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. 

Shattering the Silence 101: The Can-Am Roar

Race tracks, by nature, are not quiet. Not only do you have barely muffled race-spec engines screaming down straights, but there are announcers, power tools, walkie talkies, and loud fans. Race paddocks, with their spartan concrete construction, do nothing but amplify the race day din. Fortunately, I was reminded of this fact today when I came across a video of a 1970 McLaren M-8C.

 The McLaren M-8C was built to compete in what I consider to be the most hardcore and insane race group ever to have existed. Group 7, or affectionately known as Can-Am (for Canada-America), was the closest any racing group has ever gotten to being able to race restriction-free prototype cars. Historically, whenever the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) becomes involved, restrictions and regulations only water down the excitement in racing groups and leagues with engine size caps, minimum weight requirements, and aerodynamic restrictions. However, with Group 7, things were a bit different.  As long as the wheels were enclosed, it had two seats, and it met basic safety parameters, the cars were free to compete. Constructors like McLaren, Porsche, Shadow, and Lola all developed 1,000+ Horsepower monsters that redefined the concept of speed for the entire world of racing. Take a look at the video of the McLaren, revel in how violently the 7.5L Chevrolet Big Block spins to life, and reminisce on past glory days of insane, bygone racing groups.

Cats in a Cage: The Unexpected XJ Wonderland

About a week ago, after a couple rounds of skeet in North Dallas, I was cruising around a few industrial back roads when I stumbled upon something quite incredible. Ensconced in the heart of an industrial warehouse and workshop complex, a fenced in lot holds untold wonders, primarily of English persuasion.

Upon first glance, my eager eyes could barely register what I had stumbled upon. Within the relatively well manicured lot were rows upon rows upon rows of classic Jaguars that lay dormant and silent behind lines of chain-link.  The bulk of the rusting saloons were composed of every generation of Jaguar XJs, from the revolutionary styled Series I, the unreliable-yet-charming Series II, to the clean Pininfarina penned lines of the Series III. Thrown in among the XJs was a smattering of XJSs, their swooping, graceful lines slowly rusting and fading in the hot Texas sun. Normally, such abandonment of British classics would raise my ire, but as I moved around the fence, I realized something. The rows were too orderly, too neat, too caring for a junkyard. The grass was somewhat maintained, the glass blissfully unbroken, and the tires inflated. How odd, this seemed, to leave rows of traditional British saloons exposed to the elements, yet to care enough to ensure that the cars were not in a complete state of disrepair. This also was not a parts yard, as the headlights, trim, glass, and hoods were all present on most of the Jags. What was going on here???

It was not until I visited a nearby shop that I learned the purpose of the decaying beauties. Apparently, the lot is a holding pen for Jaguars awaiting a small-block conversion from the adjoining shop. How fantastic! Many late ‘60s and early ‘70s European and Japanese cars were blessed with sumptuously designed bodies, yet cursed with limp engines choked by restrictive emissions systems, weak transmissions, and hapless performance capabilities. Rebuilds are costly, and often maintenance can be painfully complicated. With a small-block transplant, these aged classics gain a new lease on life. The Chevy 350 Small-Block is the tried and true workhorse engine of America. It combines bulletproof reliability with immense performance potential. Parts and components are plentiful, with over 90,000,000 small blocks produced since its introduction in 1955. These days, the 350 has found itself crammed in every engine bay imaginable, from MGBs all the way to Porsche 944s. This Jaguar conversion shop makes perfect sense, as both XJs and XJSs are vaunted for their styling, availability, and cheap prices. With a 350 beating under the hoods of these stately sedans and voluptuous coupes, they become a classy alternative to brutish and heavy American metal. So the next time you hear the legendary rumble of a Chevy, look for the source. What you find may surprise you!