Vintage pics. More extended Z stripes!

[camarojoe]

Coulda been a dealer thing, i can almost guarantee it wasnt factory, i cant imagine filling out an order form and writing "Please extend the stripes to the bottom of the tailpanel in the back" and having GM do it...It IS odd how many pics exist of cars painted this way though...

[DarrenX33]

Frank how could I forget that pic. I think that one started the extended stripe controversy.

Well now what about the Carolina Blue Z that was recently on eBay. Wasn't that scheme claimed to be factory? I do agree seems more like a dealer thing but who knows. We need to find an original owner.

Did Jim Mattison have anything info on this topic?

[hvychev]

Kurt S from crg....any input?

[Supercar_Kid]

While interesting and worthy of further research for sure, I still feel pretty confident that the "extended stripes" we're seeing even in these vintage pics are all examples of either dealer or more likely owner added paintwork. It is odd that so many vintage pics seem to be popping of Z/28s painted like this as of late, but these photos may simply support a theory that it was a popular modification and that a lot of Z/28s were subject to this stripe treatment back in the day. Let's not forget the 6 taillight treatment that was so popular on mid-year Corvettes, immortalized in the words of Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve." Check out this link for a vintage shot of some brand new '67s on Clippinger Chevrolet's lot complete with dealer added 6 tail light treatment. My point being, by the looks of this pic you'd think the 6 lights could have been a factory deal too, but they weren't, just a popular modification that some dealers would provide if the buyer demanded it. I also think that if the extended Z/28 stripes were any sort of a factory job, even by special request, there would have to be a stencil with a GM part # in some service manual or bulletin somewhere. Dealers would have been responsible for duplicating these stripes if a car was rearended, or needed the tailpan repainted for some reason or another. GM part numbered stencils exist for every other GM stripe application on a 69 Camaro, why not these? I guess until we find an unrestored original owner car with some paper, we'll just have to keep guessing.

[Kurt S]

I agree that these are not factory mods.
Remember, they were producing them at 1 a minute. There wasn't time nor detailed instructions to handle anything like that. But it obviously was a popular mod.
Note that both 69's in this post were flat hood cars, no surprise. Real cowl hood cars are relatively rare.

[Rick H]

Kurt,
Going with the most likely assumption that the extended stripes were added later could it be possible they were added at the factory after all? When painting the stripes at the factory how much longer would it take to extend them to the bottom of the tail panel?
It doesn't look like a whole lot of masking and taping was involved.
Was there a racing series or other automotive event happening back then that would prompt GM to offer this type of stripes on the cars?

I am just curious. I heard that the Carolina Blue car's extended stripes were factory added as well.

Just an interested observation with these cars.

Rick

[Belair62]

[ QUOTE ]
I also think that if the extended Z/28 stripes were any sort of a factory job, even by special request, there would have to be a stencil with a GM part # in some service manual or bulletin somewhere.

[/ QUOTE ]

This does make a lot of sense to me...

[Kurt S]

[ QUOTE ]
Kurt,
Going with the most likely assumption that the extended stripes were added later could it be possible they were added at the factory after all? When painting the stripes at the factory how much longer would it take to extend them to the bottom of the tail panel?

[/ QUOTE ]
That first sentence didn't make a lot of sense.
It's not a time issue, it's a processing issue. They'd have to be shot in the repair booth and there would have to be instructions more involved than 'make them longer'. No way, it didn't happen. Remember, 900 cars a day.....

The Colorado blue car stripes were dealer added.