The swan song for the 2nd generation Camaro was 1981. The car still looked great but the performance was long gone. Still, some of us prefer any year of the 2nd generation Camaro than what came out in 1982. This 1981 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 is located in Waterbury, Connecticut. It has only covered 2,800 miles in its 41 year life. The car is listed here on eBay with less than 24 hours remaining in the auction. Currently, the bidding has reached $30,096. The second generation Camaro was produced from 1970 to 1981.
There are surprisingly no pictures of the interior of this car so I thought a picture of the beautiful and functional air induction hood scoop would be pleasing to the eye. The 1980 and 1981 Camaro Z28’s were fitted with air induction hood scoops that actually worked. The flapper on the rear side of the scoop opened under full throttle to let cool air into the air cleaner. This car is as clean as they get and looks to have been stored indoors and cared for all of its life.
The 1981 Camaro Z28 could be ordered with a 350 cubic inch V8 engine backed by an automatic transmission or a 305 cubic inch V8 engine backed by a 4 speed Borg Warner T-10 manual transmission. If you lived in California, the only engine available was the 305 cubic inch V8 engine. The LM1 350 cubic inch (5.7 liter) engine produced a pedestrian 175 horsepower while the LG4 305 cubic inch (5.0 liter) engine was rated at 165 horsepower. These engines can be modified to generate much more horsepower but were choked down with emissions equipment from the factory. The 1981 Camaro was the first year for CCC (Computer Command Control). It used an oxygen sensor and electronically controlled carburetor.
This Z28 has the factory steel wheels that came in body color. An optional aluminum wheel was available and is one of my favorite designs for a factory wheel. This car should be going to a new home soon and will hopefully be enjoyed and driven as it was meant to be.
For reasons I can’t fathom, this slow poke car will likely go north of $40,000. Well at least it is good looking in contrast to that hideous thing GM calls a Camaro today.
Something doesn’t sound right with this ad. The seller says that it is a 5.8 L V8 and has a manual. The 350 V8 is a 5.7L and Bruce says that engine was only available with an automatic, which also matches up with:
https://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/chevrolet_usa/camaro_2gen/camaro_2gen_z28/1981.html
If it is a manual, perhaps either it is the 305, or, an auto to manual conversion was done (perhaps that is why there are no interior pictures?). Before laying out some serious change in a bid on this vehicle, finding out from the seller what gives would be the smart thing to do.
After making the original post I checked out the car on the dealer’s website, thinking that might answer my question. It didn’t unfortunately. If I was thinking of bidding I would at least call them before making any bid.
I also googled the VIN and found it sold last October for $26,300.
https://www.classic.com/veh/1981-chevrolet-camaro-z28-1g1ap87h4bl171967-7WvEKln?tab=history
The 8th spot in the VIN is H, which was the code for the 305, so that’s what it should have with the 4-speed. The 350 would be an L.
@ AW
“Me ‘ats off to tha duke”.
I never thought to google 1981 Camaro engine codes. Thanks for your input. At least we know that it was born with a 305 and not a Canadian 350 4-spd. Without seeing the interior I think it is impossible to visually confirm it is a manual, or is it?
The 350 with a 4 speed was available in Canada in 1981
Mike, I assumed the 5 8 reference was referring to 5.0 L 8 cylinder. If not, the seller is mistaken unless it’s a Canadian car.
That’d explain a lot.
Unfortunately “smart” and classic car buying do not generally go together in the same sentence these days.
Your question is a valid one. Looking at the engine bay, and knowing these cars like I do, I think this is a stock factory engine. If someone did an engine swap, there’s no way it would still have stock exhaust manifolds and all that original smog equipment on it. So it’s probably a 305 4-speed.
But yes, I would verify that.
I was in a large Camaro club for a number of years. It seemed that all of the super low mileage 80-81 Z28s were white. Different coloured accent stripes, but all white cars.
In 1981 this exact model was on the cover of the Camaro brochure. It was gorgeous. The white with the blue accents, the wheels, the interior. It was stunning and was so much more beautiful than the pedestrian metallic greens, browns and other offerings. So if you wanted the cover car, you ordered this.
I so wanted one back in the day, but no way my pitiful hourly wage could make the payments.
Funny thing was that when I actually finally drove one, I found it to be so cramped inside, and with so many defects from sloppy assembly that I no longer wanted one.
But for a time in 1881 I had the brochure enticing me to buy it and Iooked at it every day for months.
Today I could probably afford paying 30K for this,and it would be interesting to scratch a 50 year itch. Will I? No chance. Its just an old car anymore to me.
I’ve got a white 81 with under 50,000 mi in pristine condition. It’s got the red striping package and red interior. My theory is that people who buy white cars and automatic transmissions are going to be less susceptible to modifying them.
I’ve got a white with red stripes and red interior. My theory is white cars aren’t driven as hard and they don’t fall into the hands of teenagers because they want black or red
Fair number of 350, 4sp cars made their way up north. Beautiful looking ride w the white paint and blue stripes.
All of the 80-81 Z28s both 4 speed and automatic that I have seen in Canada have been 350 powered. I have seen a bunch of 80-81 Trans Ams with the 305 Chevy.
I ordered a brand new 81 Z/28 in California with the 305 manual trans for around $11,500 or so and was told I could not get the 350 with a manual. Had the car for about 4 months and sold it. An underpowered Hi-Perf vacuum cleaner is what is seem like and do not miss it one bit.
Being a 20 y.o. in the early 80’s I seem to recall that most of the performance options on new cars at that time were graphics and spoilers……So I wouldn’t buy one of these cars (stock) expecting it to be a performer 40 years later. Nice car….. if you want to recapture your youth one last time…..but it is not going to go fast in a hurry!
I had a ’76 Z-28 Prototype with a 305 auto built in Cincinnati that was tight and high quality as any car I’ve ever owned. I then had an ’81 Z-28 350 auto built in LA. It was nowhere near as tightly built but still a fun car. The rear fenders on the ’76 rusted out and I couldn’t keep replacements on it either. I had no rust problems on the LA car.
I loved this body, especially the split bumper Z’s.