Turning 13 years old was a great time for me. It’s the age when all teenagers miraculously know everything overnight — I know this to be the case because my parents constantly reminded me. I know you’re smiling to yourselves because you know I’m right — those of you with teenagers, or those of you who still have teenagers, will definitely be nodding.

Of course, I wanted to share this ‘instant’ wealth of knowledge with all those willing although, in most cases, friends and family were not so willing to listen. Be that as it may, the year was 1969 — a year which would be indelibly etched into my mind forever.

It was in 1969 that I started to take notice and become interested in American and, to some extent, Australian muscle cars — these early thoughts and opinions would have a profound influence on my subsequent passion for cars. I just couldn’t seem to get enough books, magazines and information to fulfil my constant desire to learn more and more about the tyre-shredding beasts that ruled the American freeways. More than anything, I wished I could have been a teenager growing up in the US. However, this was not the case and I had to make do with whatever I could find.

Unfortunately, there weren’t too many muscle cars on our roads in those days, but when I did see the odd Dodge Challenger, Camaro or Mustang I would try to absorb every minute detail intensely, just to gain as much knowledge as I could, hoping that one day I might actually own one of these machines. Fortunately, Monaros and GT Falcons were sold new in this country so I was able to spend many hours down at the local dealerships, gazing intently through the windows with my nose pressed hard up against the glass in awe at the wild machines that sat beautifully polished with little carpet squares under the tyres, all the time wishing that my father would trade in his aging — and very boring — 1966 Humber Super Snipe. Sadly, my dear father wasn’t much of a car person so the Humber continued to be the family runabout, much to my disappointment. Actually, in all fairness the Humber was a beautiful old car, and I actually learned to drive in it and spent many comfortable kilometres behind its wheel.

As it turned out one of my very first cars was an amazingly low mileage 1969 Holden Monaro GTS that I bought in about 1974, and ownership of this classic fuelled my early passion for muscle cars of that era and, in particular, cars manufactured in 1969 almost regardless of when they’d been developed.

The Legend

Thus we step back in time, and three years before my 13th birthday in 1966 when a true legend was born, the Chevrolet Camaro. Introduced on September 26, 1966, the Camaro is admired by thousands of enthusiasts around the world even today. The Camaro’s production run began in the 1967 model year and ran until 2002, with four distinct generations — and a fifth only recently released by the General.

The reasons behind the Camaro’s birth are now well known, but it’s worth a brief recap.

In 1966, Chevrolet’s top brass knew they had to come up with an answer to Ford’s incredibly successful Mustang, a car that was easily out-selling Chevrolet’s closest competitor, the Corvair. Mustang sales were buoyant and showed no signs of letting up. To compete with Ford the Camaro was conceived and built on GM’s rear-wheel drive F-body, and several engines sizes were on offer between 1967 and 1969.

Those engines were wide ranging and included the six-cylinder mills in either 3.8-litre (232ci) and 4.1-litre (250ci) capacities. Of course, a range of V8s were also available — 5.4-litre (327ci), 5.7-litre (350ci), 6.5-litre (396ci) and 7.0-litre (427ci).

Just as the first Mustang was based on Ford’s compact Falcon, so the first 1967 Camaro was based on Chevy’s compact Nova. The basic engineering of the Camaro featured a unibody structure from the firewall back, with a separate steel rail sub-frame for everything up front. Independent front suspension consisted of double A-arms and coil springs while the solid rear axle was suspended by semi-elliptical leaf springs. As was typical of standard-equipped vehicles at the time, braking was by drum brake all around and steering was somewhat clumsy and unwieldy.

However, all was not lost as buyers could add some degree of substance to the appearance of their new pride and joy by selecting or combining individual options and trim packages, such as the RS, SS or the Z-28, to spruce up their ride.

The Rally Sport (RS) was basically an appearance package which offered deluxe interior trim and hidden headlights, whilst the high-performance Super Sport (SS) package had its own distinct decoration which included such features as a domed bonnet with simulated vents, ‘bumble bee’ stripes encircling the nose and the iconic SS badges, a heavy-duty suspension and larger D70-series tyres on 14-inch wheels.

The Super Sport, commonly referred to as just the ‘SS’, also offered a new 5.7-litre small-block V8 (Chevy’s first 350) as well as the 6.5-litre big-block V8. These cars were undoubtedly built for speed, ready to take on the best Ford had to offer. The Rally Sport and Super Sport packages could also be ordered together to form the most lavishly equipped Camaro of them all — the RS/SS.

Almost outside the regular Camaro line was the race-oriented Z-28 — but it was not advertised so, initially, buyers were unaware of this variation. The Z-28 Camaro was fitted with the high-revving 5.0-litre (302ci) small-block V8, and was built to compete in the then current TransAm series, which restricted entrants to an engine capacity of less than 305ci. Chevrolet’s special high-compression 302ci V8 was achieved by matching the short-stroke crank of the 4.63-litre (283ci) version with the big-bore block of the 5.35-litre (327ci) V8. This radical power plant was matched to more aggressive suspension, and the Z-28 option code also featured power disc brakes on the front and a Muncie four-speed manual transmission. Only 602 Z-28s were sold in 1967 so, if you are lucky enough to see one for sale today, you might want to give it a second look.

1969 Z-28 Camaro

In Z-28 form the Camaro competed directly against the Mustang in the TransAm racing series, and Chevrolet even stole two championships from Ford’s pony car in the late’ 60s.

However, racing aside, what really transformed the Z-28 into a motoring legend was the availability of the road-going versions, which were basically tamed race cars.

The 1969 Z-28 Camaro wasn’t exactly the fastest muscle car on the block, but with its unique combination of brake, engine, exhaust, and induction options the ’69 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28 was arguably the most desirable Camaro of all — and, today, the ’69 models are the most sought after Z-28s.

While the 1969 Camaro’s structure and mechanical elements were virtually unchanged from the ’68 model, a new body for 1969 gave the Camaro a longer and lower appearance. The previously smooth-sided body was now more highly sculptured, with a side feature line tracing the forward edge of the front wheel housing and running straight from the opening to the rear of the car.

Enhanced styled could be easily achieved by ticking the ‘Rally Sport Package’ option, which offered a more subtle-looking, wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing appearance, complete with transparent louvres for the hidden-headlamp covers. A redesigned dash and more comfortable seats made the Z-28 more habitable as well, but it was the staggering array of optional high performance equipment that marks 1969 as the greatest model year for the Camaro.

The 1969 Z-28 package included the F41 handling suspension option, which included up-rated springs and shocks, while the rear live axle also had staggered positioning on the shocks to help control axle tramp on fast take-off. Front disc brakes were standard on the ’69 Camaro Z-28 and, for the first time, four-wheel discs were offered — lifted straight from the Corvette. With a cost of US$500 it’s not surprising that only 206 disc brake sets were delivered to Z-28 customers, about half going to those with full race cars. Also, courtesy of the Corvette, were six-inch-wide Rallye steel rims shod with E70X15 raised-letter tyres for improved handling.

The glorious solid-lifter 5.0-litre V8 with an 850cfm four-barrel carburettor was again exclusive to the Z-28, and the 298kW (400bhp) recorded on subsequent dyno tests made a complete mockery of the factory’s 216kW (290bhp) rating. Dealers also got in on the act by offering dual four-barrel carburettor options, including twin 600cfm Holleys on a cross-ram manifold and chambered exhaust pipes, possibly the least-restrictive exhausts ever offered on any new Chevrolet. This super high-revving V8 needed air — and lots of it — so another functional option unique to the ’69 Z-28 was a cowl-induction hood, which operated via a valve that snapped open at 80 per cent throttle to draw in cool air from the base of the windscreen.

The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28s again came only with a Hurst-shifted close-ratio four-speed gearbox with 3.73:1 gears as standard, with up to 4.10:1 gears available. A Positraction differential was offered as an option for those requiring added traction. As expected, the 1969 Z-28 had impeccable road manners, aided by power steering that was both quick and offered a sense of that all important ‘road feel’.

As TransAm titles in 1968 and ’69 showed, the Z-28 was a road-racer first and street machine second with drivers who understood its white-knuckle character buying 7199 of them for 1968. Sales nearly tripled for the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28, achieving a sales record that would stand until 1978.

The ’69 Z-28 was without doubt one of the hottest-looking rides of the classic muscle car era, highlighting what Chevy stylists could do to express utter performance and excitement.

The Find

Our featured 1969 Camaro Z-28 RS has spent most of its life so far in the sunny US state of California, and was originally owned by well-known Camaro spare parts specialist, Jim Dyer. The story goes that Jim traded the Z-28 on a 1968 RS/SS Camaro convertible. The new owner of the Z-28, Rich Lauzon, kept and drove it for many years until 1991, when he began to have it completely stripped down to remove minor dents and oversee a general tidy up. Halfway through the job, Rich’s panel-beater unfortunately passed away and the Camaro sat in a dismantled state for over 15 years in the back of the workshop.

The original owner, Jim Dyer, was aware of what had happened to the Camaro and was also well aware that the owner, Rich Lauzon, was getting on in years, which meant it was unlikely that the dismantled Z-28 would ever be completed. As a result, Jim arranged for the car to be sold to Rex Kelland.

It just so happens that Rex is a good friend of Kiwi Mustang guru Dale Mathers — who owns Coastline Automotive in Tauranga and specialises in all types of restorations and classic American race cars. Not one to miss an opportunity like this, Dale was able to wrest the Z-28 off Rex after much intense negotiating and, before long, the Camaro arrived in New Zealand.

The Partnership

Dale and his accountant, Mike Coory, decided to team up together on the Z-28 Camaro project and — as Mike was keen on Zs — it seemed a logical partnership. However, it’s the Japanese ‘Z’ we’re talking about here — Mike has owned a few over the years and currently owns a 1990, 500kW, twin-turbocharged Nissan 300ZX race car which he races at club events. He also owns a 1994 300ZX Super GT race car. Ironically, Mike has been modifying and racing cars since he was 16 years old and previously owned a 1967 Camaro — which is now Kevin Gimlet’s race car.

When the Z-28 arrived it was basically in pieces, virtually as it had left the panel-beater’s workshop — untouched for many years. Dale was pleasantly surprised to find every single component correctly bagged and labelled. Additionally, the complete drivetrain was totally original with all the correct and matching numbers — a real bonus, and something quite rare for high performance muscle cars of this era as many were raced to within an inch of their lives, with a consequent toll on their original drivetrain components

Once the car was repainted in its original bright Rallye Green colour by KNR Paintworks, it was just a matter of reassembly — this being carried out by Wayne Hills under the watchful eye of Dale. Most of the original parts were in perfect condition and suitable for re-use and, fortunately, many new-old-stock (NOS) parts came with the car. These NOS parts were obviously collected during the early ’90s, as they’re not only rare, but virtually impossible to obtain today.

Apart from the carpet, the interior was in perfect unmarked condition, and Dale chose to leave it exactly as it left the factory in its original condition.

Dale also chose to leave the drivetrain well alone. He believes that the high performance 5.0-litre (302ci) engine and four-speed transmission had received some attention in the US, and as they were in great shape he decided to reassemble everything as it was. As luck would have it, a complete and very rare NOS exhaust system had been installed, adding the final touch to this magnificent, and very desirable Z28 Camaro.

The final result is an absolutely flawless example of a 1969 Z-28 Camaro with the extremely rare optional RS package. The car is a living, breathing testament to Dale Mathers and Wayne Hills’ workmanship and expertise in with American muscle cars.

1969 Camaro Z28 RS – Specifications

Engine         Chevrolet V8
Capacity         4949cc (302ci)
Bore/stroke         102.5mm/76.9mm
Valves         Two valves per cylinder/ohv
C/R         11.0:1
Max power        216kW (290bhp) at 5800rpm
Max torque         393Nm at 4200rpm
Fuel system     Rochester carburettor
Transmission     Muncie close-ratio four-speed manual
Suspension F/R    Double wishbones, coil springs/live axle with leaf springs
Steering         Recirculating ball, optional power assist
Brakes         Power assisted disc

Dimensions:
O/all length         4769mm
Width         1859mm
Height         1318mm
Wheelbase         2769mm
Kerb weight     1707kg (3763lbs)

Performance:
Max speed         211kph (131mph)
0-60mph         6.9 seconds
Standing 1/4 mile     15.12 seconds

Words: Ashley Webb Photos: Dan Wakelin

This article is from Classic Car issue 223. Click here to check it out.