1970-1973 Split Bumper Camaro RS

Split Bumper Camaro

To say the least, the split bumper Camaros are great-looking muscle cars that are sought-after by many car enthusiasts. But there has always been a lot of confusion about which Camaros came with the split bumper option.

Camaros with the RS trim package RPO Z22 option are the Camaros that were originally meant to come off the assembly line with the split bumper feature. There are a lot of split bumper replicas out there because of the high demand for the unique look the Z22 option produces.  

Since there are more original full bumper Camaros, there is a huge market for kits that can transfer a Z28 or an SS trim package into a split bumper look. If you're okay with a replica, then there's no problem, but if you want an original split bumper Camaro for investment purposes, then you need to know what you're looking for or you are sure to get duped. 

If you are looking for a Camaro with a legit Z22 option trim package, you will probably be making a smart move by doing some investigating on these Camaros before purchasing one. Taking someone's word for it is a fool's game. In fact, there are ways you can find out if the Camaro you are looking at is a real RS trim package or if it is a Z28 or an SS trim package with aftermarket Z22 parts.

Could it be a Z28 or an SS with a Legit Split Bumper Z22 Package?

Yes! It's important to know that just because a '70-'73 Camaro is a Z28 or an SS doesn't mean that it couldn't have been specially ordered from the factory with the Z22 option. You see that all the time, even in today's Camaros, Z28s ordered with RS stripes, ground effects, leather delete, etc.  

Don't get fooled. If you're looking to purchase a true split bumper Camaro, ask the owner if they have a build sheet. If they do, then the build sheet should specify if the Camaro was optioned with the Z22 package. If it wasn't, then the bumper most likely is aftermarket. 

If they don't have a build sheet, then specific features of the car should tell you what you are looking at. A true Z22 package should have most of these options: body-colored inserts on the door handles, bright chrome window and body trim, sill and hood panel moldings, hidden wipers (RPO C24) option, and bright accented parking lights, tail lights, and backup lights.  

There is one other way to find out the true identity of the car. Takedown the VIN# and call Chevrolet or use the Internet for the information you need. It may take a while, but it could be very well worth it. 

It also should be noted that an RS package is not worth more than a Z28 or an SS package. But if a Z28 or an SS came original with a full bumper and it was converted to a split bumper, that could decrease the value of the Camaro.

 

First 1967 Camaro Commercial Broadcast In 1966

 

Back in 1966, the American people were introduced to a sports car that would see five decades of success. That sports car was the Camaro, and to this day has just as much power and influence in the high-performance auto motor industry as the day it first went on sale on Sept. 29, 1966.

After the Mustang was introduced in 1964, Chevrolet had to come up with a sportier, tougher two-door sports car than its current two-door sports car at the time, the Corvair. So under the code name XP-836 and then soon after named the Panther for temporary identification, Chevy went to work.

For the year 1967, Chevy decided to name the soon to be an iconic sports car, the "Camaro". This obscure word comes from the French-English dictionary meaning "friend". They added eight different engine setups including a SS 350 option and a stout 427 option. Even though the Z/28 did not come along till the next year, on the day of September 29th, 1966, the Camaro hit the road for the first time. Five decades later, this sports car is still a noticeable piece of automobile history no matter what year or model you are driving. 

1992 Camaro RS That Never Made It Into Production

Rare '92 Camaro RS 

When car enthusiasts, even die-hard Camaro fans, think of the 1992 25th Anniversary Heritage Camaro RS, they will probably think of the ordinary RS Camaro that came with racing stripes and unique 25th Anniversary emblems. The sad thing is they'll probably never know what it was supposed to be.

What was the 1992 25th Anniversary Heritage Camaro RS supposed to be?

The fastest Camaro that Chevrolet put into production.

The true 25th Anniversary Camaro was going to be a police package (B4C-RS) Camaro that would be produced in high volume for the public. But the idea was squashed when the economy started to take a turn for the worst prompting Chevrolet to stay focused on more affordable fuel-efficient cars. So the trend of the slow 1980s sports cars continued on into 1992 with the Camaro RS and Z28 packages with low out-put engines.

Two prototype RS Camaros were built with the (B4C RS) package. Chevrolet was on board to produce 602 of these Camaros before the project received the ax. The 602 production numbers were supposed to be a throwback to the amount of Z28s that was built back in 1967, the first year Chevrolet produced the Camaro.

Special Features the V8 RS Camaro Would Have Received:

• A specialized L98 Engine
• Trick Cam
• A specialized intake system for better flow
• One-off tube headers
• Three-inch exhaust
• Corvette ported aluminum heads
• A ZF6 Corvette 6-speed transmission
• A modified suspension for a softer ride and better handling
• Modified fronts seats to better hold the occupants
• 245/50ZR16 tires on black diamond-cut rims

This combination was good enough to produce 300+ horsepower rocketing the Camaro down the quarter-mile at a consistent 13.50s at 104mph. This may not seem like much now, but in the early 90s, that would have been faster than any Corvette, Firebird, or Mustang that was coming off the assembly line at the time.

Other problems the Camaro RS police package encounter were the sticker prices. At $29,000, that would have made the Camaro a much more expensive ride than its competitors. So Chevrolet decided the best thing to do was to produce the Camaro, but take off all of the extras except for the heritage strips and the 25th Anniversary emblems.

With only two being built, these Camaros would be a couple of the rarest Camaros out there today. But, unfortunately, since they were never put into production and they were only considered as prototypes, they may be rare, but they are not considered very valuable.

Although I have searched, I have yet to find a confirmed 1992 25th Annerverey (B4C RS) Camaro. My assumption is they are either in a museum somewhere or two different owners are driving around a Camaro with no real knowledge of what they are driving.

If they were put into production, would they have been one of the most collectible Camaros of all time?

I guess we'll never know.

1968 COPO Camaro Z28 Convertible: The Rarest Camaro Built

Rarest Camaro Every Built

1968 COPO Camaro Z28 Convertible

This 1968 Z28 convertible was a signal ordered (1-of-1) COPO Camaro built specially for Chevrolet’s General Manager Elliott "Pete" Estes.

1967 was the first year Camaro made its debut in the auto industry market. In '67, Chevrolet only built RS and SS Camaros for driving purposes and built Z28 Camaros for the SCCA Racing Circuit. The Z28s were not cars you could buy at the dealership or drive legally on the streets.

Vince Piggins, Chevrolet's Manager of Product Performance at the time was ready to change that for '68, but the only way he could get the Z28 into regular production as a street-legal car was to get Estes approval.

So Piggins plan was to give Estes a Z28 to drive with hopes he would fall in love with it. The only problem was Z28s were only designed as hard-tops and Estes only drove convertibles. Piggins knew if he gave Estes a hardtop to drive, he would park the Camaro in a company garage where it would sit until someone else moved it.

Piggins decided to fix that problem by rolling the dice and building Estes a convertible 1968 Camaro Z28, the only 1968 Z28 convertible that would ever be built. The gamble paid off. Estes drove the Camaro as a daily driver and loved it, in fact, he loved it so much he gave the go-ahead for a full line of regular production Z28s for 1968.

Where is the 1-of-1 1968 Z28 Convertible Now?

After Estes sold the Camaro in December of '67, this beautiful rare Camaro was not really known to the public as it spent more than 20 years being sold back-and-forth to front office GM employees. But in 1991, the Camaro made it to a public auction and at that time became the highest selling muscle car of all-time with the hammer dropping at $172,000.

Unfortunately for the buyer, Al Maynard, when the purchase was made, he realized all of the Z28 special parts had been removed and the Camaro was put back to RS trim. But Maynard had a plan for that, he bought another Camaro equipped with everything that originally came with the Z28 back in '68 and put the car back to its original being.

Maynard said, "This is the Pete Estes car! It has all the original sheet metal with absolutely nothing out of place. Everything is date coded correctly, and every piece is absolutely correct. It is the only one in the world." This Camaro is truly a gem and in today's standard, if a Camaro like this rolled across the Barrett-Jackson Auction block it could possibly fetch about a million maybe more.

Special Parts:

• Folding Rear Seat
• Auxiliary Console-Mounted Instruments
• Auxiliary Lighting
• Power Windows
• Remote Outside Mirrors
• Custom Seat Belts
• Positraction
• 1969 Prototype Fiberglass Hood
• Cross Ram Air Hood
• Coated Factory Headers
• Performance Suspension Package
• Four-Wheel Disc Brakes
• Blue Light Stereo Radio

It’s always a good thing when a piece of car history ends up in the hands of someone who knows what it is and appreciates it the way it should be appreciated. Hopefully this COPO 1968 Camaro Z28 convertible sticks around for many generations to come.

Rich With Words

eCOPO Camaro: The Future Of Drag Racing?

eCOPO Camaro

You won’t see this at the drag strip every day, an all-electric eCOPO Camaro beating its original record-breaking quarter-mile times of low 10’s by dipping into the 9’s. It’s an eerie sight to see, a COPO Camaro that usually sounds like a monster do a smokey burnout, a front wheels-up launch, and a 9-second pass without barely making a sound.

The eCOPO Camaro was hitting 10.14’s (give or take) regularly with 80-percent juice being fed to it. No one knows how much juice was being fed to the Camaro when it made its groundbreaking 9-second pass, but whatever the case, the eCOPO stopped the clocks at 9.837-seconds and cross the traps at 134 mph.  

The eCOPO Camaro was debuted at the 2018 SEMA show last October. The Camaro uses the same body structure and body design as the standard COPO Camaro that Chevrolet offers to private drag racers and drag racing teams for the NHRA Eliminator class. This electric setup Camaro even uses the same three-speed automatic transmission and solid rear-axle as its sibling COPO.

The setup the eCOPO uses is two electric motors drawing power from four 200-volt modules that are evenly placed throughout the car for even weight distribution. The setup is said to produce an estimated 780 horsepower and 780 pound-feet of torque.

If there is ever an electric drag racing class that comes about, the eCOPO uses an 800-volt charging system for quick turnaround times for round-after-round drag racing. And it is possible, if you look at Indy car racing, they have a very successful Formula E all-electric circuit that runs all year and visits a lot of the famous raceways throughout the US and world.

So is this the future of drag racing? There could possibly be a competitive class or classes that come about in the near future. But let’s face it, the power, the sound, and the thrill of hearing a combustion engine roar through the quarter-mile just won’t ever go away.   

New Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 to Pace the Indy 500 - Here’s Why It Gets the Honor!

Corvette ZR1 Indy 500 Pace Car

With its aggressive look and big bold front end and rear spoiler, this Corvette looks like it’s ready to take on every supercar on the planet, and with its overwhelming power and handling abilities, it is.

Let’s take a look at some of the 2019 Corvette ZR1 hard hitting numbers and influential features that helped it earn its right to be this years Indy 500 Pacecar.

The monster 6.2-liter supercharged V8 that sits under the aggressive looking hood of the Corvette ZR1 cranks out 755 horsepower. That horsepower combined with an eight-speed automatic transmission or a seven-speed rev-matching manual transmission pushes this ZR1 from 0-60 in just 2.8 seconds and covers the quarter-mile in 10.6 seconds at 134 mph. If that still leaves you a little under impressed, then maybe the 212 mph average top speed at the track in Papenburg, Germany can open your eyes to just how well this Corvette performs.  

What makes this LT5 ZR1 6.2-liter engine so much more potent than the Corvette Z06 6.2-liter V8? The engine the ZR1 gets has been upgraded with a bigger Eaton supercharger, bigger throttle body, a beefier camshaft and uses both port-and-direct fuel injection for an increase of 105 ponies over the Z06.

Helping this massive LT5 engine perform well even at high speeds for long periods of time is a much larger front fascia than the average Corvette. The ZR1 front fascia includes huge air dams and fender vents to help push as much cool air into the 13 radiators as possible. The ZR1 also offers plenty of other large exterior features. The front splitter is noticeably bigger than the Z06 front splitter and the ZR1 rear spoiler just dwarfs the ZO6 rear spoiler. Along with some other awesome carbon fiber add-ons, the 2019 ZR1 Corvette creates 950 pounds of downforce. Now it should be noted that if you don’t plan on doing any major competition circuit racing, you probably won’t need the massive rear spoiler, and if you think it looks intrusive, you can order your new ZR1 with a Z06 rear spoiler for a more reasonable look.    

So how does this turn-key race car drive as a daily driver with an average driver behind the wheel? When the Corvette is switched to Touring mode, you will get to enjoy a quieter exhaust, looser steering characteristics and a softer suspension. Outside of being very careful with the aggressive acceleration, this new 2019 Corvette ZR1 has the ability to offer you a very easy driving powerful supercar that leaves you confident in your driving abilities. And if you do want to test your driving skills at high speeds, the Michelin Super Sports tires and magnetic suspension offers you the same easy handling attributes at high speeds as it does in everyday driving situations. For a car that can reach 200+ mph and go 10 seconds in the quarter-mile, its ability to let you handle the car at ease at any speed is incredible. And of course, stopping has never been an issue with Corvette’s high performers. Six-piston carbon ceramic Brembo brake calipers are used in the front and four-piston calipers are used in the rear.  

Obviously, the interior of the Corvette ZR1 cabin is just as high-tech as the exterior and drivetrain. An eight-inch touchscreen infotainment center host all of the goodies and connectivity capabilities you would expect out of a high-end General Motors vehicle. Included with that system is a rearview backup camera, a front end camera so you don’t mash up your front splitter, and a powerful Bose system so you can jam away on long car cruises.

Coming Soon
The most powerful and capable Corvette ever built is now available at select dealerships. The full load of the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 coupes and convertibles should be coming to all qualifying dealerships later this year/early next.

So what can you expect to pay for this 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1? Around $122,095 for the coupe and $126,095 for the convertible (no word on the extra cost for the Indy 500 Special Edition).

To see this 2019 Corvette ZR1 in action, tune into ABC, Sunday, May 27 for the official Indy 500 Race.

2019 Corvette ZR1 Spits Out Flames Like The Batmobile

Corvette ZR1 Spitting Flames

In recent admissions from Chevrolet - they claimed that the new 2019 Corvette ZR1 will be capable of shooting flames out the exhaust pipes. No one really knew what that meant - would it shot out puffs of flames when you let off the throttle, would it shoot out flames at full throttle, or did it have some kind of flame-throwing device on it?  

Our questions are answered with this Chevrolet 12 second video. When the ZR1 LT5 powerplant is running at open throttle, beautiful whitish, blue flames shot out of the exhaust pipes. When the throttle is released, aggressive sounding pops are said to follow as the flames disappear.

All this can be contributed to the dual overhead cams on the 6.2-liter engine that promotes a 52 percent larger supercharger than what you will find on the current LT4 Z06. Also contributing to the light show is Chevrolet's first duel-fuel-injection system. And flames aren’t all this exhaust system does.

The new sound flap that Chevrolet has installed gives the ZR1 an amazing sound, one of which is so loud, in some of the videos of the ZR1 running the track at Nürburgring in Germany, you can see that the exhaust system has been altered to point in a certain direction. The conclusion that can be made for the odd-looking extended exhaust is to point the exhaust sound away from the noise emissions meter.  Nürburgring has strict noise pollution levels that can’t be exceeded.  

  

New Corvette Discount - $8,000?

Corvettes are expensive and getting a deal on them from the dealership is an almost unheard of phenomena. But from now until about May 1st of 2018, you might have a chance to purchase a brand new Corvette ZO6 or Grand Sport equipped with a set of Carbon-Fiber Brembo brakes with an $8,000 discount.

The discount will come in the form of a three-part deal. The first part is a loyalty discount. This will give you a $2,000 rebate if you are already a proud owner of a Corvette. The second rebate will come on all Corvettes with the high-performance brake setup. Chevrolet has yet to make a statement on the reason why they are offering this discount, but purchase any Corvette with the high-performance brake package and you will get a $5,000 discount. Usually, when a car company beefs up the performance of a vehicle they also beef up the price, but for a $5,000 discount, why ask any questions. Your last rebate will be a $1,000 “Bonus Tag” discount for a total savings of $8,000. Again, it’s very rare to find new Corvettes with marked-down prices or big discounts, so the answer to the question of why? It’s kind of a mystery. One could only speculate that increasing sales and making room for more Corvettes that are coming in the near future would be the reason. Maybe statistically the Corvettes with the Brembo brake package don’t sell as well. Let’s face it, unless you are planning on doing some serious road racing, the heavy duty brakes won’t do you a lot of good and will leave you about $5,000 lighter in your pocketbook.

Chevrolet Redline Special Edition Vehicles

Chevrolet has been making an attempt to offer more options to the consumer without adding more models to their lineup. This can be seen in the Silverado lineup where you can choose from five different special edition trim models. 

Chevrolet has done this in the past with their world-famous trucks and has had a lot of luck with it, so in order to keep the luck running, they have come up with a special Redline edition that will not only be available on the Silverado but also on eight other Chevrolet vehicles. 

Nine Redline Special Edition Vehicles

• 2017 Colorado
• 2017 Camaro
• 2017 Silverado 
• 2017 Cruze Sedan
• 2017 Cruze Hatch
• 2017 Malibu 
• 2018 Trax
• 2018 Equinox
• 2018 Traverse 

This will be the Chevrolet brands biggest special edition project to-date. Never have they had a special edition span across so many different models in their lineup. This Redline special edition lineup was first introduced at SEMA in 2015. Brian Sweeney, U.S. Vice President of Chevrolet says, "this is just one example of this company taking the concepts we introduce at these cars show and bringing them to the showroom."

The Redline special edition vehicles will come with mostly visual upgrades. Coming in a special silver paint, they will also receive a blacked-out grille with a black-out Chevrolet bow tie, special edition black and red accented rims, red trim, and other special features.  

If you want a Redline special edition Chevrolet model, you might get lucky and find one that a dealership has ordered to play host to their showroom. But in most cases, you will have to head to your dealer and have one ordered for you, at least while they are still a new and hot commodity. Happy Hunting

1996 Corvette Grand Sport: Throw Back to the '63 Corvette Grand Sport

When it comes to fourth-generation Corvettes, they shared a common trait with all other American Sports Cars at that time, their power was not all that impressive. So when it came to the fourth-generation Corvette's final year (1996), Chevrolet decided that putting something special on the market would be a boost for their brand and bring big attention to the on-deck sixth-generation Corvettes of 1997.

To bring the spotlight back to the Corvette, Chevrolet's solution was to go back to 1963 when they made one of their meanest Corvettes of all time and revive the name and color scheme. For 1996, Corvette decided that 1,000 models would get special treatment for better performance, a louder color combination, and they would place the Grand Sport badges on the Vette just like they did in '63.

Giving the Corvettes What They Needed

Corvette engineers slapped the 1996 Grand Sport Corvette with an LT4 that originally pumped out 300-hp, but for this special edition Corvette, engineers managed to squeeze 30 extra horsepower out of them. They accomplished this with a more aggressive camshaft, higher-flow aluminum heads, larger valves, higher-compression pistons, new high-flow fuel injectors, and roller rocker arms.

Crazy colors followed – Admiral Blue Metallic paint was accented with a big white stripe that ran down the center of the body. Two red hash marks were placed on the left fender and matched the red interior. Black painted five-star rims completed the color scheme and made up the Corvette that some people ended up loving and some people ended up hating.

Grand Sport Corvette Handling Options

When it came to performance handling, the 1996 Corvette Grand Sport didn't get much more than the original standard Vettes did except for a bigger set of tires for the coupe: 275/40ZR-17 Goodyear radials in front and 315/35ZR-17s in the rear. The convertibles received the same size tires as the non-Grand Sport Corvettes did but there were options. 

On the 1996 Corvette Grand Sport, just like with other Corvettes, you could spring for the $350.00 Z51 handling package which came with stiffer springs, new Bilstein shock absorbers, and front and rear stabilizer bars. There was also an optional Selective Real Time Damping system that cost an extra $1695.00. That system used sensors and accelerometers at each wheel to give the semi-active suspension the ability to readjust the shock damping in 10-to-15 milliseconds, sort of what they use today on the Corvettes just not nearly as sophisticated.

All-and-all, I always loved the look of the 1996 Corvette Grand Sport, it's one my favorite from the fourth-generation, although there wasn't much competition. The next year Corvette changed its style and engine, and the left over LT4s motors found their way into the 1997 30^thAnniversary Camaros.