Topics

1

Garage Talk / Reproduction CA Vintage Registration Tags

« on: February 20, 2023, 02:12:41 AM »

There are vendors on eBay who sell reproduction CA Registration tags:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/143958477899?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=143958477899&targetid=1263104805766&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=9031024&poi=&campaignid=14859008593&mkgroupid=130497710760&rlsatarget=pla-1263104805766&abcId=9300678&merchantid=6296724

2

Garage Talk / Jay Leno Drives the 2023 Corvette Z06

« on: December 05, 2021, 10:01:23 PM »

Check out when Jay Leno drives the 2023 Z06:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRU3UDvhF0s

I hope the exhaust sound is the same when the Z06 comes out!

3

Garage Talk / Test Drive of 1983 Z28 HO Built at GMAD Van Nuys

« on: February 24, 2021, 09:35:45 PM »

I got to take out one of the first production 1983 Z28 High-Output production Camaro that was built at the Van Nuys Plant.  I was surprised on how well the 305 HO engine performed and although I did not abuse the car as it was to be delivered to a customer, the exhaust made quite a rumble when decelerating.  The manual 5-speed was easy to shift and I thought the Z28 handled great.  Unfortunately, I had just purchased a condo in nearby Arleta and couldn't afford to buy a new Z28.  The photos were taken in the parking area below my condo unit.  I sure enjoyed working at the Van Nuys Plant!

4

Garage Talk / Herbie Hancock and the AC Cobra 260

« on: February 20, 2021, 07:15:26 PM »

Jay Leno did an interview some years ago with Herbie Hancock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1SQn4stkXA

One of my friends saw the AC Cobra 260 at a Shelby car show in Santa Monica and said that the owner was such a nice guy and talked with him for some time about the car.  When I told my friend that the enthusiast he was talking to was Herbie and was just as famous as the Cobra, he laughed!

5

Garage Talk / Taking Your 1969 Z28 to the Local Cars & Coffee

« on: February 09, 2021, 12:02:54 AM »

One of my friends got so tired of individuals asking him whether his 1969 Z28 was a real one or not, he brought along all the original documents.  The cross-ram was purchased from the original dealer and when I asked him how his Z28 ran, he told me it needed 4.56 gears instead of the 4.10s.

6

Test Drive / test

« on: February 06, 2021, 11:45:36 PM »

7

General Discussion / Friend's 1968 Z28 Camaro

« on: December 11, 2019, 11:59:56 PM »

My oldest friend bought a 1968 Z28 Camaro from someone who worked with him at his uncle's Union 76 gas station in Los Angeles in 1970.  I believe the Z28 was ordered from Harry Mann Chevrolet and was British Green with a black interior.  The owner had modified the Z28 for road racing and had changed the camshaft, installed headers, with Goodyear F60-15 tires mounted on American Racing alloy wheels.  As this was my friend's first car, he had the camshaft changed back to the original one as it was not suited for the street and the 4.56 gears were switched with someone who owned a 1969 Z28 which had a 4.10 rear end.  Although I am quite certain that the Z28 was built at the Van Nuys Assembly Plant, neither of us ever looked at the data plate as back in those days no one paid attentions to such things. 

My friend sold the Z28 for $1200 and bought a new 1973 Z28 Camaro, which had an automatic transmission and air conditioning.  We both wonder what happened to the 1968 Z28!

My first real job out of college was at the GMAD Van Nuys Plant in 1978 and although I wasn't there when the first generation F-cars came off the assembly line, I was there for the second and third generation cars.  Wish I could have bought my friend's 1968 Z28, but didn't have the money! - Mark