Vintage Camaro Pics

[hvychev]

These photos were taken by my father Frank in 1969 when he was 19 years old. The first one is of a 69 Camaro Z28. His buddy went to see his girlfriend that lived in Brookfield IL and this car was parked out front. Notice the rear stripes that someone went through the trouble to paint all the way down before they even changed the wheels & tires. Strange huh? Several members saw these pics in person at Vette Fest in November.

[hvychev]

This one caused a lot of controversy. It is a 67 Camaro raced by Statmary & Seltzer and if you look closely at the front fender it has lettering that says ZL-1. The pic was taken in July 1969 at Great Lakes Drag Strip in Union Grove WI. How early did GM offer ZL1 crate motors? I don't want to hear any skeptics say that ZL-1 might mean somthing else. Why else would a race car in 1969 have ZL-1 painted on it's front fender? Does anybody remember this car?

BTW do any of the day 2 experts know what kind of wheels the front ones are?



I have a really cool pic of a 68 RS SS that my mother has in her scrapbook that has snow tires on the back that I will post this weekend.

[whitetop]

Frank
Really neat pics. The front wheels are American Racing 12 spoke "Crows Feet" Mostly used on lighter weight gassers, front engine rails etc. Hardly ever see them on full body cars because they were not that strong. They are only 3" wide and were spindle mounted, not by lugs.

[Mr70]

Glad to see you got those pix posted Frank.
I know we talked about these at VF,but does the ZL-1 designation on the 67 Camaro mean that was what its engine was,or was it just for scare factor??
Post your other picture too please. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Stefano]

Nickey Chevrolet of Chicago was selling crate ZL1s but I have no Idea how early in the year.

It is very likely that they would have had some of the first crate engines available as they were the highest volume GM Dealership performance parts outlet in the Counrty.

[JoeC]

great pictures thanks for posting!
Bill Grumpy Jenkins had a ZL1 in late 68. He was getting back door help from Chevy Engineering and had best of Chevy parts. The ZL1 was in his 69 L78 Super Stock Camaro and failed tech at the first race he brought it to. They failed him because he could not prove 50 were built and sold to the public. Chevrolet had not yet supplied the info to NHRA. I was told this by Da Grump in person.

[Salvatore]

That is true JoeC. Jenkins actually used a 1967 aluminum block. He said that this block was probably the best one he really had. If Joe Satmary had any relations with Chevy, he could have been given a couple of blocks ot try. These motors had a lot of ring and cylinder failure. Sam

[ChrisS]

Frank,
I'm not sure who/what Salmary & Seltzer was, but Van Senus has had a few auto parts stores in northwest Indiana for many years (still in business) and it seems they sponsored many race cars going back to at least the early '60s. I believe they were one of the major sponsors at U.S. 30 dragstrip as well. I'll ask some of the old-timers around here to see if they might remember the car. I've heard some of these old warhorses are still around, still in race-dress.

[hvychev]

I had asked a lot of people about this picture and nobody knew anything about Statmary & Seltzer. One of my buddys who was racing in the early 70's at The Grove & US 30 told me that Joe Statmary was pretty popular around that time. He told me that they had a series of the "We Haul" cars that he campained at the local tracks.

Chris I researched Van Senus Auto Parts about a year ago and like you said they are still around and have been in biz since the 40's. I talked to a couple of people at a few of their locations but was not able to get any answers. I don't know if you can see from my scaned pic but it says that Van Senus Auto Parts Hammond IN.

What do you guys think about the pic of the Hugger Orange Camaro Z28? Is it possiable that those stripes were painted like that by the factory?

[ORIGLS6]

Frank,
Correct about the Joe Satmary "We Haul" cars. He used to run in a Super Stock circuit out of the Chicago area. We booked the guys a few times for shows at the old White Hall strip and they put on a Hell of a show. Hemi Darts and Cudas and a bunch of Kick-ass Camaros including Satmary.
I still have some old fliers promoting that group and will dig them out and send you a copy. Thanks for all the vintage photos. You really have me wondering about the Gasser pix. A friend of mine had a '38 Chevy Coupe that looked exactly like the one you posted. I think your pic might be a '37 though. I need to look up a shot of Don's L-88 powered Hugger Orange '38 named "Rip's Snorter".