Forget all that talk about gas-free Chevys. “Did you miss your chance in the late '60s to buy one of those ZL-1 Camaros with the ‘mystery-motor’ 427 aluminum V-8?” asks Dallas Morning News reporter Terry Box. Well now’s your chance! Come summer, GM will be selling reproduction 427-cubic-inch ZL-1 motors at $21k a pop. "Simply mentioning the term ZL-1 stirs the emotions of Chevy performance enthusiasts," said Lisa Reffett, marketing manager of GM Performance Parts. (Consider yourself stirred, not yet shaken.) The original all-aluminum ZL-1 was “conservatively” rated at 430 horses. GM says the Anniversary motor will be all that, with 450 ft.-lbs. of torque to boot. The “fire-breathing” motor will have a 10-to-1 compression ratio, aluminum port heads, a forged-steel crankshaft and rods; and a dual-plane intake manifold. GM spokesman Tom Henderson reckons the ZL-1s will end up in '69 Camaros. "I think they will appeal to those of us in the baby boomer realm who dreamed of having one of these cars but didn't have two nickels to rub together in 1969," said Henderson. Meanwhile, no word on ZL-1 mpgs, and we’re still waiting for the new Camaro. Oh and we'd like to see the Volt's redesigned [i.e. non-advertisement] sheetmetal please.
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I could fit one of these into my Speed3, right? If I could…I would.
21K is a bit steep for a carbuerated 427- you can get the LS7 427 for 13,900 turnkey.. roughly. I’m pretty sure companys like Baldwin-Motion and Mr. Yenko used those 427s in their packages back in the late 60’s. 427 was a hell of a motor, I wish the big blocks would make a comeback…. please GM put them in the new camaros.
Since Dynacorn is now reproducing the 69 Camaro shell, I’m willing to bet these will sell like hotcakes. There will be no shortage of clone ZL-1 Camaros on the street.
I’ll pass on the ZL-1 name and get World Products “Merlin” all aluminum Bowtie for $7000-ish less.
Never understood that whole automotive pedigree thing, mostly when the aftermarket does the same (or better) for less.
Sometimes a brand name is just that. Big deal.
No one would even dream of using one of those to counterfeit a really rare car and commit fraud. Perish the thought.
Is this for real??? “Meanwhile, no word on ZL-1 mpgs…..”
I guarantee the folks who will be ordering this crate engine for their resto-mods could give a sqirt about “ZL-1 mpgs.” The adventurous ones will be flogging them at their local dragstrips. They’ll worry about ET’s, trap speeds and reaction times……not quarter miles per gallon.
$21 thousand for an engine??!?!? you could buy 2 complete Aveos for that money and possibly have change. but on the downside you would have two aveos
but carbs?!?!? no fuel injection?!??!? next they will attempt Smokey Yunnick’s Adiabatic engine
+1 with Sajeev.
You can get as much or more engine for a LOT less money.
Very old news, my friend in the GM Parts business tells me that these were allocated months ago.
When you’re building a clone or restoring an existing vehicle that is supposed to have that particular motor or even a resto mod you’re gonna want that motor. The motor can dictate the car’s value now and in the future.
Maybe GM will put a few in the new Pontiac G8. A new GTO Judge?
Of course with modern technology there’s more bang for the buck. But the point of these motors is the nostalgia and the cars that they will go in where this engine was optional original equipment.
I wonder how much a professionaly restored Camaro that’s to be a ZL-1 clone will fetch at auction. You know, relative to its component prices and the price of a real ZL-1.
I haven’t checked much on the casting details of the SB and BB Chevy, but I betcha World Products makes a better version for the same money (or less). :)
Could you put one in just about any V-8 camaro or vette? I mean with little trouble or other expense.
You could put one in any chevrolet, and pair it with any chevrolet transmission too. It would be a little bit difficult in a 4th gen f-body though.
I wonder if these engines will be a “yeah, but” type thing…
Still kinda cool that they’re doing this. Did they have the original tooling just hanging out?