Vehicle Description
Camaro enthusiasts know their hardware, and when "Camaro
Milestones" magazine picked seven sure-fire Camaro investments for
the future, #4 was this 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. With sleek
looks and a radical graphics package, it easily rivaled the Trans
Am for the must-have car of 1979. This particular example is a
great choice if you're going to follow the editors' advice and pick
up one of these underrated performance cars before the rest of the
market catches on.
For 1979, the Camaro was once again freshened, getting a
wrap-around front air dam and lots of colorful graphics on the
body. So many of these were beaten to death during their (and our)
youth that finding a clean one like this that is straight, clean,
and unmodified is rather rare. It's probably been repainted, and
they resisted the urge to "modernize" it and instead kept it with
factory-looking white paint over some very straight sheetmetal.
Bright red and orange Z/28 decals (this is a real Z/28) are
absolutely the right choice for the disco era's hottest ride, and
details like the blacked out trim and taillights look great for
their age. It's not perfect, but for a black car that's coming up
on its 38th birthday, well, it's pretty impressive. If you were
there in the '70s, you know how cool these were and if you're too
young, well, you probably wouldn't get it anyway. Suffice to say
that this Camaro still looks like the car we all dreamed of owning
when we came out of "Rocky II" while it was still in theaters.
Like the cover car on that issue of "Camaro Milestones," this Z
also carries a fantastic red bucket seat interior. The high-back
cloth buckets offer a comfortable yet grippy seating surface and
they're in outstanding condition for their age. The center console
is remarkably simple for GM of the period, and they took it easy on
the fake wood, so this Z has a clean performance look that's almost
timeless. Even the steering wheel is in great shape, with only the
door panels revealing the car's age although they're not bad at
all. Heck, even the original gauges are still in the dash, joined
by a set of auxiliary dials underneath and there's factory A/C and
an upgraded AM/FM/cassette stereo, which only add to the fun of
this F-body. The trunk is quite clean, needing only a repro mat to
be back to factory-correct condition.
Big blocks were off the options list in 1979, but a rocking 350
cubic inch V8 is nothing to sneeze at, particularly in Z/28 guise.
It's actually a rebuilt crate motor making considerably more power
than the original wheezing smog motor. There's an Edelbrock intake
and 4-barrel carburetor on top, a pretty good cam inside, and
plenty of performance on tap. It starts easily and runs
beautifully, the dress-up makes it look far more expensive than it
is, and it sounds awesome with a recent dual exhaust system
underneath. The TH350 3-speed automatic transmission powers a
10-bolt rear end with street gears inside, and the underside of the
car looks exactly like a well-maintained survivor should. Correct
SS wheels look surprisingly contemporary and wear modern 225/70/15
white letter radials.
Was the magazine correct in its prediction? If our recent sales are
any indication, it seems like these late second-gen Camaros are red
hot, because we can't seem to keep them in stock. So don't delay,
call now!
