Running Project: 1973 Chevrolet Camaro LT Z28

It’s hard to believe today, but the Camaro was in danger of being discontinued after the 1972 model year. Increasing federal emissions and safety mandates – combined with higher insurance premiums on muscle cars – had done a number on the whole industry. But GM brass would end up having second thoughts and the second-generation Camaro’s would stick around through 1981. This ’73 Camaro LT Z28 was no doubt once a sharp-looking car, but time and Mother Nature have turned it into a major project. Located in Silver Lake, Kansas, the Chevy is available here on eBay where the bidding sits at $4,050 with an unmet reserve, although you can click the Buy It Now button and bring it home for $9,900.

You can better understand Chevy’s dilemma in 1972 when the Camaro only racked up sales of 68,651 cars, quite different from the quarter-million units sold in the beginning in 1967-68. But the decision to keep going would prove to be the right one, as production picked up by 40% to 96,751 copies in 1973. This may have been helped by the addition of the LT replacing the SS, and the new LT Z28 would account for sales of 11,574 cars as a $598 option. The Z28 had the L48 350 cubic-inch V8 with a 4-barrel carburetor that put out 175 SAE net in the era of detuned engines. And a Z28 could come with factory air conditioning for the first time and the seller’s machine would be one of those cars.

The seller’s car is a barn find in rough shape that he’s done some work on to get it to where it is today, but a lot of challenging work and budget are still needed. The car had been sitting for more than 20 years, which helps explain why the odometer reading might be just 64,000 miles. After replacing the old gas with new and changing out various vacuum lines, he was able to get the car to fire up and run. The coaxing also required a new starter and a shot of oil in the cylinders before installing new spark plugs. And it seems as though the engine is numbers-matching.

This Camaro has a 4-speed manual transmission that may be fine, although you can’t remove the keys without putting it into reverse. The clutch is weak to operate, but you don’t hear any noises when engaging the gears. The brakes are shot, but there’s enough left to at least roll the car onto a trailer to move the Chevy to its next home. The tires hold air and the Camaro rolls without problems.

The biggest challenges will lie in whipping the body back into shape. There are a few dings and creases, but the rear quarter panels have rust blight, especially the passenger side where the metal is “see-through”. The rocker panels seem to share the same problem and I’d run a magnet over the front fenders. The undercarriage is crusty and sandblasting could reveal more problems. The car has not been treated to a bath; however, some cleaning of the interior was done to remove deposits left behind by small woodland creatures. The seats will have to be redone (covered by plastic bags now), as well as the carpeting and headliner.

This era of the Z28 doesn’t command the kind of resale value the first-generation models do, based on online sources that track auction sales. This may be a $30,000 car when brought back to the proper form (one even sold for six figures), but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of room for restoration work against the Buy It Now price.