My Old 69 Z

[Z28Project]

I bought my 69 Z28 back in 1973 when I was 16 years old.  I bought the car from the original owner (through a bank; long story there) and for no older than the car was, it had lead a pretty rough life. I slowly fixed it up over time and had a ball with it over the years.  I did a lot of autocrossing in the late 70's and made a few changes to the car and it really shined at the autocrosses; both low speed and high speed courses.

Back then the cars weren't that special, so mods and in my case, adding options the car didn't originally come with was no big deal.  I think the worst part about being that young with a 69 Z28 was that it was my everyday driver, 365 days a year.  In the winter, on went the snow tires and trudging thru the snow and salt like any other Impala or Malibu, etc.  As time went on it became more and more special to me, and the magazines called them future collectors items.  I'm so amazed at some of the survivor cars on here, the owners either had the foresight to know they were special from the start, or just plain luck, that these cars are around today in their untouched condition.

I remember when the "cowl tag decoded" articles started coming out in the magazines and I was so disappointed that mine only said X77 instead of X77D80 because I knew it came from the factory with the spoilers.  Now you guys have figured it all out when these different changes occurred, but they didn't know that stuff back in the early 80's.


Around 1975 or 76 I T-boned a girl who ran a stop sign.  It was a low speed accident but it did crumple the front end up on the Z.  It barely did anything to the hood but the insurance company called for a new hood!  Who could resist adding the ZL2 hood and supporting parts!!  All brand new right from GM!  Also, I always liked the black grill in these cars, so I opted for that too. The only part that was discontinued at that time was the correct extension to raise the flange and seal up to the bottom of the hood.  A few years later I was able to find a repop of the extension and added that then.

Here's the car around 1977:


I still have the jacket but unfortunately I sold the car in 1986.   I'm so glad I still have several pictures from back then and that I took a pic of the cowl tag while I had the car. A few weeks ago I googled the VIN: 124379N639570 and I was surprised it hit on a Keith Martin/ Ebay Motors website indicating it sold at auction in 2009 for $52,000.  All of the picture links were broken due to time.

Is there anything in the CRG databases about that car?

I am currently trying to close a deal on another 69 Z28 but I'll wait until it actually happens before I post anything about that car.

That's my little story.

Thanks,  John




 

[bcmiller]

Nothing current on the car.  Your 2009 auction information is more recent than what I see.  Nice to have a pic of the cowl tag.  It seems someone added RS to it.

[Z28Project]

Thanks for checking.

There were a couple of major options I added to the car.  Shortly after I got married we needed to add a second car, so I found a nice 69 garnet red, 307, auto to add to the stable.  It had the black houndstooth custom interior and read window defogger, and before too long all that stuff found its way into the Z28.  A few years later I was all into the hideaway headlights and the RS look so I bought a 69 gold RS 350 Camaro with the sole intention of converting my car over with all of the parts.  I did it as correct as possible since I had both cars in front of me.  I didn't add the rally sport emblems to the fenders on my car though, but everything else.

Here's how it looked in 1986 when I sold it:

[BULLITT65]

great story. The car looks good at the track with you standing in front of it. I look forward to hearing about your new one.

[cook_dw]

Oh no..  Not another HO 69!!!!   Just kidding..  Great pics.. 

[68camaroz28]

Agree! Great story, pics and welcome aboard.....

[Z28Project]

Thanks guys, glad to be here!

Just a little more info about the beginnings of the Z with me.  I think it has to be one of the cheapest Z/28s ever bought!

I used to see it in a neighborhood close to where I lived.  It was sitting in the front yard of a house with a big dent in the RR quarter panel, and a big dent in the FR fender.  It also had black steel wheels with snow tires on the back.  It was obviously not being driven so I would go by there whenever I had a chance, hoping to see a for sale sign in the window at some point.  This went on for 6 months or so and finally I noticed that the people moved away and left the car in the yard.  At that point I stopped at took a closer look at the car.  It was unlocked and the air cleaner was in the back seat and the shifter knob was gone.  I popped the hood and saw that the carb was missing.  I had figured out the peoples names that lived there and contacted them about the car.  They said they didn't have the title and had stopped making payments on the car a long time ago, but they told me where it was financed.  They had taken the carb off the car and said they would sell it to me for $50.  My mom jumped in then and made the calls to the bank.  I think that helped a lot, instead of a 16 year old kid talking to them.

Anyhow, the bank said the last they knew the car had been stolen and was in Maryland somewhere!  I don't know where any of that story came from.  The bank said if we wanted it they would repossess the car and they could sell it to us for $100.  When they came and saw the car they thought it was worth more than $100, so they had it towed to the bank and told us we could buy it for $300.  My mom argued with them about what they originally said, so they allowed a $25 finders fee and we bought it for $275.


I saved up for a new 1/4 panel and fender and found a couple of used rally wheels.  I went to where the original owners moved to, bought the carb, and before too long had the car running, driving, and looking good!

I wish I still had the car but that's life!  I still enjoy telling the story of how a 16 year old buys an original 69 Z28 in 1973!

[ko-lek-tor]

magical times...magical story! Welcome.

[BULLITT65]

Since you are in the market, I am surprised you didn't track it down again to purchase. What prompted you to sell it?

[ZLP955]

Great story! Have you tried contacting the 2009 eBay seller to see if they kept the buyer's details? If so, they may be happy to forward your details, then the hunt is on!

[buenymayor]

Definitely a cool story. Best of luck finding another Z. You still in the Anderson area?

[Z28Project]

I went through a phase of wanting a 1970 Firebird T/A.  The suspension redesign of the 2nd gen cars was a big improvement, and the 70 Trans Am took that to the max. The handling was incredible with that car and I thought I had to have one.  I couldn't really afford two hobby cars back then so I sold the Z to get the T/A.    

I couldn't really track my old one any farther than the google hit, but I suppose some more digging could be done.  If I get the deal done on this other Z28 I'll definitely post up.  It's a project car but it needs to be brought back to life.

I'm still in the Anderson area.

[tmagda]

Great story! I bought mine in 1975, also when I was 16. I already had a base '69, 4 speed, built 327, Cragars. I worked at a car wash on a busy road and a few times a week I saw this silver Z/28 drive by. I really liked the way it looked and sounded. Mine was nice, but the built engine was very unreliable and I was thinking something stock might be more suitable. Because I saw it so frequently I knew the guy had to live close to the car wash so I would take a different route home every day until I found it. After about 6 months of watching the Z/28 drive by, a sale sign appeared in the window. That's how we used to sell cars pre internet! Drove to the house that night and put down a $10 deposit. Sold the base car the next day for $1600, and bought the Z for $1800. I find it interesting how quickly and how often cars were modified back then. This was a 2 owner car, the block was painted blue during an engine rebuild, the grill was also painted black at some point, and hood and spoilers added. It had deluxe seats in a standard interior. I thought those were significant changes for a 5-6 year old car.

[Z28Project]

That's great too!  A nice step up to a Z/28 for $200!  Yes time were very different then.  Everybody was modding their cars then. Lots of aftermarket parts and lots of these cars in the junkyards from traffic accidents.  I'll never forget my brothers car.  He was 7 years older than me and bought a brand new 69 Z (dusk blue/white stripes).  I think with a month the A.I.R. stuff was in the trash can, and within 2 months he brought home a complete chambered exhaust system from a wrecked Z in the junkyard.  That system sounded amazing to me!  Mods went on from there.

I guess people are still doing it to newer cars today, but it's so different now.  Way too many fart pipe exhausts and strange, blinding headlights, weird camber suspension settings, stuff like that.

[dale_z28]

Hey John, welcome aboard! We're nearly neighbors, I was in Marion growing up and purchased mine in '77 - saw it on my way to work one day. Hope you can track down your old car, but let us know what you wind up with. Thanks for the pics and stories!