1967 Trans-Am season review

[Jon Mello]

September 24, 1966 news tidbit in Competition Press & Autoweek indicates Chevy will build a suitable car to run in Group 2
(Trans-Am) and A-Sedan competition. Also interesting to note Firebird name had not yet been chosen for Pontiac's "F" body.
The 283 was the early engine choice but was soon ruled out in favor of a new 302 cubic inch displacement engine.


Jon Mello Collection

[Jon Mello]

Mercury Cougar was a brand new car for the '67 model year and Lincoln-Mercury was all-in with the intent to run the
full schedule. They also hired top shelf drivers Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones and Ed Leslie. A.J. Foyt was also shown as
a potential driver but it never came to pass. (Jon Mello Collection)






David Pearson voiced his desire to find an opportunity to drive for somebody in Trans-Am in this November '66 article.

[Jon Mello]

Dennis Cipnic's column in Competition Press & Autoweek points out the soft state of the car market for the '67 models and
thinks the Camaro has sold poorly. He also mentions the name "Corsa" as being a potential name for the top "sporty"model.
Vince Piggins is known to have selected the name Cheetah for the model that would ultimately end up being called the Z-28.


Jon Mello Collection

[Jon Mello]

More from Competition Press & Autoweek on developments with the Camaro and Cougar programs, plus
(Mustang racer) Dick Thompson's thoughts on the Trans-Am series. (Jon Mello Collection)

[Jon Mello]

A "press preview" or prototype version of the Z-28 was on display at the American Road Race of Champions event at Riverside
at the end of November '66. It may also have performed some pace car duties that weekend as well, although that is unclear.
It was also shown to the motoring press at the Mesa Proving Ground in Arizona shortly thereafter. A 2-page flyer (shown below)
was provided to give the press more information for use in their write-ups. You will note that the name of the car is Z(hyphen)28
and not Z(slash)28. Chevrolet did not make use of the Z/28 moniker until mid-year 1968 and Chevrolet factory literature and ads
used the Z-28 name prior to that. A subtle difference but worth noting.






Some pics from Mesa, AZ. Interesting that white stripe tires are fitted and the rear spoiler is a one-off piece with a completely flat
back side. A rear spoiler did not end up being installed on a '67 Z-28 on the assembly line but a small handful of cars that did get
run in the Trans-Am series in that year did get them. In at least one documented case, the factory only provided a blueprint and
the spoiler was homemade based off the print.

[TODD]

Jon;
 The plenum seems to look cut-out on the under-hood picture?

[Jon Mello]

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you.  I do have some pics of the engine bay of that car with the cowl plenum air cleaner installed.  No idea why it's not there in the photo shown.

[Jon Mello]

Here's another engine bay shot showing the cowl plenum air cleaner in place. It appears as though
the car is using the Corvette-style aluminum intake with the squared off runners but a true Z-28 manifold
was installed on the car later.

[Jon Mello]

This memo to all Chevrolet dealers came out on Friday, December 9th, 1966 to announce the upcoming
availability of the new Z-28 model. The two-page memo gave out pricing and option info but the claim
that the J-56 HD brakes would be mandatory did not turn out to be true. Only 1/3 of the cars got the option.
(Jon Mello Collection)





Ev Gardner's column in the December 9th, 1966 issue of the Washington Daily News has some interesting news
to report and it looks like there is early interest by people looking to race the new Z-28 in the Trans-Am series.



On December 12th, 1966 Competition Press & Autoweek announced the new model.

[Jon Mello]

The first order for a Z-28 was accepted on December 13th.  This engineering service letter was put out on that same day.
The first ordered car was the first to be built (December 29th). This car was purchased by Hugh Heishman through Aero
Chevrolet in Alexandria, VA for Johnny Moore to drive in the Trans-Am series.  John was the service manager for Hugh's
VW/Porsche dealership in Arlington, VA and was a rising young talent with success racing VWs and Porsches up to that time.
(Jon Mello Collection)

[MO]

Jon, thanks for posting that service letter. There is some great info on there; not that the info isn't known. It's just great to see it all on one early document. Very cool piece of history!

[Jon Mello]

Fred, you're right about a lot of the knowledge already being known but what I do like about that engineering letter is the
fact that it is a factory generated document that spells out the fact that the cowl plenum air cleaner, factory headers and
transistorized ignition were items that were placed in the trunk when the car was shipped to the dealer for delivery. There
are skeptics out there who don't believe this occurred and that belief simply is not true.

[69Z28-RS]

the other side of that coin, jon, is that some people persists in believing that ALL Z28's came with headers in the trunk..

[Jon Mello]

Gary, I guess I've heard a few people think along those lines but it would have to come from somebody who had only seen a small handful of these cars.

Z-28 report from The Washington Daily News, January 16, 1967


Z-28 report from The Miami News.


Z-28 report from The San Diego Union.

[Jon Mello]

Jerry Titus of Sports Car Graphic did an article on the "Cougars for Competition". On paper, with that driver lineup
and factory dollars behind the effort, they certainly looked like the team to beat for the title. (Jon Mello Collection)