HOW MANY Z - 11 396'S --WERE BUILT ?

[William]

The owner of the Camaro business I was involved with for 15 years also owned a Chevrolet dealership for much of that time. He ordered, received and sold a 350/4-speed Z11. I have copies of all the paperwork including the dealer order. Their store was hardly a Hi-Perf hot spot; they probably sold as many trucks as cars. Only Chrysler built new cars on spec in those days.

This July will mark my 30th year of involvement with the 1969 Camaro so I am no rookie. Back in those days a 396 Z11 was hardly unusual. There were easily 6-8 of them in this small area and a few are still around including one with 4-speed/AC/tilt. 39% of all Camaro SS had 396 engines so it is no stretch to estimate 1000 or more 396 Z11s.

Those of you new to the hobby need to understand what a Z11 looked like after the warranty was up - bleached interior, flapping quarters, shredded top. And when the '74 embargo hit you couldn't give away a 396. By the late '70s most of them were really junk but nice parts cars due to the RS stuff, 12 bolt, etc. As a result we parted out a number of Z11s; ask anyone that went through the basement of our building about the pile of orange interiors we had.

Don't estimate anything by what is around today. Many of those cars were gone in less than 10 years.

[rpoz11]

"Many of those cars were gone in less than 10 years."
I can definately agree to that statement.
God, I can really remember those gas station lines when that Gas crunch hit. Sitting in the car with the folks was quite the ordeal! People were nearly fighting each other over: Gasoline!
SO, I will agree that it is possible that there were more than seen. What area are you located in that you saw so many? I also assume GM dumped those remaining INDY Parade Cars right after the race?

[William]

Milwaukee.

There were plenty of them around here. I briefly owned one in 1979, a 350 4-speed. I think everyone has a copy of the invoice. When it turned out to be a bit nastier than I thought I flipped it for a nice profit. Ed, an Irish kid from Chicago bought it. He may have learned from the experience as I hear he has done well in the Camaro biz ;-)