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Everybody remembers the golden age of the Camaro Z28, but 1979 quietly delivered something nobody expected: a genuine sales record. At the height of the malaise era, with horsepower gutted across Detroit, Chevy still moved a staggering 84,877 Z28s, more than in any other year the car has ever seen. This numbers-matching 350/TH350 example, sourced through Gateway Classic Cars, is a reminder that even muscle car’s darkest chapter still had some fight left in it.
A black-on-black 1980 Camaro Z28 with around 19,xxx original miles is a rare window into the last year Chevrolet offered real 350 V8 power in this body style. Emissions rules were reshaping the entire muscle car landscape by 1980, and this engine option barely survived the transition. Here is what made the 350 4-barrel Z28 different from the California-spec cars sitting next to it on the same showroom floor.
Gold paint, a high-revving 302 small-block, and a decade-long restoration — this 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, filmed at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals, turns out to be the very first Z/28 Chevrolet ever produced. Owner Jon Mello spent ten years getting it right after discovering exactly what he had. Watch the full story behind Chevrolet’s original Trans-Am homologation special.
Jon Mello’s 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 isn’t just an early example of Chevrolet’s Trans-Am homologation special — it’s documented as the very first one built. Filmed at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Rosemont, Illinois, the Gold Z/28 wears its correct 302-cubic-inch small-block after a decade-long, period-correct restoration meant to undo years of hard use. Only around 602 Z/28s were built for 1967, and this one sits at the very start of that list. Watch to hear the story — and the engine — for yourself.