Australia’s ultimate Camaro

Toughest of the tough

AMC described Bob Jane’s Camaro in the following manner when the orange machine was featured in-depth in issue #6’s ‘Aussie Invader’ cover story of 2003: “Quite simply this is a brutally powerful son of a bitch Chevrolet that redefined the term ‘muscle car’ when it erupted onto Australian race tracks in 1971. Prior to its arrival, the local tin-top scene was dominated by Ford Mustangs powered by small-block V8s, but no one had seen anything like this. Under the bonnet of his new weapon lurked a 427 cubic inch (7.0 litre) all-alloy V8 ‘Rat’ motor with a zillion horsepower and so much torque there wasn’t a gearbox that could contain it.”

Driver to match

Behind the wheel was Bob Jane, whose presence in and out of the car matched that of his new glamour Chev. Jane had already claimed two Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) titles driving Jaguars in the early 1960s, then had five seasons campaigning Mustangs with moderate success in the mid to late 1960s. This left the former champ hungry for more crowns. Crowds watched in awe as the nuggety Jane, in his typically aggressive hunched-behind-the-wheel style, took on the best in the business – and beat them.

It’s a genuine ZL-1

The ZL-1 model was the pinnacle of Chevy high performance. Some five decades later, it still is. Jane’s car, VIN 610732, was #13 of a 1969 batch of just 69 cars factory-fitted with ferocious 427 engines – with four-bolt mains, cast-iron cylinder liners, 12:1 pistons and open chamber heads – to meet drag race homologation requirements. These COPO (GM’s ‘Central Office Production Order’) No. 9560 cars were available in a choice of five colours with either a four-speed manual (Muncie M-21 or M22) or heavy-duty Turbo 400 automatic transmission. In addition, the ZL-1 was also equipped with front disc brakes, a special raised ‘cowl induction’ bonnet scoop, heavy-duty radiator, performance suspension and a 12-bolt Positraction rear axle assembly loaded with 4.10 gears.