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13k Miles! 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 Pace Car

When Chevrolet introduced the third-generation Camaro for the 1982 model year, it had little resemblance at all to its predecessor on the outside, although it continued to ride on the General Motors F-Body platform.  Its initial reception was overall favorable in the styling department, but in spite of its fresh look, the standard 305 V8 only produced 145 horsepower.  That didn’t seem to deter the sales though, as Chevy managed to sell 173,000 Camaros in 1982, with over half equipped with a V8.  The new design earned the 1982 Z/28 Motor Trend’s “Car Of The Year” award, and the Z was also chosen to be the Pace Car at the Indianapolis 500 for ’82.  Chevy even offered a Pace Car replica option for the Z/28, and if you’ve been looking for a nicely preserved example this 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 Indy 500 Pace Car might be right up your alley.  Located in Baldwin, Missouri, it can be seen here on eBay with a current bid of $5,649.  There are just over 5 days remaining on the auction at the time of this writing.

The Camaro offered for sale here has a claimed 13,012 original miles, and the owner describes it as a true survivor unmolested Z/28 Camaro.  The Pace Car package didn’t get the buyer any performance enhancements over the regular Z/28, but it did come with a special silver and blue two-tone paint job with some cool striping.  The seller claims that the paint and stripes on his car are all original, and from every angle provided the Camaro seems to present beautifully.  The wheels also appear to be in good shape, and it looks like there is plenty of tread remaining on the tires.

Things are pretty spiffy inside as well, with little wear on the front seats and the rear area looking like it’s rarely been sat in, which is a good thing if you’ve ever tried to fit into the back of one of these cars.  The roof includes T-Tops and the car still has the storage bags for them in the cargo area.  That back glass was sort of a radical design in a hatchback for its time and the windshield was tilted at a 62-degree angle, resulting in a really large dashboard area.

Under the hood, everything looks clean and in good order, as it should for a vehicle with such low mileage.  The seller says everything on the car works great and that the car drives perfectly.  Down below, an idler arm has recently been replaced plus there are new front and rear sway-bar bushings, as the old ones were dry-rotting.  What are your thoughts on this 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 Indy 500 Pace Car?

Comments

  1. Avatar Bick Banter

    These were particularly poor salts. They never gained much value and it’d be slower than molasses with this 145 horse LG4 and auto. The 165 horse Cease-Fire wasn’t much better. Still, they look nice, and as long as it stays in the four figures, could be a nice engine swap candidate, to bring its performance in line with the real pace car, which had a 250 horse aluminum 350.

    Like 4
  2. Avatar Bud Lee

    It’s a shame these were so cheaply made . The styling really is great on these .

    Like 5
  3. Avatar Sam Shive

    Another Over Weight, Under Powered SNAIL. LS1 Swap and call it a day.

    Like 1
    • Avatar The Tower

      Underpowered, yes. Overweight? Not hardly. The early 3rd-gen F-bodies, even with the 305 usually didn’t weigh much more than 3200 lbs. That was a huge improvement over the 2nd-gen which often approached 4000 lbs.

      Like 7
  4. Avatar NHDave

    Kinda wondering about this not having the dual-needle speedometer installed in ‘82 Camaros. And, the single-needle unit in this one shows a 140-mph limit, not the 85-mph limit used in vehicles at the time. A replacement speedometer in a 13K mile car? Hmmmm….

    Like 8
    • Avatar Bick Banter

      This would have had the dual needle from the factory. Good eye. The regular faced speedometer did not appear until 1985 and the 140 mile per hour unit did not appear until 1986. Neither says “Z28” on it like this one does.

      However, GM offered an over the counter unit that did say “Z28” on it and had the trip reset in the upper left hand side of the unit like the dual needle does (PN 25052189). It was offered from ’82 until ’84 or so.

      The factory installed 140 mile per hour speedometer has the trip reset on the bottom, as does a later aftermarket unit that also says “Z28” on it. So this car appears to have an early GM dealer unit.

      Here’s a link discussing this..

      https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/history-originality/475187-factory-140-mph-speedo.html

      The dealer unit would have been available when this car was new, so it doesn’t necessarily follow that the mileage is not accurate. Some people changed the speedometers on these immediately because the dual needle was weird and annoying. But it definitely warrants checking the mileage claim closer because it’s not the original speedo, and you can still find those old dealer speedometers on eBay.

      Like 3
      • Avatar Steve

        Don’t believe those replacement speedo’s were available at the same time the new style Camaro came out so suspect there had to be more miles than the new one shows. However the car does look new.

        Like 0
      • Avatar Bick Banter

        The information in the “History and Originality” section of ThirdGen.org says it was available in 1982, And those guys are pretty good. The fact that the speedometer is not original does warrant a further check. But looking at the car generally, I believe it has low miles on it

        Like 0
    • Avatar Yooper Mike

      Good catch

      Like 0
  5. Avatar Rw

    I was driving a 57 post Bel air / 60 over 283 when these and Corvettes of that era we’re new, they couldn’t hang close.

    Like 2
  6. Avatar Bound4Glory

    Dealer promotion included free hair spray with every oil change

    Like 2
  7. Avatar PRA4SNW

    I didn’t like the looks of these when new and have never warmed up to it.

    When I got a gander of what the ’82 was going to look like, I made sure to order an ’81 before it was too late.

    Like 4
  8. Avatar Lance Platt

    This year Camaro was not a muscle car in the classic sense but was an attractively designed model with a practical hatchback and a lighter curb weight to offset the lack of a 5.7 liter option. I looked at the Camaros in 1982 and 1983 and found the Crossfire injected V8 absent from dealer lots so wound up with an in-stock Pontiac Trans Am with the 165 hp package. Acceleration was more than adequate but the lighter hatch rear end and RWD was a little scary on wet and snowy roads. The Pace car edition was very attractive and popular at the time. This car should find a good home despite the greater power of the current Camaro.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Steve

    I can possibly understand rotted bushings but an idler arm at 13k miles? A replacement speedo and that imply the mileage is not correct.
    One of my co-workers bought one new and put it away convinced it would be collectable. Never heard if she sold it or not.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Angel Cadillac Diva Member

    I had a 1984 Camaro Berlinetta with the digital dash and lollipop radio. To be honest, I hated that car. I bought it new and all I can say is thank God it got stolen about a year and a half after I got it.
    The digital dash was cool, but certainly not worth the trouble. That car spent more time in the shop than on the road.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Dcor

    I remember when these came put and the Pace Cars were the coolest of the models. It may have been anemic performance wise but to a 14 year old car nut the low aero body was cool as hell. And nothing else from Detroit or anywhere else was much better in 82. The Vette was a joke as well.

    Like 2

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