T-Top 5.7 Liter: 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

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Located deep in South Texas is this red 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. The car looks pretty good from 20 feet but up close it is more of a driver. The car is in McAllen, Texas and has over 100,000 miles on the odometer. It has been listed here on Facebook Marketplace for 2 days at an asking price of $12,000.

The interior is rough and the doors are missing door panels which can be obtained from an aftermarket supplier. The console is also missing and a B&M shifter is mounted on the floor. The seats appear to have been recovered and include Z28 logos on the headrest.  The car appears to have tilt steering but there are only 5 pictures in the listing so some additional inquiry is going to be needed to learn more about the car. The car does have T-tops which look to be factory.

All Camaro Z28’s came with a Chevrolet 350 cubic inch V8 engine that was rated at only 175 horsepower and 265 lb ft of torque. A buyer could order the car with a Borg Warner T-10 4 speed transmission or a Turbo 350 automatic transmission. Chevrolet offered a number of more aggressive rear gear ratios for this car. I remember driving a 1979 Camaro off a used car lot that had a 3.73 rear end. It was a lot of fun from stop light to stop light. Camaro Z28’s of this era are still affordable, like its big brother the Corvette. However, if this was a Pontiac Trans Am in this condition, the price might be double the asking price we see here.

This car is equipped with Chevrolet Rally wheels that were not standard or an option on the 1979 Z28. This car is shod in black wall tires. Again, this car looks good in the pictures but the interior needs some work. According to the listing, the car has had more than 3 owners over its life. If you are a Z28 fan, this might be a good car to look into further to see if it is a good buy.

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Comments

  1. irocrobb

    My 1979 Z28 had a 4 speed manual and 3.73 gears and would turn 3000 rpm at 60 mph. Usually got 15 to 17 mpg ,imperial gallon that is,driving it easy.
    I think this car needs too much work for the price. The side stripes I believe are place to high.

    Like 8
    • Vin_in_NJ

      Agreed – Stripes on the fenders and doors should match the stripes on the fender flares and front air dam

      Like 3
    • OhioLou

      Yes , those side stripes are high. Price isn’t bad for up here in Ohio as long as the new stripes are not hiding a lot of Bondo.

      Like 3
  2. Karl

    I owned a 78 RS Camaro with factory T tops I would think rust would be a lot less in Texas than ND so that’s good. The “factory” T tops were supplied by a company call Cars and Concepts and replacement glass and latches are getting extremely difficult to get and the prices have gone up HUGE! Who ever buys this make sure all the weather stripping on the tops is fresh because I had 2 of them come off while in motion and it was just expensive 20 years ago today it would be crazy expensive to replace one. Other than that a SBC of this vintage is likely going to need a cam replacement because of wear, everything else is pretty straight forward.

    Like 1
  3. 8pack

    Those are not Cars & Concepts t-tops, they are factory Fisher body tops. Weatherstripping is easy to find and produced by at least 3 manufacturers.

    The C&C tops look like a solid glass panel roof on the car. There is no trim around the glass except on the outside edge/rail. They were in fact after market and the entire center section of the roof was cut out and replaced with an aluminum frame to hold the tops. Without sub frame connectors the body twisted even more than with the stock tops. I have a complete set of C&C tops and frame if any one wants them!

    Yiu could only get the 3.73 with the 4 Speed. The auto came with 2.something but both were limited slip.

    That car is a bit of a train wreck. Even though you can’t see it, Rust hides everywhere on these and unless it was garages it’s whole life it is unlikely there are not rust issues somewhere. It’s a $4500 car tops, tops. If I wanted a $25k project I would give him $3k.

    Like 5
  4. Charles Sawka

    Big brother Corvette ? C’mon man. Don’t go there.

    Like 1
  5. PRA4SNW

    sold!

    Like 0

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