1969 Chevy Camaro
Except for the hood and trunk lid, all Camaro sheetmetal was new for 1969.
A restyled grille with inset headlamps helped give the car a lower, wider look, as did new front and rear bumpers and restyled tail-lamps.
Inside, buyers were greeted with more comfortable seats and a new instrument panel.
The RS, SS, and Z-28 platforms were all back, and more popular than ever.
Engine options were at an all-time high.
Although restyled inside and out, drivetrain and major mechanical components were carried over from the 1968 Camaro. Manual drum brakes remained standard for base models, with optional front disc-brakes switched to a single-piston caliper design, replacing the earlier and more complicated four-piston style. The two-speed Powerglide transmission was replaced by the three-speed TH-350 automatic.
1969 Camaro Z-28
The Z-28's 302-cid motor
achieved a near-perfect combination of horsepower and weight for all-around performance.
Originally based on the 327 block, the 4.00-inch bore and 3.00-inch stroke motor
was now based on the 350 block, which had larger main journals and four-bolt main caps. Heavy-duty parts included forged steel crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons, solid-lifter camshaft, and an aluminum dual-plane intake manifold.
Stiffer suspension, quick-ratio steering box, and 15x7-inch rims all helped improve handling.
Unique to the 1969 Z-28 was a rear-facing cowl induction hood. At 80% throttle, an electric valve opened the cowl flap, pulling in cool air from the base of the windshield.
Racing legend Mark Donahue won the SCCA Trans-Am championship for the second year in a row in his #6 Penske/Sunoco Z-28 Camaro.
Read About 1969 Camaro Pace Car
COPO 9561 - The L-72 Big-Block
The Camaro's front sub-frame had been designed to house the 396-cid big-block V8. This meant that the larger bore, 427-cid V8 engine would also fit, but GM divisions were not allowed to install engines 400-cid or larger in passenger-designated cars (except Corvettes). Executives found a loophole to this rule with Chevrolet's Central Office Production Order (COPO) system.
Previously, a common use of COPO was to specify paint schemes or other alterations for fleet or municipal vehicles.
By making the 427 big-block engine a COPO option, a 1969 Camaro could be ordered with the solid lifter L-72 big-block engine, which produced an underrated 425 horsepower.
Around 1,015 Camaros were fitted with the L-72 engine option.
COPO 9560 - The ZL-1 Big-Block
The fastest and rarest production Camaro is the ZL-1 427 Big-block, COPO 9560. Starting with an SS396/375-hp Camaro, the heavy-duty F41 suspension package was added, as was a cowl-induction hood, front disc brakes, and a choice of either close-ratio 4-speed or Turbo-Hydramatic transmission. The rear axle was upgraded to a 12-bolt positraction unit with 4:10 gearing. All SS trim was removed from the car, as was the SS-396 big-block.
In its place went the aluminum-block, aluminum-head 427 ZL-1 motor,
fitted with 12.25:1 compression forged aluminum pistons.
Intake manifold and water pump were also aluminum.
All ZL-1 engines were balanced and blueprinted before installation, and had a torque rating of 450 foot-pounds at 4,400 rpm.
Although advertised horsepower rating was 430, actual power from ZL-1 equipped Camaros was nearer 550-horsepower.
Chevrolet built 69 copies of the ZL-1, making it legal to run in NHRA SuperStock drag classes. In stock trim, 13-second quarter-mile times were common. Using a stock-parts motor and single four-barrel carburetor, drag-racing legend Bill 'Grumpy' Jenkins clocked a 10.09 second elapsed time in his modified ZL-1 Camaro.
Facing delays with the second-generation Camaro, due out for the 1970 model year, Chevrolet extended 1969 production into November. This helped stretch yearly sales to 243,085.
In its first three years, more than 699,000 Camaros were sold.
