Chevrolet Camaro 1970s F body

Apart from my Jeeps and Mustangs, the Gen II Camaro 1970 is my ultimate dream car. I had the 1974 Camaro. But on these early F body versions its all about the Corvette rear lights. This feature ran from 1970 to 1973 only. The engine in my one was the 350 cubic inch V8 with a 2 barrel carb.

Designed by Henry Haga and his team under the watchful eye of Bill Mitchell and his design team. The team included Chuck Jordan, Irving Rybicki and Dave Holls. Starting in late 1970 the second generation Camaro featured the 350 cubic inch 5.7 liter LT-1 super smooth and reliable engine derived from the Corvette C3.

Under the hood the top of the range Z28 featured 780-cfm 4 barrel carburetion sitting on a high-rise Aluminum intake manifold. In the looks department. Body color Z28 Trans-Am 15 x 7 inch Rally wheels. The optional 3-part Firebird style rear deck spoiler (COPO 9796). A Muncie 4 on the floor manual gearbox or the Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 with 3 speed automatic gearbox.

Laurence Dunn

Other Camaro 70-73 engine options

With the Z28 being the top of the 1970 range, lets not forget the other sixes and eights in the range. There was a 250 cubic-inch (4.1 Liter) straight six engine for the entry level models, going through numerous mid-range V8s, ending up with the stonking 402 cubic-inch (but 396 badged) which was an incredible Big block engine of 6.5 liters found only in the Camaro SS.

My old 1974 Camaro

My own Camaro was a 1974 LT with a V8 bored out to 355ci. It was a rebuilt heavily cammed engine with exhaust headers, a Holley 600cfm vac sec 4 barrel carb, an Edelbrock Performer Intake manifold and a 2.5 inch bore full dual piped exhaust with Thrush Turbo mufflers. I put a 1978 Z28 hood or bonnet on, plus after these photos, I installed some white 5 spoke Z28 Torque Thrust style wheels courtesy of Vince Wakerley, who was upgrading his own 1978 Camaro a Z28. He went on to install the Gale Banks twin turbo on his one. I brought my Camaro in 1984 and sold it in 1991.