Chevrolet Camaro Z28

Z/28 generations at a glance

Why Chevrolet created the Z/28

When the Camaro arrived for 1967, the Ford Mustang already dominated the pony-car market and the new Trans-Am series. The SCCA capped displacement at 305 cubic inches, and no Camaro engine fitted that class. Chevrolet's Vince Piggins proposed a "virtually race-ready" Camaro that any customer could order from a dealer, which would allow the car to be homologated.

The result was option code Z28, the Special Performance Package. Chevrolet introduced it in December 1966 but did not mention it in the sales brochures, so most buyers never knew it existed. Only 602 were sold for 1967. The Z/28 appeared in the brochures for 1968, and sales grew to nearly 7,200. In 1969, the most famous year of the first-generation Camaro, more than 20,000 were sold. The wider story of the first car is on our first-generation Camaro page.

The 302 V8

Chevrolet built the 302 by combining the 4.00-inch bore of the 327 block with the 3.00-inch stroke of the 283 crankshaft, giving 302.4 cu in (4,942 cc). The short stroke let the engine rev freely. It had an 11:1 compression ratio, forged pistons, solid lifters and, in 1967, a 780 cfm Holley four-barrel carburettor.

Chevrolet rated the 302 at 290 hp gross, quoted for 1969 at 5,800 rpm with 290 lb-ft at 4,200 rpm. That rating was deliberately low and kept the engine under one horsepower per cubic inch. Jalopnik's history of the model puts the real output at about 268 kW (360 hp) with the single four-barrel and about 298 kW (400 hp) with two four-barrel carburettors on a cross-ram intake, which dealers offered in 1969. By our calculation the official figure equals about 44 kW per litre, while the estimated real output would be closer to 54 kW per litre.

Running gear and options

The Z/28 package always came with a close-ratio Muncie four-speed manual gearbox, heavy-duty suspension, power front disc brakes and 15-inch Rally wheels. The 12-bolt rear axle had a 3.73 ratio as standard in 1969, when a Hurst shifter became standard and a cowl-induction bonnet that draws air from the base of the windscreen was optional. The rare JL8 option added disc brakes on all four wheels for 500.30 US dollars in 1969; only 206 cars had it. The wide stripes on the bonnet and boot lid became the Z/28's trademark, although buyers could delete them at no cost.

Inside, the Z/28 used the normal Camaro cabin. The old version of this page described vinyl trim in four colours, lap belts for all seats with shoulder belts as an option, and an optional console with extra gauges and a clock. These details match the standard Camaro equipment of the period.

On the track the package did its job. Roger Penske's team with Mark Donohue won the Trans-Am championship for Chevrolet in 1968 and 1969, and the all-round disc brakes of 1969 are regarded as one of the keys to the second title. Our published comparison of the first-generation Camaro and the Mustang fastback shows how the two pony cars measured up.

Z28 after 1969: from LT-1 to LS1

The second-generation Camaro of 1970 kept the Z/28 name but switched to the 350 cu in LT-1 V8, rated at 268 kW (360 hp gross) and 515 Nm (380 lb-ft). The Turbo Hydramatic 400 automatic was offered for the first time, and in 1972 the slash disappeared from the badge. Emissions rules cut power from 1971; after selling more than 13,000 in 1974, Chevrolet dropped the Z28. It returned in spring 1977 with a 350 V8 of 138 kW (185 hp) to compete with Pontiac's Trans Am and helped the Camaro outsell the Mustang for the first time. Our second-generation Camaro page covers that era in detail.

The third-generation Z28 of 1982 used a 5.0-litre V8 with 108 kW (145 hp), or 123 kW (165 hp) with Cross-Fire Injection, and the Camaro was Motor Trend's Car of the Year. The 1983 L69 High Output V8 reached 142 kW (190 hp), and the IROC-Z ran from 1985 to 1990. The fourth generation of 1993 used the LT1 V8 from the Corvette and was chosen as the pace car of that year's Indianapolis 500; 633 replicas were sold for 995 US dollars extra. The LS1 of 1998 raised power to 227 kW (305 hp) and later 231 kW (310 hp), and the Z28 ended with the Camaro in 2002.

The 2014–2015 Z/28: a track car with an LS7

The name returned for the 2014 model year on the fifth-generation Camaro, as a lighter and more focused alternative to the supercharged ZL1. Its 7.0-litre (7,008 cc) LS7 V8 with dry-sump lubrication produced 505 hp (376 kW) at 6,100 rpm and 481 lb-ft (652 Nm) at 4,800 rpm. The only gearbox was a Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual with a helical Torsen limited-slip differential.

Chevrolet saved weight wherever it could: air conditioning was optional, the forged wheels were 19 kg lighter than the ZL1's set and the carbon-ceramic brakes saved another 12.5 kg. Jalopnik summed it up as a pony car "with a 500 horsepower V8 and no radio". With 1,732 kg and 376 kW, the Z/28 carried 4.6 kg per kW by our calculation; our power-to-weight calculator compares that with any other car. The sixth-generation Camaro, built from 2016 until December 2023, had no Z/28; its track model was the Camaro ZL1.