I recall the 1st 1969 Camaro I saw; Rallye Green, black vinyl top. Was on the lot at Braeger Chevrolet in Milwaukee Fall 1968. Was not love at first site; thought they were a bit frog-eyed compared to a ‘67 or ‘68 RS. However, they quickly grew on me and I became determined to own one someday. Since I was 16 years old on that day in 1968, it was going to take some time. Before long, a few acquaintances had acquired them.

In 1969 my brothers brother-in-law purchased a 1969 Camaro SS from Holz Chevrolet. Le Mans blue, L35 4-speed, ducted hood, U16. For many years I kept tabs on it hoping to buy it one day. John still owns it, now fully restored. A good friend’s cousin Danny purchased a Z/28 from Humphrey Chevrolet late in 1969. Fathom Green, Midnight Green standard interior, low option car. As we now know, Z/28s were not for the average consumer. Danny put up with its idiosyncrasies for a year or so, replaced it with a 1971 Firebird. The car remained in the area and came up for sale around 1980. It had led a hard life so I passed on it. As the Camaro body of knowledge developed, I determined it was one of the last 1969 Z/28s built. Still exists, restored with added equipment

In 1972 I was working as a Draftsman at The Allen-Bradley Company in Milwaukee. One of my colleagues, Gary, arrived at work one day in a Le Mans Blue/Black vinyl ’69 Yenko Camaro he had purchased out of the Milwaukee Journal for $2,000. Other than T-bars and sticky Mickeys, completely original. Shortly thereafter, we took it out for lunch. By that time, I had ridden in plenty of musclecars but none of them were[I] anything[/I] like this. While it was exhilarating to bang gears in, living with it on a daily basis was not. By 1972, muscle car insurance was extremely expensive if you could even find it. On a good day it got 6 mpg; on rainy day it was all over the road. After about 2 months, Gary had his fill and sold it. Obviously, I never forgot it and I will bet he hasn’t either. Small world; Gary had purchased the car from the sister of a friend that later painted cars for me. When the Yenko VINs became known around 1980, I was able to figure out which car it was and located it. Was never able to acquire it and it left the area in the 90s. It was flipped a few more times and is now in the possession of a longtime colleague in IL. Sometime later, I located the remains of Yenko 124379N579434 in a WI salvage yard.

In 1975:I purchased my 1st 1969 Z/28, 72 72 720 X77. Did not have 302. Stuck an L48 engine in it, added the usual ducted hood and chambered exhaust. Sold it 1977 to a guy from IL who saw it parked on the street. No idea where it is today.

 In 1978 I purchased another 1969 Z/28, 57 S 721. Very original; had been repainted. In Ohio last I heard. 

 In1979 I purchased 1969 Camaro Z11. Got a lesson here; had been wrecked and was quite rusty. Sold it to Ed Cunneen who went on to fame as “The COPO Connection.” He bailed on it too. Still around, now has an L78. Purchased 1967 Camaro convert. Decent car and my 1st attempt at a “restoration” of sorts. It was all white; I had it re-done in Marina Blue with a white nose stripe. It remains in the area.

In 1981 I picked up a ’69 Z/28-RS. Vey rough, nom, warranty trans, BO axle. Really got my hands dirty with this one. Completely disassembled it in my 1.5 car garage, had colleagues do the bodywork, paint, DT rebuilds. Done by 1987, cruised it for several years. Sold to Jim Dyer 1989. It’s back in N. CA. 

]Missed opportunities[/B]: Sometime in the ‘80s, one of my close friends also involved with 1st Gens called me about an unusual 1969 Camaro he observed at a repair shop in Milwaukee. It was a tired driver, small-block column auto. The hood was up as the car was on a battery charger. He noted the big-block heater assembly and decided to investigate. [I]“124379N613633…is that anything special?”[/I] Uh, yes, ZL-1 #38. Hard to fathom now, but ZL-1s were not a big deal at that time. Since Super Chevy magazine had printed the VIN list in the August 1981 issue, it seemed every few months another one was located, usually tired ex-race cars. In that form, they were selling for $10,000-$15,000. I didn’t pursue it and shortly thereafter it sold for about $2,500. I also let a JL-8 Z/28 slip through my hands. Bought it with a friend and flipped for a small profit. Sold new at Dale Chevrolet, orange with orange houndstooth interior. Somewhere in here I met Doug Martz, whose family owned a Chevrolet dealership at the time. 

Somewhere mid eighties I met Doug Martz, whose family owned a Chevrolet dealership at the time. He had started a hobby/business [B]Camaro Parts Exchange[/B] [CPX] and I became involved with it. A smart businessman, he had vision and wide contacts. One of my first memories was the 1969 Camaro Assembly Instruction Manual. Doug had acquired a copy; he had Barry Hampton [early Super Chevy Show sponsor] in IL reprint them and they sold briskly in 1984 or so for $100! Later on, I compiled a “1969 Camaro Identifier” of which CPX and Mainly ‘Vettes sold thousands of copies. The parts car/junkyard shopping continued [found ’67 Z/28 N236606 in a PA yard on the way to SC-Reading] but at a much higher rate; we traveled around the country and made lots of contacts. We made regular trips to the Pomona CA swap to buy cars/parts and shop the yards there. We also swapped stuff with Jim Dyer in Stockton CA. The Martz family sold the Chevy store in 1985, the Camaro business moved into a building in Milwaukee and really took off. CPX bought ZL-1 Camaro #4 in 1987 and restored it; also did a ’67 Z/28. Jerry MacNeish was doing a ’67 Z registry at the time and we became friends. He had done a 67-68 Z/28 book and I like to think I helped convince him to do a 1969 book. Restoring the ZL-1 put me in touch with Bill Porterfield who owned ZL-1 #3 at the time and had just purchased ZL-1 #1. We helped each other out; he put my name on the car and credited me in the December 1989 Car Craft feature on it.

Doug sold CPX in 1997 and retired; CPX no longer exists. D & R Classic Auto Stevie is a long-time friend and bought much of our NOS inventory. Later that year I joined the Camaro Research Group. For many years I never went to a car show or junkyard without a notebook; all that data is now in the CRG database along with much more. I authored a research article on the site titled “COPO 427: The Relentless Pursuit of Acceleration.” The ZL-1 is now in the Dennis Albaugh collection, the 1967 Z/28 is in the Brothers Collection. It is hard to believe 48 years have passed since that first Z/28. Looking back, 1st gen Camaros were popular from day one, but mostly as raw material for creating street machines or a race car. Even by the ‘70s, it was rare to find one that didn’t have headers, mags, t-bars [and around here, rust]. Generally, the first Z/28 mod was to dump the 302 in favor of an LT-1 or big-block. In my opinion, a seminal event in the lore of the 1st Gen was the September, 1980 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. While there was a nice feature on the history of the Z/28 by Bruce Caldwell, what changed our world was a story by Cam Benty: [B]“Backyard Buildup:’69 Z28 One hot-rodder’s approach to restoration.” [/B]He rebuilt the drivetrain, cleaned up the interior, repainted it although in a non-original color. He even located a complete cross-ram set up. The story was spread over two parts, the paint and body work featured in the October, 1980 issue. While the car did retain some Day Two parts such a scattershield and headers, restoration was the message. Hod Rod had huge circulation numbers at that time; Cam’s story was probably seen by a million people. 

This just wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Warren Malkin, Jr. In the pre-internet days the place to find rare and NOS parts was Hemmings Motor News. Doug often ran ads for CPX; it is possible that was how we became acquainted. Most people would run a small wanted ad of a few lines, looking for a specific part or two. Warrens were epic: numerous part numbers, huge ads costing hundreds back then. Since both of us had been dismantling parts cars and logging data for years, we were always trading info. Warren’s primary area of interest were special high-performance and racing parts; no one knew that stuff [and the parts books] better than he. His original paint ’69 Z/28 JL-8 car was outfitted with parts most people had never seen, myself included. We spoke and corresponded for decades beginning in the early ‘80s but did not meet in person until MCACN 2019. By that time, he was ill and determined to finish his Z/28 for display at MCACN 2020. Warren passed October 2021. The principal owners of the MCACN show created an annual Warren Malkin, Jr. Memorial Award. I am honored to be the first recipient. No more 1st gens in my garage; my wife and I bought a 1989 Camaro convertible from Doug and still have it. These days I hang around the sites, go to a few shows, assist good friends with their cars. Still chase data, much easier these days. The CRG Core Membership Group remains active and regularly discusses/debates new information. I have a particular interest in ZL-1s, maintain a data base and am always interested in new information. Always more to learn! William Glowacki