1983 Chevrolet Camaro

Gateway Classic Cars of Charlotte is proud to digitally present this 1983 Chevrolet Camaro Z28.

When the all-new third-generation Camaro came out at the dawn of 1982, the Z28 was the slickest machine on the road: nose down, tail up, striped, and spoiler equipped like a muscle machine built a dozen years previous might've been. The Firebird's aero-slick shape, monochrome-and-black paint scheme, and relative lack of adornment lent it a quasi-Euro GT vibe. Still, the showy new Camaro was the vision of a low-slung all-American muscle machine for the Eighties, with dished five-spoke wheels, white-letter tires, a scooped hood, and colored striping that separated the body color from the ground effects. In a pre-launch magazine interview, Camaro lead designer Jerry Palmer said, "It really struts!" That strutting style hit America's sweet spot. Lower, slicker, and trimmer than anything Detroit had come out with previously, the new Camaro quickly became a sensation, the industry's new style leader.

The Z28 engines were changed for 1983: the LU5 Crossfire 305 V8 was rated at 175 hp and was supplemented in April 1983 by an all-new 5.0 L L69 4 bbl 190 hp (142 kW) High-Output (HO) V8. This engine was only available with a manual transmission in 1983. Due to its late introduction, 3,223 L69 V8s were sold for the 1983 model year. A Borg-Warner 5-speed manual transmission replaced the previous 4-speed in the Z28.

The Z28s included lightweight fiberglass SMC hoods with functional hood air induction flaps on RPO LU5 cars. The Z28 had a different nose, a three-piece rear spoiler, and front, side, and rear lower body valances in silver or gold. Above the valance was a three-color lower body stripe encircled the car. The headlamp pockets on the Z28 were black. Standard were new 15x7-inch cast-aluminum five-spoke wheels accented with silver or gold. Z28 badges appeared on the right rear bumper and the side valances. In early models, if the "Conteur" sport seats were selected as an option, the passenger seat was purposefully a mismatched high-back bucket seat design due to production shortages of the passenger seat. This example includes glass T-Tops, a newer Alpine stereo head unit with a CD player, and a newer Edelbrock carburetor.

Contact us today to make this yours and discover why these Z28s were taking charge of the streets!