PRA4SNW sent us this 1979 Chevrolet Z28 to review. 1979 was the best year the Camaro ever had on the sales floor, and the Z28 led the way. This 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 has a four speed manual, T-tops and a 350 that has been bored out to 355 cubic inches. It is located in Vandalia, Illinois, east of St. Louis, and the seller is asking $18,500. It has been listed for about three weeks, and you can find it here on Facebook Marketplace. The seller says it is insured through Hagerty for $35,000 and had to be appraised to get that value.
This Z28 is finished in grey with a black interior and is equipped with aftermarket bucket seats and steering wheel. It has T-tops, aluminum wheels and Autometer ghost gauges. The 350 has been bored to 355 and runs through headers into Flowmaster mufflers with Magnaflow stainless tips. It also has a new carburetor with an electric choke, an electric fuel pump, a new alternator and new belts, and the seller says it runs on 93 octane. All of the steering and suspension components have been replaced in the last two years, except the steering box. It is not an air conditioned car, and it has a clean title. The seller is upfront about a few issues, including some minor bubbling around the back glass and T-top, and the engine starts to lose a little oil pressure once it reaches full operating temperature. A buyer will also want to check the VIN to confirm it is a factory Z28 because I have never seen this color and it has many aftermarket parts.
The base Camaro engine in 1979 was a 250 cubic inch six rated at 105 horsepower. Buyers could step up to a 305 two barrel V8 or a 350 four barrel V8 rated at 170 horsepower. The Z28 came with its own 350 rated at 175 horsepower, along with a heavy duty suspension, sway bars and dual exhaust. An automatic was most common, and only 18,987 Z28 buyers chose the close ratio four speed, which was a no cost option. The four speed was not available on any Camaro sold in California. Chevrolet offered 14 exterior colors in 1979.
The second generation Camaro debuted in 1970 and stayed in production through 1981. For 1979, the Berlinetta replaced the Type LT as the luxury model, and every Camaro got a new, flatter instrument panel. The Z28 got a front air dam that wrapped around to the fenders, flared wheel openings similar to the Trans Am, new fender louvers and Z28 decals running from the front flares to the doors. Chevrolet built 282,571 Camaros for 1979, a record that has never been broken, and 84,877 of them were Z28s, also a record. The Pontiac Trans Am outsold the Z28 but both cars were popular in high school parking lots.
No complaints on this one. Nice car.
I’m not generally a fan of this body style, but this one looks really nice, and the styling is better than the ’79 Mustang. I don’t mind the rear end, but the front end just looks strange to me. There are worse-looking cars, though – like the Cyber Truck.
Only when they were recreated as top fuel funny cars.
I’m not a fan of the schnoz either, but at least the stylists resisted the temptation to use rectangular headlights like the Firebird got.
About the engine..it’s got a standard overbore, but that’s it. It’s not “stroked”. Also, the seller mentions it runs on 93 octane. That rules about 99% of pump gas since highest is 92 Premium. It seems to be a very nice car but if they wanted to go stroked, put a 383 stroker in it that could still run standard pump swill.