2014 Camaro Z/28: The Bad is Back

Photo credit: Autoblog.com

Like many of my fellow enthusiasts, my automotive preferences lie with low-weight, high-power performance cars. This sector is primarily filled with stripped-out Porsches, Ferraris, BMWs and Audis, which are more often-than-not unobtainable to the common working man. This disturbing trend of “less weight means more money” was not always the case, though. In the late 1960’s, America found itself embroiled within an internal motorsport battle-royale. The SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) developed a racing series called the “Trans-Am Series” that featured production-based race cars, which participated in either the Under 2.0 Liter or the Over 2.0 Liter class. European manufacturers, such as Alfa Romeo and Porsche, competed alongside the best America had to offer, with race-offerings from nearly every corporate division.

Grid from the Golden Era of Trans-Am racing

Ford developed the Mustang Boss 302, while sister company Mercury offered the Cougar XR7. Chevrolet masterminded the almighty Z/28, and the S-Code designation for the Plymouth Barracuda was made specifically for the Trans-Am series. These cars were piloted by some of the biggest racing names ever to grace the tarmac, drivers such as Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, and Swede Savage. However, my absolute favorite of the legendary Trans-Am drivers has to be Mark Donohue and his Penske/Sunoco Camaro Z/28.  

No other classic racecar has left quite the same impression on me than the royal-blue-on-yellow Sunoco Camaro. With Donohue at the helm, the Sunoco Camaro snagged the first place in the ’68 and ’69 Trans-Am series, thus cementing the Z/28 into racing history. The Trans-Am battle was not just relegated to the track, however. Trans-Am fever spilled over onto the streets of America as homologation specials roared from stoplight to stoplight. While the Boss Mustang badge was discontinued in the mid ‘70s, the Z/28 proved to have staying power. The Z/28 badge was carried on from ’68 through ’74, reintroduced in ’77, and continued all the way up until the final Camaro year in 2002. With the demise of the Camaro, it meant the demise of the Z/28, and the end to a road-racing legacy. Sure, some of the Z/28 models in the ‘70s and ‘80s were less-than-inspiring, but the badge was always so damn mean. The death of both the Camaro and the Z/28 legacy was a huge blow for the masses of Camaro fans worldwide.

However, I’m happy to report the Z/28 has returned to the world of the living. The badge is back. The ‘mean’ is back.

The bad is back.

Photo credit: Autoblog.com 

At the 2013 NYC Auto show, Chevrolet revealed one of the most hardcore vehicles it has ever produced. The 2014 Camaro Z/28 sports a 300 lb. weight reduction, thanks in part to thinner glass, a diet-heavy alacantara-swathed interior, and new lightweight wheels. Cog-swappers, rejoice; The Z/28 is a manual-only muscle car. The Camaro receives a heavily reworked chassis, carbon-ceramic brakes, and a sexy front-splitter/undertray system. Lets go back to the previous statement; Carbon-ceramic brakes….on a Camaro! What a world we live in…..

It also is fitted with a new engine, and oh my goodness, what an engine it is.

I have not been looking forward to the eventual and inevitable death of the C6 Z06 Corvette. The discontinuation of the Z06 would mean the discontinuation of the LS7, which in my eyes, is one of the greatest American V8s produced in the last decade. GM must have noticed my tearful depression, and amazingly, the 7.0L smallblock has been given a lifeline with the Z/28. Oh yes, America has a 427 Camaro once again. Do I smell a factory Yenko package on the horizon? I sure hope so. And for those not convinced, here is what you have to look forward to:

Lets recap. A lightened, manual-only 500 HP 427 Camaro with active-aero, Recaro seats, and carbon-ceramic brakes. Oh my. If that does not get your heart racing, please visit your doctor, because that’s the greatest list of options ever to grace an American muscle car, ever. If its not already apparent, I’m just a bit excited.

 These statistics are all well and good, but how does the Z/28 stack up to against its competition?

Well, the inadequate resurrection of the Camaro ZL1 nameplate has the Shelby GT500 covered, and the parts-bin special 1LE Camaro faces the Mustang GT Track Pack. The obvious choice would be to compare the Z/28 to the new Boss 302, but Ford dashed the hopes of fans everywhere with the news of no Boss for the 2014 model year. That being said, lets do a little math and logic to see if the Z/28 can come out on top.

In a comparison between the 2012 Camaro ZL1 and the quite ridiculous 2013 Shelby GT500, the GT500 is bested around a track setting by roughly one half-second. Then, according to Chevrolet themselves, the ZL1 is whipped by the Z/28 on an unnamed track by over a mind-boggling three seconds per-lap. Enter Boss, stage left; the ZL1 trounces a Boss 302 Laguna Seca by about two seconds in this professional MotorTrend comparison. Don’t even bother with the Dodge Challenger SRT8 392, as I highly doubt the too-heavy cruiser could even best a Mustang GT around a track. Also withheld are the Cadillac CTS-V and Corvette due to a higher price point and the fact that the Corvette is not a muscle car.  So, without any real world tests, drag strip rumbles, or diagnostics, we can unofficially say that the Z/28 is the fastest muscle car around a track setting. You can keep your 660 HP quarter-mile missiles, Shelby. I want this Camaro GT3 RS.

Photo credit: Autoblog.com

The return of the Z/28, Boss, Stingray, and ZL1 within a two year span indicates much for the future of American muscle. Maybe we will see a return of the Chevelle, 442, CobraJet, and Mach 1. Maybe a Boss 429?

How about we bring back Pontiac, first. 

Ford Mk. I Capri: The Sexy European

The Mk I Ford Capri is one of a long list of neat and interesting Ford models that was never released stateside, at least not in great quantities. The Mk. I Capri only ever made it to the states in the guise of a Mercury, which was marketed as, “The Sexy European”. Rightly so, as the Capri was known for its svelte, smoothly aggressive profile. These Americanized Capris were carbon copies of the Euro version right up until 1974, when the popular Mercury coupe became a bloated facsimile of the European Capri. The seductive smooth lines of the Euro Capri were ruined by the introduction of an ungainly, government-mandated impact bumper.

What did remain, however, were Americanized versions of the fantastic engine options from Europe, namely the vaunted Cologne V6. This engine, an extremely popular powerplant overseas, was never produced in mass quantities for America. A very versatile engine, the Cologne V6 provided the power to match the sporting exterior of the Capri. The styling won the favor of buyers, and soon sold over 400,000 models in Europe, causing Ford to continue to Capri line for another 20 years. The aesthetic draw of the Capri provided to be a popular strategy for many budding auto companies, primarily from Japan. This muscle car influence is seen in the Japanese approach to sports cars in the late 60’s and early 70’s, with the first generation Celica and Datsun 240Z. The Capri, along with its Japanese counterparts, had all of the styling benefits of the muscle car era, without the muscle car weight and handling. Due to this blend of both performance and styling, both the Mk. I Ford and Mercury Capri are seen as collector cars, often restored and/or race prepped for a cheap and easy entry into the world of classic car ownership.