By the way, I found that video, "The Story of Camaro" on Ebay's Half.com, brand new, for $7.99 plus shipping. I ordered one tonight. I'm sure you will too.

I Emailed some of the Literature vendors about the Press Kit (including McLellans) but have had no luck.
I look forward to your Email.

Since we're not just talking about magazine articles...the '77 Z was featured in ads for Bilstein shocks in Car & Driver 10/83 and 11/79. There was also a '77 Z in an ad for Classic Industries in the 11/2000 issue of Hemmings.

I do have that Hot Rod Camaro book (Vol. 1 No. 4). Another one to look for is America's Best Camaro (1982) Vol 1 No. 1 Published by Modern Day Periodicals,which has an article titled "Zee Right Stuff" which includes info on the '77 Z, a picture of the car and a picture of the LM-1 engine.

One more...the '77 Z was on the cover (and inside) of Consumers Guide Camaro Collectors Edition (June 1981, Volume 310) along with lots of Camaro pictures and information.

Well, they decided that they had exceeded their limit, and that was by 18 units, all of which had been specially ordered by customers (not for dealer stock). Those 18 cars were completed units, ready for shipment, and with full VIN's. So what became of those cars? The orders were cancelled, any monies were either refunded or applied towards a 1978 Z, and the 18 cars were ..... scrapped. Crushed.

I know this, because one of those 18 was mine. I had ordered the car, and it was due for delivery while I'd be home on leave getting married. When I got back, we borrowed my buddy's '62 Galaxie 406 tri-carb (!!!) and headed out to Houston, without even calling ahead, to pick up my car.

What I got instead was a nervous sales manager who had a letter from Chevrolet to them, explaining what I just told you, which he showed me. He even showed me the print-out that showed the car was completed, and even had the VIN of my car on it (wish I had the foresight to write it down, because I asked the salesman to order it with the Corvette L82 350 engine code, and see if the factory built it. The VIN would have shown me if my car would have been one of a kind!)

I was crushed (no pun intended), man, I really wanted that car BAD!!! I was shown photo's of the '78 car, and told there would be no set limit on their production. I had no interest, and took my deposit back. I still have the letter that the dealership was about to mail to me, telling me this (they wouldn't give me a copy of Chevy's letter to them). Still have my copy of the original order form, too!

A post-script on this: A few years later, I learned about decoding cowl tags, and ID'ng production dates. I'd stop and talk to every '77 Z28 owner I ran into, and look at the cowl tags. My car was built the third week of June, as I remember being told back then, in Van Nuys. And I have seen cowl tags myself on cars from this area back in the mid-80's, that showed build dates in Norwood up into the third week of July. So while they crushed cars because they felt they exceeded production limits by 18 in Van Nuys, they kept building Z's for a whole month later in Norwood!!! And in the end, they ended up with some un-even funky production figure anyway!

I think it's too far gone in the street/strip direction to bring back to stock. I *have* thought about bringing it back to stock, but the car is a heap of fun the way it is currently, and I'd have to replace a number of items from the fuel system/tank, suspension, transmission (it originally came with a 4-speed), and so on. Lotta work to re-install all the factory parts, not to mention trying to track down front seats, the correct transmission, and so on.

Hey, there's a photo that shows a strange emblem on the back of your car. Is that a dealer ID emblem?

Yep. It says 'Motorcade', as in Motorcade GM, a long-running local Chevrolet dealership where the car was purchased new. I also have the original bill of sale:

19R Vinyl Trim - Black
13L Silver
13U Silver
A01 Soft Ray Tinted Glass
A51 Strato Bucket Seats
B37 Colour Keyed Floor Mats
B93 Door Edge Guards
C5Q Rear Window Defogger
D55 Console
LM1 5.7 Litre V8/4 Bbl. 350 CID Engine
M21 4 Speed Close Ratio Transmission
N33 Comfortilt Steering Wheel
N65 Stowaway Spare Tire
QRZ GR70 x 15/B S/B Radial w/Lettered
U05 Dual Horns
U63 AM Radio
U80 Rear Seat Speaker
ZJ9 Auxilliary Lighting
Z28 Camaro Z28
Z54 Interior Accent Group

Date of sale: April 29, 1977
Price: $6600.00 (Canadian)
Documentation: $ 15.00
Sales Tax: $ 462.00
Total: $7077.00

------------------
1977 Z/28
12.45 @ 109.66 1.89 60'
413" small-block, Vortec heads, TH400, 4:10's

1977

Just out of curiousity, what is a '77 Z worth today in top condition?

Edit: Okay, I see on Mad Mike's '77 page the total Z/28 production was 14,349.

------------------
1977 Z/28
12.45 @ 109.66 1.89 60'
413" small-block, Vortec heads, TH400, 4:10's

I also found some info I kept on '77 Z28s in the area around that time, 32 to be exact (geez, even then I needed to get a life!). Here's what I found:

Of the 32 cars I found, 25 were "N code", or Ohio cars, 7 were "L" or Van Nuys (no surprise, this was New England after all!). 17 were automatics, 15 were 4 speeds (now that WAS surprising, thought there'd be a higher % autos). Colors break down as:

Brown 8
Yellow 6
Red 5
Black 5
White 4
Orange 2
Silver 2

(Hmmmm..... I remember seeing a lot more white ones than any other color!)

As far as build codes, the earliest I found was 02E (02=Feb, E= 5th week ..... how does a month with only 28 days get 5 weeks? Check a calendar, it did! LOL!) and the latest was 08A. Both cars were "N" codes. I haven't seen many "L" code cars, but the few I have seen don't go past 06C !!! If any of you have seen one later than that, let me know:

rmcdermott1@cox.net

Hey Rich -- just went out and looked at my cowl tag, and mine says 03E in the lower left hand side.

Has anyone else read the story behind the re-release of the '77 Z28, as described in that book I mentioned "Camaro: From Challenger to Champion"??? Excellent reading! We all owe a big thanks to all those folks who bought '75 and '76 Trans Ams, that's for sure. Without that car, the musclecar (and the ponycar, as they used to be called) fades away and Chevy sees no sales benefit to re-releasing the Z28!

Anyone have a pic of this air cleaner decal? Would like to have a look at it.

Hey Rich, some type of dual snorkel air cleaner with cold air tubing to the rad support would have no doubt added 10-15HP to the LM1 the way the electrically operated air flapper door on the cowl induction did for the 1980-81 Z/28. That might have been one way to up the power while staying emmissions compliant, but I guess being the first year back for the Zapper, GM made suspension tuning the priority.