The Camaro Club (UK)

Hello Guys, i am a new contributor to this forum, but due to my great age !! have forty years direct experience of American Muscle cars.
For the last twenty years i have been restoring Muscle Cars full time but within that work i have undertaken some special conservation projects of original unrestored cars, which was always quite special.
To that end i have brought myself my first Camaro....it is a 1973 4-speed Z28 with just 35k miles on it. Its a two owner car with a perfect documented history and completely unrestored and untouched. Original paint/trim and completely standard, just as it rolled out of the Factory.
I was also pleased that a few years ago it was judged by "Vintage Certification" who went through it from front to back to verify just how correct and genuine it really was. It got a Legend status which at the time was the highest level available.
The car is just about to leave the States to make its long journey to me.
Having been involved with the hobby for so long i remember these cars when they were just used second hand motors and the ownership of this one is slightly daunting as i know it has to be very carefully looked after and conserved.
I have, hopefully, attached a couple of pictures for anybody interested and i look forward to meeting other Camaro enthusiasts during the show season.
All the best

Tasty veeehicle....welcome on board.

We will be needing more pics....we´re picture hungry here.

Hello and welcome

good to have another early 2nd gen here... and that car looks super clean, and indeed must be very rare being totally original...

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Wonderful to find such a low mileage survivor in unspoiled condition .

Hope you are able to preserve it while being able to enjoy driving it as well .

Take very good care of it because as the saying goes " they ain't makin' any more of them ..."

What a fantastic example, a REAL piece of history and the right model variant

Ooh lovely, and less miles than mine now I have been driving it a lot!

Hello Guys,
Thank you for your nice comments and my apologies for a slow reply.
The recommissioning of the Z28 took longer than i hoped as i have to work it in alongside my full time job which is restoring.
I went through the car very carefully, it needed a radiator rebuild and a full set of fresh hoses. All the vehicle oils were changed, drive belts, plugs, leads, air filter, coolant. I changed all four dampers and used Konis this time but painted them the correct GM shock grey. All the original parts removed i have kept.[date coded spiral shocks on the rear]
The two more vexing areas were the braking system...it had a dark red gloop in it instead of brake fluid and the hydorscopic nature of the old fluid had caused pitting of the internal bores in the rear wheel cylinders. So i refreshed the whole system, calipers, master cylinder and wheel cylinders, cleaned the pipes through and added fresh fluid. This work sorted that out...The last item was a small split in the vynul on the drivers seat base cover. I consulted my trimmer and we looked at all the ways of retaining the original cover whilst fixing the problem. In the end i contact a small company i know in the USA who buy up all the end of line interior trim when the manufacturers discontinue each model year run. I purchased a end of roll run of the original TEX manufactured 1973 dated correct vinyl, its different on the front of the seat to the sides. My trimmer then removed the front faces of the seats, disassembled the cover and using the old parts as patterns made new fronts and let the new fronts back into the old sides. His work was superb, even down to the gentle creases in the cover as per Factory.
Whilst the car was in the air, i did a full numbers check on all the components and everything on the car with a date code was manufactured in the first two weeks of 1973 and this included the 5 tyres........so 4 new Firestone Wide Oval 60's purchased and fitted.
After so 6 weeks and a full inspection the DVLA have now registered the car, just in time for the bad weather to arrive, so no driving yet.
The last treat for me has been to establish contact with the cars first owner who has told me everything about it and i have pictures from back in the day when he first brought it...just fantastic.
All the best

Fantastic! And what a great photo. Wish i knew more about the history of mine!

Looking forward to seeing it later this year hopefully

Nice to get all the prep out of the way before the good weather finally arrives, and we get some warm sun for the driving season .
You certainly went the extra mile in locating that remnant trim ! Now that's what I call attention to detail .
Hope to see your ride out at some of the events this year.

Hi Guys,
Decent weather has finally arrived and as time has allowed am driving the Camaro, quite gently really. Am back to a running in process to get everything working and allow all the mechanical components to bed and settle again.
When the car left the original owner in 2010 it had just 35010 miles on the clock and whilst it remained in the car collection they added just 60 more in 7years. I have put about 200 on the car now and it is a joy to drive.
I have been very lucky and found an original license plate frame from the supplying dealer in the USA, which has been fitted and the cars original owner loves.
Have booked a space at Rally of the Giants so i hope to see some other Club Members at the event.......all the best