it's turning out to be a Smokey Yunick day, by coincidence! Lance is putting together a 55 Chev for his son... magnesium ZLI block, mag trans, mag Ramchargers Dana 60 for it, mag Hurst brakes, and mag Halibrands.

Lance says he bought these magnesium T10 cases for 20 bucks at a garage sale. He doesn't say that it wasn't Smokey's Garage sale - but, how damn cool to have some parts from Smokey?!?!?!

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4047981518825253&set=pcb.4664884107122164

FYI, there is a single book, made from the 3 hardcover books, and used copies on Amazon start at about 130, on Ebay, there are a dozen copies and the price starts around 95. 

Thrift Books Seattle has 2 copies and the other is for 155

the 3 book set is said to be fantastic, but ridiculously overpriced by anyone with a set for sale. I don't believe I've ever seen a set.... whoever owns the rights to the books, should really print a 2nd run, and make a killing from the imaginary demand for a 1200 dollar set of books. Sell them new for 100, and it's probably 40 dollars of profit. 

There are 10 sets on Ebay, and everyone of them is stupid overpriced compared to the set for sale at 225 bucks

It doesn't get mentioned much anymore, but Reggie Jackson's collection of cars was the thing of respect and regard. People still flip his ZL1 with the sales pitch, "Reggie Jackson's"

 

https://www.motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2021/reggie-jackson-baseball-and-classic-cars-a-success-story

the first ZL1 ever made

Do you know what happens to new ZL1 Camaros? They get stolen from Chevy dealerships. How long has this been going on? Since 1969. You'd THINK dealerships would have learned, and increased security. Nope

That's what is left of a new Camaro, the $80,000 kind, after thieves pull it out of a dealership, strip it of everything, and leave the frame in the ghetto.  https://twitter.com/fox12oregon/status/976267161412005888/photo/1
http://www.thedrive.com/news/19503/thieves-stripped-this-camaro-zl1-after-stealing-it-from-a-dealership
http://www.kptv.com/story/37746188/caught-on-camera-new-camaro-stolen-from-sandy-car-dealership-in-brazen-heist

Stealing from a dealership is not a new or original concept, it happens all the time, and has been happening for decades. Especially from Chevy dealerships

Back in 1969 5 ZL1s were stolen from ONE dealership.

What's crazy about that? One was found, the insurance company paid to have a 327 put in it, and when Super Chevy Magazine published the VINs of all 69 ZL1s in the 80s, a buddy said to his Camaro owning friends, hey, that looks like your VIN.

He was right. A ZL1 was in his friends garage, and with that 327 replacement the insurance company had installed so they could sell it and recoup some of the payout on the claim.

That Camaro is getting a feature in upcoming Muscle Car Review magazines as it gets restored

Another of the 5 stolen ZL1s was bought as a shell (all the goodies stripped out and installed in a race car no doubt) and sat in a collection for 23 years, until the VIN was checked, and found to be a ZL1 VIN, and then it was restored (with replacement parts) and sold at auction for $171,000

Why hadn't it been noticed that it was a ZL1 before that? The DMV made a mistake in the paperwork. They botched the typing, and goofed up the paperwork.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2013/11/06/lost-zl-1-camaro-sells-for-171562-at-toronto-fall-classic-auction/

As a teenager, Don Martens could always be found at Diney’s Drive-In in Cleveland. “It was the place for hot cars.” Sometime in the summer of 1972, a certain Marlene and her pal, Jill, caught his eye. It wasn’t their looks that drew his gaze but rather their rides. “Both girls drove Camaros with Cragars.” While Jill cruised in her SS350, a looker in black paint with a red hockey stripe, Marlene drove a somewhat plain silver Camaro. “Rumors persisted it was a 427 car,” which turned out to be true—the Camaro was indeed one of the very rare ZL1s. Ordered by dealer Fred Gibb but returned and reassigned to Merollis Chevrolet in Detroit, the car was stolen and stripped before it was sold. Marlene was driving it with a Corvette 327 underhood. In August 1976, Martens bought it from Marlene and drove it for a year before putting it into long-term storage. Over the years he amassed a huge collection of N.O.S. parts and other related goodies for the car’s eventual restoration, which the Super Car Workshop began in May 2018. The final product will debut at this year’s MCACN show.

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/flying-trans-yenko-cars-linda-vaughn-just-highlights-2019-carlisle-chevrolet-nationals/

hard to imagine, but true, there is still an original owner driving his ZL1 1969 Camaro, Ken Barnhart. The original engine has 1.7 miles on it, and is sitting on a shelf. A duplicate has been used to keep this Camaro racing without worry

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/rain-not-stop-20th-annual-super-car-reunion-hot-yenkos-copos-gm-muscle/

No stranger to the quarter-mile, Barnhart had been racing since the '50s. He almost won the 1959 Nationals at Detroit Dragway, but his none-too-featherweight '39 Cadillac was edged by a fleeter Studebaker. He took the G/Stock trophy at Indy in 1961, however, in a quick '55 Chevy. The ZL-1 brought him back from a short retirement.

Curiously, as soon as the Camaro was in Barnhart's garage, the original aluminum 427 was removed. It was replaced with the duplicate, over-the-counter ZL-1 engine that is still found under the hood today. Except for an old-school Edelbrock Torker intake manifold and replacement 850-cfm carb, the engine is faithful to the original ZL-1.

The graphics and lettering that adorn the Camaro's bodywork were done in 1969 and haven't been touched since. The only paintwork that's been applied to the car's flanks occurred when the rear fender openings were slightly stretched to accommodate larger rubber.

Barnhart's reliable and potent combination made his Camaro the scourge of Super Stock racing for a couple of years. He captured the SS/B title at Indy in 1970, and was runner-up at the Nationals in 1971.

Barnhart slogged it out in Super Stock through the mid-'70s-recording a best e.t. of 9.92 at 134 mph-with a narrowed Dana rearend and 5.38 gears

Barnhart's been the proprietor of a gas station located on the same Elgin, Illinois, corner since 1959.

http://www.superchevy.com/features/sucp-0404-1969-chevy-camaro-zl1/
https://www.camaros.net/forums/35-copo-dealer/151338-zl1-video.html

it is number 16 of 69 made

Barnhart was recuperating from an accident incurred while drag racing, flipping through a magazine about cars, when he came across the ZL1. He instantly made up his mind to buy one of the 69 vehicles if possible, and, although he had retired, to dive back into drag racing.

 “This vehicle has never been street driven,” said Barnhart. “It hasn’t been run in a competition in 20 years, but I still take it and put it down at the track.

http://www.galesburg.com/news/20160805/fast-fancy-cars-and-family-atmosphere-draw-crowd-to-monmouth-cruise-night

still in the crate after all these years, 427 ZL 1 that hasn't been used yet

In an unbelievable discovery, an NOS (New Old Stock) version of the bare engine block was discovered while answering a Craigslist ad for Chevelle parts. It was found inside the original plywood crate, exactly how it was purchased from Chevrolet and stored in a small garage closet in rural middle Tennessee in the early 1970s. Even the plywood crate was still in mint condition and still bearing the original Chevrolet Heavy-Duty Parts 3952318 ink stamp.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/chevrolet-427-zl-1-engine-block-found-new-crate-stored-40-years/

GM Design's Camaro Z427 concept car was photographed shortly after it was completed in the fall of 1969. The ZL-1 powered Camaro appeared at several racing events, but was never officially shown to the public.

https://www.facebook.com/GMPhotoStore/photos/a.353629738115918.1073741828.352549801557245/1192678617544355/

ZL-1 which was stolen in the 70s and never has reappeared

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1686223568321025/

the 1968 ZL1 engine... ever wonder why GM made less than 100? Sure is a lot of r and d, and millions of dollars of engineering and production involved in rolling out a new engine, to install 4 in production cars, and sell the rest to racers.

well, consider that GM wasn't "really" out of racing.

Then consider that 69 were put in COPO Camaros for racing, and I don't even know how many they made and sold to Can Am racers.

Yeah, I think it's obvious that GM was out to win, and Jim Hall's Chaparral's were the motivation to get them made, but, McLaren was the real beneficiary.

McLaren was putting out about 620 hp from the 460 pound engine. Nice. 

The most expensive Corvettes. Two to Three million

Only 2 known ZL-1 Corvettes. Aluminum 427 engines. When tested by magazine types, one ripped off a 10.89 sec at 132 mph on 9 inch slicks.

http://www.autofacts.ca/classics/FAPC/ZL1Corvette.htm for all the info. The yellow one was seized in a drug bust for cocaine use.

A good history of the white one. Drag raced for about 2 years, then sold.
http://corvettes-musclecars.com/cgi-bin/emAlbum.cgi?c=show_thumbs;p=1969%20Corvette%20ZL-1%20427-430HP

http://www.corvettelegends.com/zl1.htm A brief and good history of the ZL 1 Corvette

The rarest and most expensive Corvettes, ZL-1's

Only 2 ZL-1 Corvettes were made