I hadn’t seen this posted before so I thought I’d throw it out here.

We’re all familiar of the obvious ways to tell a Z28 from any other model (Z28 specific bracing, Trim Tag, etc) but I just found out another thing that could be used to verify a car. The bumper behind the front fascia.

I don’t know if later thirdgens had this as well, but it’s on my ‘83. I took the nose off last night to get better access for some work and saw this, kinda cool!

 

Looks like someone was playing with a plastic welder. I think it would look more professional if the factory had done it.

 

This would be factory because the Z28's would have been the only car's in '83 to get this impact bar. The bar of a berlinetta and sports coupe would need different openings.

Therefore - if you want to get SUPER invasive to determine the legitimacy of an early Z28, just check the impact bar!

 

I doubt we're at a point yet where people are trying to pass off sport coupe's as Z28's, but if history does like it did with the 1st and second gens then it is only a matter of time before someone takes a base model and swaps the nose, "loses the trim tag", and adds some badges just to make a buck.

 

Thought I'd post this here for what it's worth. Just happened to have the bumper apart on my 91, very similar marking on the passenger side. Different location, but it also looks like it was done freehand.

 

Sweet! That's pretty cool then because it's something that can be found on early and late thirdgen Z's.

 

Yeah, I thought it might be useful help establish a range of years where the bumper inserts were marked this way. Now if some folks from the mid/late 80s check theirs, we might be able to establish that this is normal on any year of Z28 (assuming they still have their original bumper inserts).

I'm still curious why the markings look so unpolished though. I'm picturing someone on the assembly line burning those markings in by hand - worst job ever.

 

Interesting. Mine is in storage so I can't look to see if mine has this. Is it even visible without the nose being pulled?

BTW, I see what appears to be the same thing on the other side.

 

Had My 84 Up On Ramps Just Checked It Also Has It

 

I was thinking maybe someone grooved the mold as they both look identical. The only problem is that it's not in the same location or at maybe the raised circles are in a different location.

 

Yeah it should be, just under where the grills are on the early models. Yeah it's on both sides on mine.

Nice!

Possibly, could be a different mold too, who knows.

 

That makes sense (although it's not as funny as the mental image of someone marking each insert by hand). The 83 bumper insert is definitely shaped differently than the 91, although you can't see that from my close up picture. The mark on the 91 is located passenger side, top. My guess is there were at least two insert designs for the Z28 cars over the years.


I haven't my bumper together in ages but I'm thinking on the 91 it wouldn't be visible without pulling the nose cover off (it faces towards the front of the cover, but it's up higher). Take that info with a grain of salt though. It's also definitely only on one side for the 91 insert.

 

Ha, that’s definitely a “make the new guy do it” job if it was burned by hand lol

 

Oh, unfortunately, we are to the point of people making fakes. When we went to Pigeon Forge last fall for the classic car show, I saw one there when walking around. It was a white “Z28” with those not-quite-right looking ebay emblems all around. Older 82-87 style dash, but 91-92 ground effects and bumpers. That was my first confused moment, then I looked at the dash on the passenger side and saw the “CAMARO” emblem instead of a Z28 or IROC-Z emblem and knew what I was looking at then.

It is happening more and more often lately. Starting to see similar cars cropping up online too. Pay attention to the details when looking at them. They will usually make a mistake or be too lazy to swap out everything.

I also saw a gen 1 “Z/28” with 350 emblems, a 350 engine, and an automatic transmission there. Gen 1 Z’s were all 302’s and manuals, correct? Some of the fakes, their ambition leads them to directly call out their deception due to ignorance of the details.

 

That’s a shame.

yup, DZ302 with a 4-speed for the gen 1’s. Plus all kinds of other little things.

 

Yes ago there was a lawsuit here in central Texas with a 69 z28. New owner was suing previous owner over a fake z28. This one had the 4 speed but the trim tag was incorrect and it was a 350 instead of a 302.

 

It's amazing how many people try to pass them off with just some badge swaps, but the trim tag don't lie haha.

I'm glad that our cars also have not-obvious things (like the fender to subframe bracing, etc.) to help identify true Z28's.