1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z11 Pace Car Convertible 396ci 375HP Rare and Collectible

DESCRIPTION vehicle overviewSPECIFICATIONS vehicle detailsPHOTO GALLERY vehicle imagesOTHER additional informationPRINT this listing1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z11 Pace Car Convertible 396ci 375HP Rare and CollectibleGREAT LAKES CLASSIC CARS1128 Lexington Ave Bldg 4 Suite CRochester. NY 14606Call Us Today!(800) 510-3797Ask Us A QuestionYear: 1969Make: ChevroletModel: CamaroVIN: 124679N637675Stock Number: E0258Mileage: 52668Transmission: ManualEngine: 8 Cylinder. 6. 48 LExterior Color: WhiteInterior Color: OtherTitle: ClearVehicle Great LakesClassic Carsproudly presents 1969 Chevrolet CamaroZ-11 Pace Car Yes. it's a Z-11 coded RS/SS Indianapolis 500 Convertible Pace Car. Here's the best part. it's a 396ci 375HP 4-Speed Bruiser! Not many were built with this power combination. Rare car!!! If you know your Camaro History. you must be extremely happy to have found this car and in this condition. 1969 was a phenomenal year for many automakers. in particular. Chevrolet. After gaining much traction and popularity after the 1967 Pace Car Camaro. Chevrolet was invited to do it again; This time with some experience under their belt. they brought us their best yet configuration for the mighty pony segment. There weren't many Pace Cars to begin with and obviously why would there be? These were marketing purpose built at first then offered to the retail public via their local Chevrolet dealer. As with every old car. there's always a story. Chevrolet Camaros chewed up the Indy 500 pavement in 1967. 1969. 1982. 1993. and 2010 with Pace Cars. All of them unique in options. exquisite in appearance. and all with the distinct lettering on the doors. Let's not forget limited in build numbers. For this special Camaro we found information on camaropacecars. comThere were according to Chevy records 87 Pace Car replicas used for and around the Indy 500 Event. 7 were used by the Speedway. 5 were used by the United States Automobile Club. and 75 were used by V. I. Ps and the Press. Not included in this list is the 1 Pace Car awarded to the winner. Mr. Mario Andretti. Also not included are the 2 Pace Cars specially prepared to actually pace the race. Aside from the special prepared Pace Cars. 6 Camaros got 396-4 Speeds and 1 Camaro was a 350-4 Speed. All Others were 350 Automatics. Besides the two specially prepared cars used for race duty other pace car replicas were also used at Indy in May 1969. These cars were allocated to Speedway Officials (7). USAC (5). 500 Festival Committee members (43) and finally 75 to other dignitaries (press. Chevy officials . ). A limited number of these cars are known today by their VINS however no "official" list of the cars used at Indy in 1969 is known to exist. There were a total of 3675 Pace Car Replicas Built. 1969 Indy Pace Car Camaro convertible with the 375-horsepower. 396-cubic inch coveted option code L78. Most of these cars came with the 350-cubic inch small block. Nevertheless. there are no estimates on how many of the 396 big blocks had the 375 horsepower 396. The most common 396 was the base 325-horsepower version. There was also a 350-horsepower 396 on the option sheet. Much more expensive. rare and collectible today is the 375-horse tune. Although '69 Z11's are fairly easy to find. almost all are the 350ci small blocks. with only 34 or fewer of these big blocks ordered. If you do find one of these big block Pace Cars the odds are good that it's one that went around the track. Chevrolet RPO (Regular Production Option) Z11 is “Indy 500 Pace Car Accents. rdquo; which basically created the orange-striped Z28 hood and deck lid stripe for the Indy pace car replicas. The Z11 option cost just $36. 90 but required a slew of options: white convertible top. spoiler. deluxe seatbelts. Rally wheels. cowl induction hood. Rally Sport. Super Sport. and custom orange Houndstooth cloth interior. Although every pace car is an SS. this particular pace car SS did not come with SS stripes. Every pace car was also an RS. which explains the presence of the vacuum-operated doors over the headlights. They open and close with a switch but also permit limited lighting to pass through the closed doors. Any 1969 Camaro with the SS package is highly collectible. Add the RS option and the car further increases in desirability. Add the pace car package to the mix and the car becomes even more interesting. What Milton Robson did was seek out an SS/RS pace car with the top-of-the-line 375-horsepower 396 backed by the most desirable muscle car four-speed manual transmission. Door decals came shipped in the trunk. and owners could add them if they so desired. Without them. this pace car looks like a very attractive. ultra high performance “stock” SS/RS. If you have read this far. it's safe to assume that you are interested and you should be based on various auction figures posted by RM Auctions. Barrett Jackson. and Mecum. Many well into 6 figures plus. This particular Camaro. we acquired from the second owner in Ohio whom as the story goes acquired from the original owner that used to live across the street. As we were told. this Camaro was alocated as the only earned available through that local dealership where it was quickly purchased by it's original owner (a young man back then with a decent job still residing with his parents). The second owner (whom we got the Camaro from) owned a local family auto parts business and lived across the street from the Camaro and would frequently offer to purchase the car. A few years later he was offered the Camaro by the young man's parents as a form of punishement for him losing his driver's license and driving irresponsibly causing damage to one of his parent's car by tapping it with the Camaro in the driveway. Needless to say this was the opportunity for the second owner to get his unicorn as he supposedly missed buying it by minutes from the dealer showroom floor. The Camaro now had a dented front fender. a bent rear bumper. numerous scratches and dings. and a 'R' code engine as a warranty replaced driveline. Warranty replaced driveline is Good. actually common and not a big deal. Means it was factory new going into its intended application. installed by the dealer. The 'R' Stamp on the block has been referred to a replacement done prior to the retail sale of the car. In other words done at the factory before being shipped to dealer. Better to have a warranty replaced driveline than the commonly used term by many "date coded block" which means the engine belonged to another car. Being that the family owned an auto parts store. nbsp;the new owner was able to get replacement OEM fender. bumper. and whatever else he needed to bring the Camaro back to its prom date curb appeal. We were extremely impressed with this car. Just take notice of how solid and how pristine the undercarriage of this Camaro is. We believe the miles to be accurate on this car based on overall condition and wear of seats . buttons. levers. pedals. etc. It all appears to be consistent with the miles shown and history of this car. The Cowl hood does have the correct 'working cowl' mechanism allowing it to suck down air to feed the thirsty also correct carburetor. Underhood looks as stock and as correct as the day it left the factory. From the bias-ply tires to the convertible top. hide-a-way headlamps to the rear spoiler. and the solid lifter monster 396ci to the exhaust correctly exiting the rear without headers; This Camaro is a fine example of American Muscle and it's participation in our history. The 1969 Pace Car The year was 1948. and the car chosen to pace the 42nd Annual Indianapolis 500 mile race was the Chevrolet Fleetmaster convertible. beginning a long line of Chevrolet cars at Indy. They returned in 1955 when a Bel Air convertible did the job. 12 years later the brand new Chevrolet Camaro was chosen as the pace car. and it returned 2 years later with Jim Rathmann at the wheel for the 53rd running of the Indy 500. According to GM records there were a total of 3 Pace Cars and 130 Pace Car Replicas built for the 1969 Indy 500. 500 Festival Committe Cars43 Pace Car Replicas. all 350 automatics. These cars were used to ride Festival Queens and other dignitaries around the track and nobody wanted a Queen to get tossed out of the car because someone without much manual transmission skill popped the clutch. Speedway Vehicles2 Engineering prepared Pace Cars for the actual pacing duty1 Pace Car with air conditioning and power top. with show quality finish to be presented to the winner of the 500 Mile Race. They specified the AC and power top because A. J. Foyt had turned down his car in '67 because it didn't have these options7 Pace car ReplicasCourtesy Cars5 Pace Car Replicas for USAC officials75 Pace Car Replicas for VIP's and the pressCamaros used by the Festival Commitee also had this decal. They were gold and black with a clear center open section that showed the color of the car. This decal was used in both 1967 and 1969. The Festival cars were all 350 automatics and were used in the parades and to carry the Queen and Queen candidates around the track on Saturday. At the Queen Coronation Banquet the queen received the keys to car #33 (or #34. depending on the source) as part of her winnings. including a matched set of luggage. In addition. Chevrolet created Regular Production Option Z11 which allowed customers to order their own Pace Car replicas. Unlike 1967. when they built 100 extra cars with different option combinations and shipped them to various dealers. you could now order your Pace Car exactly the way you wanted it. Chevrolet announced the availabilty to their dealers through Product Change Bulletin No. 13. dated February 4. 1969. There were 3. 75 produced in 1969. Although '69 Z11's are fairly easy to find. almost all are 350 small blocks. with only 34 or fewer 396 big blocks ordered. If you do find a big block Pace Car the odds are good that it's one that went around the track! Special promotional models. The one with the trailer is extremely rare. The Z10 coupe was a limited production Southwestern Regional promotional car offered to a small number of dealerships in the Southwestern Branch Zone Office during the Indy season. They were available in Texas. Wisconsin. Oklahoma. Arizona. and possibly other states. The exact number built is not known. but it is believed to be between 200 and 300 at Norwood. They appear to have been built between 04C and 05A. Curiously. a lot of Z10's built in the fifth week of April show 04L on the cowl tag instead of 04E. There is at least one Z11 with the same code. There could be several reasons for this but the most likely explanation is that the stamping machine was broken for a week and wouldn't stamp a "D". Some 1970 Z/28s have a similar discrepancy. showing . 28 instead of Z28. probably because the die was broken that week. The Z10 and the Z11. The two actual Pace Cars were both specially prepared by Chevrolet's Engineering Division before the race. They were factory blueprinted 396-375HP L89 aluminum head engines. although the heads were replaced with cast iron heads for reliability. This means that the cars were actually detuned to the 325HP version. The engines were disassembled. visually inspected. Zygloed or magnafluxed. and reassembled. The Turbo 400 transmissions got similar treatment. The cars received a 3. 31 rear end and a special COPO torque converter. All the F41 suspension pieces were magnafluxed. shotpeened. and heat treated. The drive shaft was balanced. and a heavy-duty battery (RPO T60) and alternator (RPO K85). A heavy-duty air conditioning radiator (RPO V01) and temperature controlled fan clutch was used. although the cars did not have air conditioning. Other modifications included grab handles above the rear seat arm rests and in place of the passenger sun visor. and flag pole brackets mounted at the rear bumper. To accomodate the brackets the exhaust system used 1968 exhaust tips instead of '69 tips. The convertible top boot received special fasteners to make sure it stayed in place at 130 mph. The cars also received factory hood locks and a two-way radio. Four wheel disc brakes (RPO JL8) were installed after the cars were delivered to the Indianapolis Chevrolet plant. Luckily. both these cars survived. Car #1 is owned by Gary Nicol. and car #2 is owned by Mark Levi. The third car with the show finish was presented to Mario Andretti after his victory. Mario gave the car to his brother Aldo who drove it until 1975. The car then disappeared. but it is rumored to be in New Zealand. According to the US Camaro Club. Classic Industries' tech specialist Bob Brennen had a conversation a long time ago with a customer who wanted to replace a console lid on a '69 Pace Car that was being shipped to New Zealand. It seems the old console lid had a big ugly metal plaque with Mario Andretti's name on it and something about Chevrolet Motor Division giving it to him. Bob says he saw the plaque and it looked legit. but he didn't see the car or get the VIN. The original plaque looked like this. Most of the Pace Car replicas were built in Norwood and carried the Z11 identification on the cowl tag. The ones built at Los Angeles did not use the Z or X codes. There is a lot we still don't know about Los Angeles tags. but the documented LA cars have a P251 code. Here are the relevant details to look for on your Pace Car. If you do not know how to decode your cowl tag you may want to visit the Parts section before proceeding. 1969 Pace Cars are easier to verify than '67s. even though the cowl tag doesn't provide nearly the amount of information that the '67s do. The reason is because of the Z codes. If the tag says Z11 or Z10. it's a Pace Car. Los Angeles cars didn't use the Z codes. but the only '69 Camaros built in Los Angeles with the 720 Code Orange houndstooth interior. 50 Code Dover White paint. and White Convertible top were Pace Car Replicas. At a minimum. all '69 Pace Car Replicas should have the following: Body Style 12467 or 12437Z11 or Z10 Code (Norwood Cars)Dover White Paint Code (50)White Convertible Top Code (A)Interior Trim Orange houndstooth (720)A build date between 02D and 05ASS EquipmentRS EquipmentStyle Trim GroupHandpainted Hugger Orange RS stripes over the wheel openingsHugger Orange stripes (Z/28 Style)Special Ducted HoodRocker panels painted white instead of blackThe rear panel remained white on 396 cars instead of black Not all Pace Car Replicas had the door decals installed. They were part of the package. but were shipped to the dealer in the trunk. and only installed at the customers request. The absence of the Pace Car lettering does not mean it isn't an authentic car. Of course. the engine should be correct and the numbers should match the car. As with the '67 Pace Cars. there could be thousands of individual option combinations other than the major ones listed. Figures from the United States Camaro Club Registry show some of the following:Power Windows: 1Power Top: 10Air Conditioning: 2L48 350-300HP: 15L35 396-325HP: 2L34 396-350HP: 1L78 396:375HP: 1L89 396-375HP: 2 These two cars were the actual Pace Cars. and both had cast iron heads installed on the L89 engines at the factory. Turbo 400: 14Turbo 350: 3M20 Transmission: 7M21 Transmission: 2M22 Transmission: 0Tilt Wheel: 6Factory Guages: 14Endura Bumper: 5Four Wheel Disc Brakes: 2 These were the actual Pace Cars. At the time this data was current. the USCC Registry had only 132 Pace Cars registered out of over 6000 built. so this is by no means a complete list but it does show a representative sampling of the options. If you own or discover one of these classic Pace Cars please register it with the U. S. Camaro Club. You can get more information about the USCC and similar clubs on the Links Page. There are certain items that help set the Camaro pace cars apart besides the orange stripes and Orange Hounds tooth interiorRocker panels paint white instead of blackNormal SS stripes are replaced by the orange z/28like stripesOn 396 cars the back panel remain white not blackOrange pin stripingD80 Spoiler EquipmentZ22 Rally Sport EquipmentZ27 Camaro Super Sport Equipment911 Dover White Exterior CodeZ87 Custom Interior with Orange Hounds tooth SeatsZL2 Air Induction HoodZJ7 Rally WheelsZ11 Indy Sport Convertible AccentsIf you have any questions about this or any of our other auctions please feel free to contact us via e-mail sales@glclassiccars. comor you can call us at (800) 510-3797. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you. Features & Options4 Speed Manual4-Wheel Disc BrakesAccent StripesAir DamBody Side MoldingsCenter ConsoleChrome BumperCloth UpholsteryConvertibleDual ExhaustFront Bucket SeatsFront SpoilerPace CarPower BrakesRSRear SpoilerRear-Wheel DriveSSTinted GlassV-Style EngineWood TrimPhoto GalleryAdditional InformationWarrantyAS IS - NO WARRANTYThis vehicle is being sold as is. where is with no warranty. expressed written or implied. The seller shall not be responsible for the correct description. authenticity. genuineness. or defects herein. and makes no warranty in connection therewith. No allowance or set aside will be made on account of any incorrectness. imperfection. defect or damage. Any descriptions or representations are for identification purposes only and are not to be construed as a warranty of any type. 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