Yeah, Ford is DEFINATELY catering to the performance enthusiast exponentially more than GM.

GM is hanging us out to dry, one model at a time.

 

WERM just about summed up the entire point behind this thread - everyone wanted the SS package, but only if it was free.

When I ordered my Z28 I didn't see the point in paying $4,000 for extra noise and ride harshness. (There again, I also opted for the automatic because it was free!)

Later, driving the SS on a track, I totally understood why someone would lay out the extra money. The SS was a well designed package, with idiot-proof handling. If all-out performance was your objective, the SS was well worth every penny.

 

I have to disagree... I thought the 91-92 camaros were the best looking 3rd gens by far. Infact I put the hood blisters, high rise spoiler and new ground effects on my 86 Iroc because I liked the look so much. But thats just me.

 

That's not the point at all.

It's not that people wanted an SS package for free. It's that people wanted a Z/28 not stripped of all it's defining characteristics.

 

To me, the original '67 Z/28 was just a limited displacement homologation special, just like the Mustang Boss 302. (Yeah, I know it was faster than a SS396, with better handling.) Considering that a high-revving V8 with 1960's technology could barely maintain a reasonable idle, it's no wonder that more people went for the slower, nose heavy big block. The Z/28 started loosing power in 1971, died between '75 and '76, only to reappear on a mixed bag of emmision control strangled Camaros. Then the name disappeared in favor of IROQ-Z in the '80s, only to reappear in 1991 when Chevrolet ended IROQ participation.

I associate the name Z28 most positively with the reliable performance of the F4. The 1993 LT-1 was the first Camaro that I actually wanted to own, and the 1998 LS-1 was that first that I HAD to buy. That's my heritage.

 

To me, the original '67 Z/28 was just a limited displacement homologation special, just like the Mustang Boss 302. (Yeah, I know it was faster than a SS396, with better handling.) Considering that a high-revving V8 with 1960's technology could barely maintain a reasonable idle, it's no wonder that more people went for the slower, nose heavy big block. The Z/28 started loosing power in 1971, died between '75 and '76, only to reappear on a mixed bag of emission control strangled Camaros. Then the name disappeared in favor of IROQ-Z in the '80s, only to reappear in 1991 when Chevrolet ended IROQ participation.

I associate the name Z28 most positively with the reliable performance of the F4. The 1993 LT-1 was the first Camaro that I actually wanted to own, and the 1998 LS-1 was that first that I HAD to buy. That's my heritage.

I didn't have any problem when Chevrolet named the SLP package "SS." The name had died in 1972 with the detuned LS3, and the decision was good marketing, even if the SS wasn't true to its big block heritage. Considering that the SS was a rare success story in the dying days of the F4, it was an intelligent move on the part of Chevrolet.

Is the ongoing Z/28 vs. SS debate about a 1967 model hierarchy, or about the "principle" of a free hood scoop?

 

It's IROC. And its not like the Z28 was just thrown away, you know, IROC-Z28. When the regular Z28 left, the ordering RPO was Z28 and the dash kept the Z28 emblem. It was a Z28 and it was known!! The SS took a Z28 and renamed it something that its not.

No matter what, the Z28 is more important and is distinctly top model Camaro. SS as the top car is BS and not true to the cars history. I can imagine the Firebird guys if Pontiac had called the T/A with ram air and WS6 the "Ram Air" (as the top car in 68) or just "WS6," instead of Trans Am and made the T/A seem lesser to it or devalued and messed up its history of always being the top Firebird.

 

I havent checked this thread in a while, but yippee!!! We have another...
Z28 VERSUS SS THREAD!!!!

I'm overjoyed!

 

Heh true, but most of the other times it starts out being about the GTO, the Mustang, the concepts, whatever, and THEN halfway into it, it turns into Z28 VS SS.. at least this time the thread was clearly about Z28 VS SS from the very beginning, so we have accidentally stayed on topic! Amazing

 

I've always admitted the name "SS" wasn't historically correct, especially considering the car wasn't a standard production-line model, but a factory-backed "converision" by SLP. If you want to talk heritage, the name Yenko would have been more appropriate than SS. I'm glad RedPlanet stuck with his initials.

 

...............I forgot about the lightning. By the way, I love the way the 91'-92' Z28 looked. It edges out the 90' IROC for the best looking 3rd gen.

 

IYO of course.

 

Yea its definatly more of a head turner...When I had my 86 Iroc, it looked like every other one one the streets...here they are a dime a dozen.. you see 3rd gens everywhere, but usually in sh**ty condition.... well after I gave it a 92 Z facelift it got a lot more attention... because those ones are hard to come by

 

I would have just got a Z28 with the hood scoop and wheels.