WORLDS RAREST CAMARO

[knitetrain05]

The rarest Camaro of all - there was one 1968 Z/28 Camaro convertible built for Chevrolet General Manager Pete Estes on July 15, 1968. It is the only first generation Z/28 convertible ever built. Options included a folding rear seat, auxiliary console-mounted instruments, auxiliary lighting, power windows, remote outside mirror, custom seat belts, performance suspension package, four-wheel disc brakes, blue light stereo system, positraction, ‘69 prototype fiberglass hood, cross-ram air and powder coated factory headers. This car was then delivered to Mr. Estes through Bill Markley Chevrolet in Detroit, whereupon the car was used as Mr. Estes daily transportation until December 17, 1968. On that day, it was officially sold to its first owner, T.H. Standen. Standen sold the car to Vern Nye, another GM employee, only two years later, in whose hands it remained for nearly 20 years. Only recently was the car made known to the public.
I had thought that the car's whereabouts were unknown, but Michael Sullivan found it for me! The car was sold at auction to the Rock 'n Roll Toy Store, LTD., in Highland park, IL. Michael found it on the web, and was kind enough to let me know about it. Thanks, Mike!
So how did this car come to be built at all? According to Jim Mattison, who worked in the special projects division at the time, they needed approval to build the Z/28 for the general public instead of trying to build just enough to homologate for SCCA racing. They figured that if Pete Estes, the Chevrolet General manager, drove a Z/28 he would like it enough to approve the plan. The problem was that Estes was a convertible freak, and he wouldn't drive anything else. They could give him a regular Z/28 coupe but it would probably just sit in the company garage. They decided the only solution was to build a convertible Z/28 and give that to Estes. The result - Estes drove the car, loved it, and we got the Z/28.

[sasquash1984]

i thought the rarest camaro was the ashgen grey zl1 that was in auction.....jk

[Wizard1183]

Is it for sale? I might be interested in buying a share of it.

[BLU BY U]

Originally Posted by knitetrain05

The rarest Camaro of all - there was one 1968 Z/28 Camaro convertible built for Chevrolet General Manager Pete Estes on July 15, 1968. It is the only first generation Z/28 convertible ever built. Options included a folding rear seat, auxiliary console-mounted instruments, auxiliary lighting, power windows, remote outside mirror, custom seat belts, performance suspension package, four-wheel disc brakes, blue light stereo system, positraction, ‘69 prototype fiberglass hood, cross-ram air and powder coated factory headers. This car was then delivered to Mr. Estes through Bill Markley Chevrolet in Detroit, whereupon the car was used as Mr. Estes daily transportation until December 17, 1968. On that day, it was officially sold to its first owner, T.H. Standen. Standen sold the car to Vern Nye, another GM employee, only two years later, in whose hands it remained for nearly 20 years. Only recently was the car made known to the public.
I had thought that the car's whereabouts were unknown, but Michael Sullivan found it for me! The car was sold at auction to the Rock 'n Roll Toy Store, LTD., in Highland park, IL. Michael found it on the web, and was kind enough to let me know about it. Thanks, Mike!
So how did this car come to be built at all? According to Jim Mattison, who worked in the special projects division at the time, they needed approval to build the Z/28 for the general public instead of trying to build just enough to homologate for SCCA racing. They figured that if Pete Estes, the Chevrolet General manager, drove a Z/28 he would like it enough to approve the plan. The problem was that Estes was a convertible freak, and he wouldn't drive anything else. They could give him a regular Z/28 coupe but it would probably just sit in the company garage. They decided the only solution was to build a convertible Z/28 and give that to Estes. The result - Estes drove the car, loved it, and we got the Z/28.

Something does not seem right, because the Z/28 came out in 1967, I believe they were 602 built.....

[mxkx250]

Yes, but there were only 600 some odd Z28's sold in 67. This was probaly the number needed for SCCA requirements. They weren't even advertised and only a few people even knew about them. This was probaly the reason they became the popular car that we all love.

[spyderbuddy]

This from the Camaro web page.

1967
The 1967 Camaro shared the subframe / semi-unibody design with the 1968 Chevy II Nova. Almost 80 factory and 40 dealer options, including three main packages, were available.
The RS was an appearance package that included hidden headlights, revised taillights with back-up lights under the rear bumper, RS badging, and exterior rocker trim.

1967 Camaro SS convertible (with Z28 stripes added)


The SS included a 350 cu in (5.7 L) V8 engine and the L35 and L78 396 cu in (6.5 L) big-block V8's were also available. The SS featured non-functional air inlets on the hood, special striping, and SS badging on the grille, front fenders, gas cap, and horn button. It was possible to order both the SS and RS to receive a Camaro RS/SS. In 1967, a Camaro RS/SS convertible with a 396 engine paced the Indianapolis 500.
The Z/28 option code was introduced in December 1966 for the 1967 model year. It was the brainchild of Vince Piggins, who conceived offering "virtually race-ready" Camaros for sale from any Chevrolet dealer.[1] This option package was not mentioned in any sales literature, so it was unknown to most buyers.[2] The Z/28 option required power front disc brakes and a Muncie 4-speed manual transmission. It featured a 302 cu in (4.9 L) small-block V-8 engine, 3" crankshaft with 4" bore, an aluminum intake manifold, and a 4-barrel vacuum secondary Holley carburetor of 780 cfm. The engine was designed specifically to race in the Trans Am series (which required engines smaller than 305 cu in (5.0 L) and public availability of the car. Advertised power of this engine was listed at 290 hp (216 kW). This is an under-rated figure.[2] Chevrolet wanted to keep the horsepower rating at less than 1 hp per cubic inch, for various reasons (e.g. insurance and racing classes). The factory rating of 290 hp occurred at 5300 rpm, while actual peak for the high-revving 302 was closer to 360 hp (268 kW) (with the single four barrel carb) and 400 hp (298 kW) (with optional dual-four barrel carbs) at 6800-7000 rpm. The Z/28 also came with upgraded suspension, racing stripes on the hood and trunk lid, '302' front fender emblems on the 67 and early 68 cars, and 'Z/28' emblems in late 68 & 69. It was also possible to combine the Z/28 package with the RS package.
Only 602 Z/28s were sold in 1967, along with approximately 100 Indianapolis Pace Car replicas.[3] The 1967 and 1968 Z/28s did not have the cowl induction hood, optional on the 1969 Z/28s. The 1967 Z28 received air from an open element air cleaner or from an optional cowl plenum duct attached to the side of the air cleaner that ran to the firewall and got air from the cowl vents. 15-inch rally wheels were included with Z/28s had while all other 1967-9 Camaros had 14-inch wheels.
The origin of the Z/28 nameplate came from the RPO codes - RPO Z28 was the code for the Special Performance Package. RPO Z27 was for the Super Sport package.
Production numbers:
RS:64,842
SS:34,411
Z28:1,002
Total:221,306

[fbodfather]

It is probably the 'rarest' Camaro ever built.

Jim Mattison has been misquoted.

We built 602 1967 model year Z28s - (.....and there are still 1,800 left!)

( knockoffs..... )


The convertible was built to have Pete drive both the cross-ram option and 4-wheel disc brake option.......

Pete loved convertibles -and this was one way to get him behind the wheel.......

..........things were much simpler back then!

I've seen the car on a few occasions -- and it truly is an amazing part of Camaro history!

[Amenti]

That is a pretty spectacular piece of automotive history.

[Bad@ssCamaro]

Originally Posted by sasquash1984

i thought the rarest camaro was the ashgen grey zl1 that was in auction.....jk

If you're speaking of the Barrett-Jackson Auction, I believe that ZL1 was Carbon Flash, the only one to be produced in that color.

[K32 Camaro]

Originally Posted by Bad@ssCamaro

If you're speaking of the Barrett-Jackson Auction, I believe that ZL1 was Carbon Flash, the only one to be produced in that color.

I think I'll get a zl1 and get an after market carbon flash paint job out of spite..

[505specialk]

This is the sickest car ever!!!!!

[2SSJIM]

Now that was an interesting bit of info!

[hrpiii]

My camaro was purchased at Bill Estes Chevy, grandson of Pete Estes, so I have "generationed-in" my rare camaro.

[IronToss]

Originally Posted by Amenti

That is a pretty spectacular piece of automotive history.

This....