Hotrod Road Show

The great folks at Old Cars Weekly have done it again. Take a look at this 1969 Camaro Z/28

Car Life had a problem in 1969. The magazine wanted to do a test of all “Trans Am” versions of pony cars that carmakers were rushing to develop. The idea was that producing a certain number of copies would “legalize” the cars for the Sports Car Club of America’s Trans-American racing series. To qualify for that formula, pony cars had to have under-5.0-litre engines.
Chevy (302), Ford (302), AMC (290) and Pontiac (proposed 303) were working on their Z/28, Boss 302, Trans Am Javelin/AMX and Trans Am (without a hyphen) models. Chevy told Car Life it would supply a Z/28. Ford said it would supply a Boss 302 “when it was ready.” AMC turned them down. Pontiac hadn’t even started developing its 303 — and really never did, except for prototypes. So Car Life got only the Z/28.

The Camaro Z/28 was cool, but not quite stock. It had a special intake with two 600-cfm four-barrel Holleys replacing the factory’s single 850-cfm Holley. It also had rear wheel disc brakes. Sometimes you just can’t win, but the editors had lots of fun losing.

Almost every Camaro book and Web site uses the performance figures that Car Life got in that road test, which recorded a 7.4-second 0-to-60 time and a 15.12-second quarter-mile at 94.8 mph, as well as a top speed of 133 mph. Strangely enough, as was pointed out in the same road test, Car Life’s earlier test of a stock, single-carb ’68 Camaro Z/28 produced a quicker 14.85 second quarter mile at 101.4 mph. “An E.T. of 15.12 sec. isn’t slow,” said the magazine. “But it’s not the direction the performance fan planned on going when he bought those two carburetors.”

Whichever numbers you use, the Camaro Z/28 was fast, especially for a small-block car. But its main attraction was that it was a racing car that was perfectly happy being street driven, as opposed to some higher-strung muscle machines that bog down and stall at every light. The Z/28 combined excellent handling with a powerful and responsive small-block V-8 and was a blast to drive anywhere. With its special deep-tone mufflers, it also made great noise.

“Boy, there are kids out there with money and when they hear how Mark Donahue cleans up in Trans Am racing with a Z/28, they’ve just got to have one for themselves,” said then-GM president Pete Estes. “In ’69, we pan to sell 27,000. Can you imagine, 27,000?” Estes’ guess turned out to be a little high, but his opinion of the Z/28 was spot on. It was simply a great muscle car.

Inside, the ’69 Camaro had new high-back bucket seats that were very comfortable. That was not the case with the tiny back seat. A two-spoke steering wheel was fitted. A padded dash had its various elements arranged in squares and rectangles, though the main gauges were circular dials set into squares. The gearshift for the four-speed protruded from a square in a mini console that also housed engine-monitoring gauges in trapezoid-shaped protrusions.

Not all 1969 Z/28s are exactly the same. On October 18, 1968, bright engine accents and Z/28 emblems for the grille, front fenders and rear panel were added. Rally wheels were no longer specified, but wheel trim rings were. The price at this time was $458. On January 2, 1969, a tach or special instrumentation was made mandatory and the price rose to $474. On April 1 the specs were changed to read “dual exhausts” and wheel center caps were specified, along with a front valance panel and rear spoiler. The price increased to $507. The ’69 had an extended model year and on September 18, 1969, the package was revised again, with the price going to $522. Bright exhaust tips were added. The final changes came November 3, 1969, and were minor. For the model year, 20,302 Camaro Z/28s were made.

Note: Price is computed with least-expensive mandatory options early in model year.

COLLECTIBILITY
While the 1969 Chevy Camaro remains a consistent attraction to bidders when crossing the auction block, there is a definite pecking order for those bidders to keep raising their hand as the price escalates. Certainly, the Z/28-badged Camaros that are documented and in fine to excellent condition will rate mid-five figures as a rule. To break through to the next or premium levels of value, that same fine-to-excellent Z/28 will need to be equipped with the performance options that make it snort, such as the JL8 Cross Ram Induction package. These documented muscle cars with the rare performance options command six figures, although that market has cooled about 10-15 percent as of late.

COLLECTOR VALUES

1969 Camaro Z/28
No. 1 condition: $69,000
No. 2: $48,300
No. 3: $31,050
No. 4: $13,800

These are clips from a video produced by CHANNEL KBOB when a T-Bucket Rally was held in Mountain Home, Arkansas in 2005. Also included is an interview with Norm Grabowski, the hot rod builder who created the very first Kookie Car which was seen the TV show 77 Sunset Strip. The car was featured on the cover of the October, 1955 issue of Hot Rod Magazine and later in the April 29, 1957 issue of Life Magazine. Norm is a fellow Arkansan now, after retiring from Hollywood, where he appeared in many movies and television shows, including Roustabout, Girl Happy, and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

7/23/2009
Custom cars and hot rods showcased this weekend at Thomas Park
By GARY DEMUTH
Salina Journal

This weekend, Paul Kruse is looking forward to catching up with some hot rod buddies.

The Gypsum resident is a custom car collector who keeps in touch with other collectors and fans nationwide, mostly through the Internet.

But for the past five summers, he’s been attending a reunion of sorts at Thomas Park in north Salina.

Beginning Friday, nearly 800 hot rods, custom cars and drag racers will invade the park as part of Kustom Kemps of America’s 29th annual Leadsled Spectacular Custom Car Show.

“It’s a way I can find like-minded car collectors like myself,” Kruse said.

The show will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the park.

On display will be 1950s and ’60s-era racers, chopped and channeled coupes, Ford roadsters, finned Cadillacs, jalopies, leadsleds and show rods from Kansas, New York, Texas, Ohio, Missouri, Arizona, Iowa and California.

Kruse will include two of his own classic cars at the show — a 1975 Chevy and a 1931 Ford.

“I’ve been coming here five years, and it gets bigger every year,” Kruse said.

800 cars? That’s nothing

Eight hundred cars is nothing to event organizer Jerry Titus. He doesn’t see any reason there can’t be 1,000 cars at Thomas Park next year.

“There’s wonderful people running the parks here, and we’re gaining more space here for cars,” said Titus, who lives in Cassville, Mo., home base of the car show.

Titus, 69, is a Wichita native who has been organizing and producing custom car shows since 1958, many of them with legendary custom car show producer Darryl Starbird.

He’s been president of the sponsoring organization, Kustom Kemps of America, since its inception in 1980. Kustom Kemps is a national association of custom car owners and aficionados with more than 15,000 members, Titus said.

Worldwide recognition

The Kustom Kemp Leadsled Spectacular, he said, is recognized as the oldest traditional custom car show in the world.

“Its reputation is such that it attracts people from all over the world,” he said. “People plan their vacations around it.”

Kustom Kemps produces five car shows a year in California, Texas, Maryland, Missouri and Kansas. Titus said the Salina show is probably the best of them all.

“We have a great working relationship with the city of Salina,” he said. “You can’t beat the people here. They’re the nicest people in the world, and they treat the car guys with open arms. That’s why we’ll stay here as long as we can.”

Titus said the car show definitely has a 1950s feel, an inspiration being the classic George Lucas movie “American Graffiti,” which showcased the custom car and hot rod culture of California in the early 1960s. Several of the stars of the 1973 classic have been part of the Kustom Kemp show, including Paul LeMat and Candy Clark.

This year’s special guest will be 1970s television star Joyce DeWitt, who played Janet in the popular sitcom “Three’s Company.” Also featured will be rock ‘n’ roll legend Charlie Gracie, a regular on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” in the 1950s who sold 3 million copies of a song called “Butterfly,” a future signature song of crooner Andy Williams, Titus said.

The weekend begins with one of the most popular events of the show — hot rod drag races from 6 p.m. to dusk at the East Crawford Recreational Area. Cost is $5 for a car or truckload.

“The drag races have always been a popular family event,” Kruse said. “There’s really some beautiful cars out there.”

Meet and greet

Custom car fans will have a chance to meet and greet famous customizers, including George Barris, John D’Agostino and Darryl Starbird himself. Also featured will be Bill Hines and Brad Masterson of the Discovery Network program “Monster Garage,” who will chop a car.

Weekend music entertainment includes a “Men in Black” tribute, featuring Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison imitators, Brian & the Rockabilly Trio and disc jockey KOTO (King of the Oldies).

For Titus, producing custom car shows for 50 years has been a dream career.

“I’ve made a career out of what I used to do as a teenager,” he said. “I used to drag Douglas (street) in Wichita. The guy with the coolest car got the best chicks. Luckily for me I married my high school sweetheart.”

nReporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.

This was posted by our friend “BRENTHENRY1989“. Check out his YouTube channel here.

This was filmed Saturday June 7, 2009 at the Fleetwood Country Cruize in London, Ontario Canada.
Overall, a very rare car, and in quite fine shape. By the time this car was built Studebaker and Packard were out of money, and basically the car was just changed by grafting on fins and head light pods, and other minor body mods to give it a new look. The company was out of cash and was heading for is own demise. Packard was known as one of “Three P’s” of American motordom royalty which were: Pierce-Arrow and Peerless, and of course Packard. They would be the last of the three to die.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/

PRESS RELEASE June 19, 2008 For immediate release:
New York, NY – George Barris, King of the Kustomizers and his East Coast representatives, Andy Perillo and Mike Manning of NY Custom Coach creators of the Batmobile and the world’s most popular one-of-a-kind movie and TV cars have announced the establishment of “The Committee for the Autoseum” slated to create a Long Island based museum for the preservation of the famous cars and to educate future generations in this exciting facility that will be a vocational, educational and industry center.

George Barris at the LINY Autoseum from Ralph Riccardi on Vimeo.

The Committee for the Autoseum has begun working with community educators developing an on site training site for all levels of the automotive industry.
The Autoseum will incorporate restaurants, cafes, retail shops, a catering hall, theme parties, weddings, press conferences, media center as well as offer an inter-active center featuring a showcase for the public with the focus on community and family oriented events.
The Autoseum, a not-for-profit organization, will be raising funds by showcasing the world’s most famous and unique cars at the Cradle of Aviation in Garden City, NY on August 22nd, 23rd and 24th, 2008.
This event will feature a cocktail party, lunch, dinner/dance and a brunch as well a custom car show, a custom and classic car auction, family fun including rides, vendors, prizes, psychics, etc.

To volunteer, sponsor, donate, promote, etc. or for more information, please call NY Custom Coach/the Committee for the Autoseum at 718-465-5999 or see: www.autoseum.org