what it was intended to be. It had nothing to do with saving the Z28 for the 69 model year. It was built to late in the year to have an impact on anything already planned for 69. No one saw it, except for Pete Estes neighbors, it never toured the US in car shows or sat in dealers show rooms for people to see. It's just another example of a special perk executives in GM could get.

I'm sure it's worth a million bucks to someone, and of course I'd like to own it, all I need to do is collect about 995,000 more dollars.

[68z302]

I'm not sure if anyone can answer this question.
Was the crossram setup not designed to use the off road cam?
Does this one off car use that cam shaft or was the crossram tuned to use the production cam?

[68l30]

By "early demo" I ment early for 1969.I'm talking about the hood only.I understand the July build date on the Z-28. Do you have the AIM info,date,for the cowl hood..... I can agree with the perk,just wonder why none of the race teams were as quick to get the same deal.Both the drag and T/A cars.....


Steve

[Mark_C]

ZL2 option was drawn 9/5/68, released 9/12/68. Became public (in dealer literature) around Thanksgiving 68, but didn't hit the factory floor until late December of 68.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

[ QUOTE ]
The cross ram and rear disc were parts that could be bought over the counter at that time for racing purposes(such as Trans Am), but could not be ordered as a RPO for a street vehicle.... Pete's rag top Z was an experiment in the feaseability of these hi performance add ons having the ability to function with some degree of normal operation in traffic conditions. The package passed the test and was then introduced as a dealer available RPO.
Thanks,
Motown

[/ QUOTE ]

So what's the verdict, were the parts available and this car a perk? Or, was the car an R&D effort?