The 1rst 1967 Camaro Z28 produced by Chevrolet & Engine Sound

Jon Mello bought his gold 1967 Camaro in 2000 with no idea it was the very first Z28 Chevrolet ever produced. Once he found out, it triggered a ten-year, period-correct restoration aimed at returning the car to exactly the way it left the factory the first time. Lou Costabile catches up with Mello and the car at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals to hear how the discovery happened. Watch to hear Jon tell the story himself.

Somewhere in Chevrolet’s build records, one 1967 Camaro carries a distinction that can never be replicated or bought — it was the very first Z28 the factory ever produced. For years, its owner Jon Mello had no idea the gold coupe he bought in 2000 held that title; it was just a Camaro that needed work. What he eventually learned about the car’s place in Chevrolet’s history triggered a restoration that would take a full decade to complete, aimed not at making the car better than new, but at putting it back exactly the way it left the factory the first time. How Mello found out, and what a ten-year, period-correct restoration on the literal first Z28 actually involves, is a story most Camaro owners will never get to tell.

How Do You Even Prove a Car Is ‘The First’?

Establishing that a specific car is the first of its kind off any assembly line requires documentation most owners never think to look for — build sheets, VIN sequencing, factory records, and often corroborating research from marque historians who track exactly this kind of production trivia. Jon Mello’s discovery that his 1967 Camaro held that distinction for the Z28 package apparently came well after he already owned the car, transforming a project he’d bought as just another Camaro into something considerably more significant.

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The Z28 Package: Built for the Trans-Am Series, Not the Street

Chevrolet built the Z28 option specifically to homologate the Camaro for the SCCA’s Trans-Am racing series, which required a minimum displacement under 305 cubic inches. That rule is the entire reason the Z28 exists with its unusual 302-cubic-inch small block, a combination Chevrolet engineers created by pairing a 327’s block with a 283’s shorter-stroke crankshaft specifically to land just under the racing limit. It was never about advertising a big horsepower number on a window sticker — it was about legally qualifying for a specific race series.

A Decade-Long Restoration Aimed at ‘Exactly as It Left the Factory’

Restoring a car back to exactly how it left the factory, rather than upgrading or modifying it, is a far more demanding standard than most restorations attempt. It requires sourcing period-correct parts, matching original paint codes and finishes precisely, and resisting the temptation to add modern conveniences or performance upgrades along the way. Doing that over a full decade, on a car with this level of historical significance, suggests Mello treated the restoration less like a hobby project and more like a preservation effort.

The 302: A Displacement Chosen for Racing Rules, Not Horsepower Bragging Rights

The 302’s role in Trans-Am homologation makes it one of the more unusual engines in Chevrolet’s muscle car lineup — a small block built to a specific rule rather than to a specific horsepower target. That racing pedigree is part of what gives the Z28 package its lasting reputation among Camaro enthusiasts, distinct from the bigger-block Camaros built purely for straight-line performance. It also explains why period Z28 buyers in 1967 were often serious road racers or enthusiasts chasing that Trans-Am connection specifically, rather than casual buyers cross-shopping a Camaro against a Mustang purely on straight-line bragging rights.

Why the First of Anything Changes a Car’s Whole Value Equation

A car’s status as “the first” of any significant option package changes the entire conversation around it, shifting the value proposition from “a well-restored example” to “a piece of Chevrolet’s own production history.” Combined with a decade of period-correct restoration work and an ownership story that reads like genuine detective work, this Z28 occupies a spot in Camaro history that no amount of money can replicate in a different car.

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