This 1974 Camaro Z28 is located near Seattle, Washington in the small town of Maple Valley. Many thanks to Pat L. for bringing this rare Camaro to our attention. While not that fast in its day, compared to a Super Duty Trans Am or a 454 Corvette, the 1974 Camaro was the last of the small back window F bodies. It was also that last year for the Z28 to be offered until 1977 when Chevrolet would revive the option package. The car is listed for sale here on Craigslist for $22,500.
The seller states that the car has original paint and interior. Please correct me if I am wrong but I don’t believe the Camaro came with bright red carpet or with red piping on the base interior seating. As for the paint, the front driver fender appears to be a different shade of Code 75 red than the rest of the Camaro. The odometer is stated to read 78,846 miles.
The engine is anything but stock but the seller states that he has many of the original parts. The original 5.7-liter engine block has been modified with Air Research aluminum heads, aluminum manifold, high flow air cleaner, and headers. In 1974, the exterior Z28 treatment was limited to wild stripes that started on the hood and ended on the trunk. There were no scoops or air extractors like the Trans Am.
So who has owned one of these cars? From the factory, the 350 cubic inch engine generated 245 horsepower but obviously the upgrades have made given this car a lot of get up and go. It is said to have been garaged since the late 1990s and comes with some paperwork. Is it worth $22,500?
As they got slower and less special, the graphics got louder.
Even car design did find ways to compensate for less power.
Luckily, few got the optional hood graphics.
Quite the opposite with the t/a’s hood bird.
Does anyone realize this z28 is almost 400!! lbs heavier than the ’70 1/2??!!
http://nastyz28.com/camaro/camaro-weight.html
5 mph bumpers & hefty door beams in the doors.
Disregarding air bags, I would think this is a very safe car to be in if you get hit in the side.
The hood graphics were not optional and most of the 74 Z28’s came with them. I had to request a “stripe delete” when I ordered mine. It wasn’t as fast as my 67 Z28 but with a tuneup 3 months after buying it really woke up the engine. Re worked the carb and distributor to eliminate the bog and let it wind better. It was fast with a 4 speed and handled very well for such a heavy car with bias ply F60-15 tires of the day.
And the bumpers got bigger
Odd that hidden wipers were optional on the Z28.
& odd i never seen factory “seat piping” on a ’70s firebird
or camaro, for that matter.
& it’s not listed here either
http://www.teufert.net/camaro/1974.htm
but an optional AN6 drivers adjustable seat back!!!! IS shown, but i never seen 1 of those either. lol
Paul, according to
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/unrestored-original-1974-chevrolet-camaro-z28-proof-performance-didnt-die-early-1970s/
& (scroll to the bottom in)
http://nastyz28.com/camaro/camaro74.html
&
http://www.teufert.net/camaro/1974.htm ,
the BIG D88 stripes/Z28 hood decal were optional.
Most people do not believe that the hood bird on the t/a was ALWAYS optional, except on ’79 anniversary model.
bry593, to take a 5mph hit, the ’74 camaro’s bumpers gotta be very beefy & i believe there are VERY heavy & massive bumper brackets & structure behind what is visible. Else, how do you account for a 400!! lb difference between a ’74 & a ’70 1/2!
Paul, the early HEI at least on big Pontiac motors was troublesome(not as bad as earlier unified igntion tho) – white rotors that were crap plastic that the hot spark eventually burned a hole thru. lol
& at least 1 wire on the dumb pickup coil that was too taut that eventually broke off after all that back & forth motion. lol
& nothing to write home about the modules used either.
I’d rather have much simpler pts & condenser(with a file, screwdriver, matchbook & spare pts/cond in the glove box) or MUCH simpler-than-HEI pertronix installed.
Great write up Bruce and also thanks to Pat L. For the submission.
The driver fender is most likely code 76 red. It’s called “not quite 75 red”.
A big whiff. Swing batter batter batter.
I had a similar one with no graphics option. They are a pretty cool car. The claim to fame was they were faster then the Corvette that year due to a weight advantage. Not that it said too much when talking about 1974. For the ask IMO it should be a lot nicer and 100% correct.
A bit pricey for a less than desirable bumper car
I’m not sure you could get red carpet in a black interior, even in ’74 – maybe special order? & has anyone ever seen red piping/trim on a stock black f-body seat? Looks good tho.
I don’t believe the wheels should be black, tho they look sharp.
The original stout 10 bolt rear was shot, even at 73k miles?
I can’t speak for the seat piping but the “accent color carpeting” became available the previous year. My 73 has it, and I ordered it that way.
I had a ’75 LT with red carpet and red vinyl. 350, 4 barrel, 4-speed Saginaw, 3.42 lsd, sway bars front and rear, but just 14×7 rally wheels. Closest thing they offered to a Z28 in ’75.
BTW, the bumpers on the ’74/’75 Camaro are much light than the ’74/’75 Firebird.
Both my 73 and 74 Z28’s had the LT package so cloth with no accent color piping. I don’t remember them being that way but that’s a long time ago LOL
I had a friend that had a ‘74 (in 1974) with red carpet and red piping on the seats.
I think it’s a nice car but that price is a bit steep for my tastes given that it has the huge blindspots of the earlier cars without having the more stylish front end.
Nice car, but the seller is trying to get big money for the original paint, miles, and interior car he described. This isn’t it. Not sure about the miles, but neither the paint or interior are 100% original. Overpriced!
Could of had a ’73 Z 28, silver with black graphics, the black mags, 350 4 speed. Looked stock under the hood except for full headers and a very rhythmic idle from a different cam. My dad borrowed it a few times from our boss who owned it, always something exciting whenever he did. Like the time the old man pumped the brake pedal a few times going about forty and uh oh, the pedal went straight to the floor. Or the time it ran out of gas on I15, there’s news, right? Put two gallons in it and ran it through the gears, quickly to find a service station. It was neat and all, but in 1984 it was soooooo familiar. Plus the healthy cam wreaked havoc on the power brakes and it wasn’t a Ford, which was important to me back then.
Anyone know if this is this a Z28? I wasn’t sure if I could read those graphics.
I test drove a 74 in 1976, with that hood decal.
Yes, the seat piping in red is definitely one of the things I remember! Also, the red carpet.
Everywhere I went on that test drive, people followed the car, I felt like I was in a parade of one… did not buy it.
I have a ’74 Z-28 350 4 Speed, Red with Charcoal Colered Wheels and Black Interior with Red Piping, but Black Carpet. Mine has been sitting since January of 1990. Someone stole the front seats out it years ago while it was sitting on my Car Trailer. I traded my 1972 El Camino SS 454 Automatic even up for it in November of 1989, drove it for 2 months then parked it, only to never be driven again. It now needs a Total Frame Off Restoration and new interior, which will probably never get done! 🙁
Sad you didn’t keep the El Camino or drive and enjoy the 74. I bought a new 74 Z28, I special ordered it dk red metallic without stripes and the LT interior. Unfortunately it was stolen and stripped 18 months later. I would love to have another but it would have to be a Z28/LT 4 spd.
Kermit, I would be interested in your Z if its for sale……would love to talk to you about it
Not worth it,Wasn’t then either It was a throwaway car just like the Duster
You must really hate Dusters to specifically include them in that comment ; they weren’t even in competition with each other ! The Camaro was a sporty type pony car , the Duster (except the 340 /360 ) was a compact economy car . The Mustang was Camaro’s main competition.
Plus I’m sure the Camaro was well over $1000.00 more to buy , which was a lot of money back then
Why bother with pictures that would piss off even a contortionist , whats up with the hole in the hood ? kinda strong money aint it ?
What hole in the hood ??
My bad, sorry. In one picture there is a reflection of something on the hood that looks like a hole.
I like the fact that it has the flat rear glass -I’m not really a fan of red cars ,and I’d dump the red carpeting in favor of black, but I could own this and have fun with it !
I ordered a new 1974 Z28 from the factory. Looked exactly like this car on the outside except mine was midnight blue. It would completely put the tires up in smoke in 1st gear, lay some serious rubber in 2nd and when I power shifted I would always get 3rd gear scratch. Raced a 1969 el Camino 396 the Z28 would hook up much faster but the big block always came on strong at the end. I believe ET would have been upper 13’s. Paid $4,500.00 cash new, sold the car for $4,500.00 cash four years later, hardly a throw away car. I got more complements on that car then any of my 3 corvettes, and I had a red 1963 split window.
I ordered mine and got it in may of 74. Came with the new HEI, plus I ordered mine in dark red metallic with a 4 spd, 3:42 posi, LT pack, AM-FM, A/C, Ps, Pb, tint, black cloth all for $3950 out the door. Helped to have a family member in GM to give me the wholesale pricing. It was stolen 18 months later and AAA ended up paying me $4200 settlement.
14.45 @ 95 mph is how fast my 74z was
You sure ain’t gonna build one of that quality and that close to original for that kind of money. Good deal.
JoeNYWF64 look closer at the NastyZ28 list and you will see the D88 4 color stripe was “required” if you didn’t ask for the stripe delete you got it and were charged $77. Never had a problem with the Chevy HEI, in fact we recurved it at 3000 miles. I bought a 73 RS/LT/Z28 new but got an auto trans so I sold it in 74 when I ordered the 74. I had the GM only pricing sheets and family working for GM so I knew the in’s and outs of ordering. I can say my 74 was as fast as the 73 after tuning. Having owned 7 Z28’s over the years and still have one theres not much I don’t know about them. Also my 74 Z28 had hideaway wipers as part of the LT package. Also the majority of the Z28’s in the Detroit area I saw had the stripes and mine was out of the ordinary for my area. I do admit my brothers 73 SD455 4spd T/A was faster than my Z28 but I would hope so as that was one very rare T/A.