I do not currently own any other 3rd Gens. Right now I have a 69 Z28, 92 Z28 w/125 miles, 94 Z28 w/approx 595 miles, 99 SS w/approx. 800 miles and a 02 SS w/23 miles.

I have had a few other 3rd Gens, 82 pace car and 91 Z28.

Leonard

 

What a great story leonard. Do you have any current pics of the car? Since we know where the last camaro is at, kind of makes you wonder where the very first camaro is(1982). Thanks for sharing.

edit: Just wondering, what is the sticker price on the window sticker leonard?

 

I don't have any current pictures, but it looks just like it did when it came off the factory floor. I believe the sticker price was approx. $21,000.

Leonard

 

Leonard, you are my hero. Plain and simple. That is a fantastic collection of extremely low mileage cars. I am quite partial to low mileage cars. If you ever get around to taking some pics of these cars please let us know.

 

And to think that my 87 IROC-Z, fully loaded and five years earlier than Leonard's car stickered at the same price!!!

 

Scott, as the years went on and people lost interest in the 3rd Gens, I don't think Chevrolet was able to continue increasing prices. There was a point where people wouldn't buy them if they got to expensive. And of course Ford kept the Mustang price low which forced Chevy to keep the Camaro price low.

On a side note, I am actually going to sell one of my cars......can you believe it. I had a guy contact me about my 2002 SS w/23 miles. He wants it bad enough to pay my price, so it will be leaving in the next two weeks. Now I will have room for a 5th Gen when they make one with 500+ HP!!

Leonard

 

picture allegedly taken in '82. If my memory serves me correctly, under that bridge is where the gm murals are... and I believe a third gen camaro is in one of them. I'll peruse through other search methods to see if I can dig up any more interesting photos.

BTW Leonard, thanks for posting up all that you have about your experience. Truly rare and unique...

 

That is now my new background on the computer. Thanks! Any more pics?
Mark

 

I've got a couple of questions maybe Leonard can answer. What is the schedule date on your buildsheet? You said your car was already painted when you arrived at the factory and then took 2 more days to complete. My 92 RS has a sequence# of 1NL66615 and the schedule date on my buildsheet is August 12.There were 3393 cars built between yours and mine and at rate of 406 a day that means my car was built roughly 8 days before your car and not 16 which my buildsheet says. Even with a weekend in between it still doesnt add up. Is the schedule date a start or completion date? Congratulations on owning a great piece of automotive history.

 

I have a copy of Leonard's build sheet and the schedule date is 8-27. I can't answer the rest of the questions but I'm sure Leonard could.

 

Remember that they were building Firebirds and Camaro's so the 406 cars per day were a mix of both. That would account for the 8 vs 16 days.

Leonard

 

I am coming in part way into this conversation... So excuse me if this is off base.

The Sequence numbers are independent for each of the lines. Pontiac and Chevrolet both started at 00001 even if they were built in the same plant. What is up with the 406 cars a day?

John

 

Your vin is only 300 cars away from mine, So may it be they were possibly made on the same day? the last digits of mine are 166978

 

I forgot all about the fact that 2 car lines were in the daily total. I dont suppose you know the ratio of Camaro vs. Firebirds? I know its a long shot question.

 

Finally!! I've been wating to find a member with a late vin like mine. Do you have your buildsheet with schedule date on it? I dont know how else to tell if they are the same day. Definately close though.

 

Well in 1992 there were 70,008 Camaros built and I think 17,164 Firebirds. This would mean that approx. 19% of the cars were Firebirds. 406 per day X 19% = 77-78 Firebirds per day.

Now there is a lot of estimating/guesstimating going on here so don't hold these figures as gospel, but it would get you pretty close.

Leonard

 

Sorry man, You know the story of these cars, its long gone.

I really don't have to much information on it But Would like to figure it out. I truly saved this one by putting another interior, and its gonna get paint soon enough. Although I am truly fascinated by this and would really like to get more information on it. Another thing that sorta goes with what Leonard says is that in the last 2 weeks they were building base model cars. Well H8, Yours is a v6 and mine is a 305 tbi 5 speed. In my opinion I don't think a 305 tbi 5 speed would be considered a base model, it also has t-tops, power windows and power door locks... Oh well sorry, excuse my rant but do you have any info on this leonard?

Thanks

 

I don't know exactly what they meant by "Base" but an RS might have been considered a base car. As we find more cars with late VIN's we may be able to tell just what they meant.

Leonard

 

I agree that "base" could be RS regardless of V8 or V6. There was a listing on ebay earlier this year for a 305 RS and the vin was in the low 69000's.

 

Yea time will tell. I guess ill just keep checking ebay and stuff like that and finding vin numbers.

 

That is an amazing story! It must have been a thrill, being there at the plant and to see so much of your car being made. Leonard - you could write a book from this and it would be a top seller among Chevy fans.

 

I have a old VHS tape of this last Camaro at the end of the line, it was from CNN and I think on another news channel, it is only about 2 minutes long, if somebody thinks they can copy it to a dvd, contact me and I'll see if I can find the tape.. Chris

 

Is the Van nuys building still there or did they tear it down ???? Me and my room mate are planning a trip this summer. To take my 87 GTA down there to get pics with the building then we are heading to Norwood to get pics of his secondg en camaro in front of the norwood plant. But I am unsure if both buildings are still around.................................

 

on page one of this post several people confirmed that it was demolished and there is now a shopping center in its place.

 

BOTH plants are long gone, Shopping center, and a parking lot...

John

 

Nice picture. cant believe it looked like this way back in the days. I pass by there like at least once everyday and still kind of looks the same except there is a big shopping center there now . And yes there are murals under the bridge on both sides of the wall when u go under. There is a convertible thirdgen and the third gen seems like if its going fast because the person who did the murals made the tires seem like if they r spinning. Really nice mural, i think on one of the murals young kids spray painted there little gang on it/tagged some of the murals under there. At night ppl go in there fixed up cars and hangout in the parking lots where an arcade is located now and there is a police station and many stores.

 

Thanks for the info........ I got to see the Van Nuys plant once but I wasnt in my car so much for that trip.

 

If thats to me ur welcome. I am only 18 born in 1990 in the 2 years before closing i still remember seeing that big GM sign everytime we passed by after 1992 it was still there but i remember that they put all these bushes all around idk if they were there before closing but i was super tiny 3 tp 5 and i still would of wished i could see wat was on the other side lol i guess there must have been a reason I ended up owning a third gen hahaha. hopefully u guys can find some more good pictures like the one 90firebird posted

 

I would like to see that video, It looks like something interesting to have. any one have the ability to copy something?

 

Well, I've been silently watching this thread for awhile now, and I have to say it's awesome all the history in this thread.

Your story is really cool Leonard, and I think it's neat how the workers signed the vehicle, and the paint shop left the markings they did. That one Z/28 holds a place in all those workers hearts and memories.

I'm also in the boat as saying it would be sweet to see modern pics of it, just to see what one was supposed to look like right off the line all these years later.

 

I should be able to do it. But I wonder if it's the same content as Leonard has? He has a few vhs tape as well, which we discussed about converting, hopefully, sometime soon.

 

The only F-body plant that still exists is Lordstown, OH and the last one rolled out of there in 1969. The Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5 are currently produced there.

All the other F-body plants were razed shortly after they closed.

 

Correct, and my dad works there! My 67 came from Norwood, and my IROC obviously from Van Nuys. It has a cool story behind it too as we special ordered it in 1989 then sold it in 1991. I tracked it down and bought it back in 2008. It actually was not negelected and remained 100% original. I plan to do a minor restore and bring it back to new condition. It has 86K on it. This is exactly how I got it in 2008.




Thanks Leonard for your story... Truely amazing!

 

It would be really interesting to have someone get some pictures of the Meurals under the bridge... I do not want anyone to get into trouble or killed, but it would be neat to see... Graphiti & all...

 

Ditto! I would have stopped by but I did not have any time. Anyone available to do this?

 

Ill try to get those pics when i have some time. The traffic goes by really fast by there

 

PLEASE PLEASE be careful, I do not want to hear about it on the News about some idiot stopping in the middle of the Expressway, he was naked and with a camera... All the way to the Hospital authorities claim he was mumbling something about, "Gotta get pix for TGO" Whatever that means.

Ok, I know you will not be naked but you get the idea...

John

 

Hahaha thats funny just imagining. Yea dont worry i dont think nothing bad will happen

 

N/M

 

I passed under the bridge today where the murals r located but man there is traffic jams 24/7 idk how i am gonna be able to take some pictures and at night i dont think they will come out nice but ill keep trying to get some pics of the murals.

 

These three questions are for LEONARDS. When you went to the plant, was any part of the reason you went because you wanted to insure that your Z28 was in fact the last one built? Second one is..... You said that your Z28 has 125 miles on it, I'm just curious as to where you have driven it? Third one is...... Do you have any idea what your Z28 is worth today? Thanks, and that was a great story you wrote.

 

These are silly questions...

First...I am sure there are a ton of reasons why he went to the plant with "proof that its the last one" being way down the list. I would have loved to go see my Corvette get assembled but it was off the lot so I did't get the chance. I did get to see some other peoples being built when I toured the plant in 2008.

Second...its a 92, its currently 2009, thats 17 years. The car had 6.X when he got it, so thats about 108 miles in 17 years. My guess is you could accumulate this going in and out of the garage and around the block to keep everything from dry rotting.

Third... to him or to everyone else? My guess is to him it is priceless... to me, I don't know, I don't like red, I don't like leather, I don't like 90-92 wheels/spoiler/dash...get my point? Its only worth what someone is willing to pay.

 

1. No, they told me it would be the last one and with all the publicity, they would have looked a little foolish if it hadn't been. I wanted to meet the people and see the car during production.

2. I drove the car to a couple Camaro club meetings, Porkys(which is a local cruise spot) and to a car show.

3. I don't know what it is worth, but it would take a person with a crazy amount of money to even make me think about selling it. The fun and conversations I have had because I own this car are priceless.

Leonard

 

I am glad you got it out to show it off a little! It really is an amazing piece of history. I hope you don't take what I said about the color and options personal... just not my cup o' tea but an amazing car and history none the less!

 

No problem. Red was not my first choice for the car......the original order was black, but in the end a red car was the right choice for the last car. It looked real good in all the photo's!

Leonard

 

I have a question... where is the car now? Not geographic location, storage wise. Is it just in your shop or do you have it somewhere in long term "hibernation"? Also, when do we get to see more pictures of it?

 

I keep it in my climate controlled shop. JT has scanned all my photos but they did not turn out as good as he hoped. He is going to scan them again in the near future and then post them on this site. We will also try to get some current photos......but the car still looks the same so no one will know what is old and what is current.

Leonard

 

well leonard that is a great story. i found it interesting as i have a 92 z28 as well. also interesting that this thread came from 8 years ago from a banned member?!? Anyway, Kudos for your intuition and imagination. Like they said many wouldnt have thought of that. I wanted to ask what your plans were for the car? will you pass it on in your family, donate or sell to museum or private buyer?

 

I don't have a plan yet for what I will do with the car. I have alot of years (hopefully!!) to decide where the car will end up.

Leonard

 

Since there seems to be some good history guru's here I have a question. How do you know if your vin is low or high number? Second I had a printout done on my 92 several years ago using the vin. On the printout it states the following for vehicle color.....18U Primary Color Exterior, Listz Black (97) (Brazil). Now my car is not black its dark green grey metallic, so why is it stating its a black car. No its never been painted and second the wa code on the rpo sticker is for dark green grey metallic. All the other info on the printout matches except for this.