My first love has always been the second-generation Chevrolet Camaro. It’s my oldest automotive dream machine, one that has been plaguing me since I was five years old. At some point in time I’ve either had one or had one slip out of my grasp…a 1973 model that was rough but workable wound up being given to a family friend instead of going to me as a potential project, my first car was a 1975 that got sent to the crusher without my approval before I was thirteen, and my ex-wife left me with a $600 1979 six-cylinder car that bled transmission fluid, shed Bondo like a fat dog sheds hair and just pissed me off to no end. While they are no longer as high on my list of must-build machines, they still sit pretty high and it’s cars like this 1979 Z28 that keep the faith alive.
You might get lucky and see a rubber-bumper Camaro every now and then, but you almost never see them as clean as this beauty outside of car shows or races. And that’s what caught my eye with this beauty…I’m not a late 3rd gen fan, but this car is as spot-on as I could picture one. The black/tan/brown combination with the color-coded turbine wheels is sex, pure and simple. It wasn’t fast, but it sure looked the part, didn’t it? The 350 underhood made the right noises, at least, and whoever optioned out this particular Camaro went for an oddball setup: no center console, radio delete, and four-speed transmission. Is the engine underhood perfectly stock? We hope not…with a T10 four-speed and 3.73 gears out back, this Camaro should be a delight to drive.
Restoration looks, updated performance, class color combination. This Camaro wins all.
That’s the first radio delete 2nd gen I’ve seen. Especially rare on a 78-81 Z-28.
Black car, no A/C, no thanks
Disco at it’s finest.
Only ride more disco would be the screaming chicken T-top Firebird. I was in Miami at that time. All the princesses drove these.
A guy I graduated high school with got an automatic version as a present. Same color combo, wheels, etc. By July of ’79 it was wrapped around a telephone pole, totaled.
It needs the T tops to be true disco. My sister still has hers. Interstate blue / blue with the 4 speed and both the turbine wheels and the standard Z 28 wheels. Pioneer super tuner 3 and yes it\’s pretty but rarely gets out anymore.
I had a plain red 1976 Camaro, but what I really wanted was this!
I went to High school grade 9 in the fall of ’80 with a Wedgewood blue ’75 Type LT a low mile old lady’s car that was friends with my Aunt’s , It had a Moon roof black interior . .It was the finest in the neighborhood . I was only 15 ! I would tell cops that I was born in ’66 instead of ’67 ! and that my license was in my jacket that my girlfriend was wearing , It was a $28 dollar ticket . Had a $ucking Blast in the ’80s .
I had a few of them and all were beaters except my last one. It was an 81 with 305, 4 spd, t-tops, a/c and rust free but had a bad cyl. Trying to change a spark plug with the a/c box in the way sucked!.