67/8 Cowl Hoods, Factory?

[kiwiboss]

Too much Ford blood in me to know the correct answer!! but did any 67/8 Camaro's come Factory down the assembly line with a Cowl Hood? where they even optional in 67/8?

Appreciate your help

Dale Mathers
New Zealand

[Mark]

Nope, not a single one, weren't even available in early 69, option was announced around Thanksgiving of 68, earliest known cars with them (two ZL!'s) were built last week of December 68.

[1968RSZ28]

Nope, not a single one, weren't even available in early 69, option was announced around Thanksgiving of 68, earliest known cars with them (two ZL!'s) were built last week of December 68.

What about Pete Estes' 1968 Z/28?  It had a 1969 prototype fiberglass cowl hood on it when it was delivered on 7-15-68.

Paul

[Jon Mello]

For the sake of a complete answer, at the September 1, 1968 Can-Am, Sterling Moss drove the Pete Estes '68 Z/28 convertible (1 of 1 made) as the pace car and it had a cowl induction hood on it. It may not have been installed on the assembly line (there is no definitive proof either way) but it was installed on the car by GM, probably at the Tech Center. This is many months before any '69 got it.

[1968RSZ28]

Thanks Jon.  It's good to know a '68 Z/28 was the first Camaro to wear a cowl hood.

I love it!   

Paul

[JohnZ]

I took the photos below of that hood on the car at Al Maynard's house about ten years ago, and it was fiberglass.

[kiwiboss]

You guys are TOO good, thanks for the info!!! great forum you have here Jon.

Dale Mathers
New Zealand

[william]

Thanks Jon.  It's good to know a '68 Z/28 was the first Camaro to wear a cowl hood.

I love it!   

Paul

Not quite.

The October 1968 Motor Trend has several photos of a '69 Z/28 with a ducted hood; one in color, rare for the '60s. Magazine lead time in those days was at least 90 days, placing the photos in the June-July '68 time frame.

[1968RSZ28]

Thanks William.  Let me modify my statement...

It's good to know a '68 Z/28 was the first delivered Camaro to wear a cowl hood.

 

Paul

[william]

Thanks William.  Let me modify my statement...

It's good to know a '68 Z/28 was the first delivered Camaro to wear a cowl hood.

 

Paul

I have paperwork for the car back to the first retail owner. It was sold on Dec 17, 1968 for $3124.35. None of that stuff is listed on the paperwork and was not on it at delivery. Vintage pictures of the car verify.

The July 1968 Car & Driver tested a '68 Z/28 with JL8, cross-ram, headers, K66 ignition. List price was $5440.38.

[Jon Mello]

Picture of car below with '68 Michigan plate on it shows Estes' car had the cowl hood on it. Whether that was removed at the time of "retail sale" at the end of December, who knows but it most definitely was on the car when owned by Pete Estes and when used to pace the Road America Can-Am. The window sticker that you have Bill is not what was originally issued by GM when the car was built.

[william]

I clearly remember when this car became known. The owner at the time was shopping it around and Mecums Country Side Motors, Roscoe IL bought it early in 1991. I saw photos of it at the time and the hood was not on it.

Does any of this matter? The car is an exception, built on request of the General Manager of Chevrolet at the time Pete Estes. It was built late July '68; JL-8, the crossram and the hood were already in production. Most of it was featured in an early '68 issue of Hot Rod magazine. The car had nothing to do with any of it.

[Jon Mello]

I'm not questioning whether the car was missing the hood in subsequent years. I was simply replying to Dale's question about whether one of these hoods were optional on a '67 or '68. That's why this car deserved mentioning because it did in fact have the hood on it in the summer and fall of '68 and it was put there by GM. The hood did not truly become available to "the average Joe" until the '69 ZL-1 started being produced at the end of December '68. Of course, it could be said the '69 ZL-1 purchaser was not your "average Joe" either. 

[x66 714]

Didn't the hood come about as per the SCCA rules being changed for the 69 year? I was thinking I read somewhere that SCCA rules said you couldn't use a raised hood. I know the RPO number doesn't appear until the 1969 model year. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks, Joe 

[Jon Mello]

The hood came about because special raised hoods were in fashion at the time. They already had the cowl plenum underhood induction in '67 and '68 but in '69 obviously the cowl induction hood was used by the Penske team and others. After that, air induction was not supposed to be through the scooped hoods but instead drawn from under the stock hood. I'm not sure why SCCA bothered with that.