1968 Camaro Z28 vs 1968 Firebird RAM AIR - PURE STOCK DRAG RACE 

Interesting match today. Two similar cars, yet still very different!

I was the owner of a '68 Firebird 400 (325 hp) with a turbo hydramatic and 3.91 super duty positraction back in the day. My 1st runs with the car were mid to high 14's. I modified the quadrajet with different metering rods and drilled holes in the float bowl to enlarge its capacity, made my own cold air system, blocked the heat risers in the intake manifold, installed crower anti pump up lifters and added hooker 4 tube headers. In addition, I modified the distributor curve and power timed the car on a Clayton chassis dyno (hard to find back in '68) which produced 297 RWHP at about 6000 RPM. I also clamped the front half of the rear multileaf springs so to act as traction bars and added rear air shocks using legal 7" wide slicks. All this was legal in E/SA and the car ran a best of 13.07@110.88 at Vacavalley raceway. It never lost an E/SA class race in NorCal during the years that I ran it. Most common competition was the 440 Roadrunner and GTX which I easily beat but I saw the handwriting on the wall when the 340 Dart and Swinger were put in E/SA and retired the car. I have a crippled left leg and have to use my right leg for both gas and brake. If I had a line lock so I could have properly heated the slicks and launched the car I believe it could have broke into the 12's.

I will never forget the morning I picked up my 68 Camaro convertible RS/SS 396 ,350 HP, on my way home a 68 Z28 came up next to me. I thought to myself..I screwed up ! I shoulda bought the Z28. Two months later I received my draft card. Went from making $500 a month to making $99 a month, car got repossessed, I got repossessed, Uncle Sam got my youth.

In reality, it couldn't have been closer. You couldn't tell, but they were like neck-n'-neck to the very end. Great race and a lot of fun.

Another awesome matchup.....Z28 was basically a detuned race car for the street...4.56 gearing, and the 4 speed might have been the difference makers in this one. Two GM classics!

I’ll keep my 67 400. While I love both of these 1st gens, there’s something about Pontiac that Ioved until 1980. I personally think the 67 year were the best for both simply due to the vent windows.

So glad i found this channel. Seriously, the best car channel on RU-vid. It’s educational and there’s actual drag racing.

F body vs. F body..... LOL.... good race.... I love both of these fantastic cars... I refuse to pick a winner, they're both winners!!! Pffft!!!!!!! 😃👍🤪

I'd take both cars in a heartbeat, the '67-'68 1st gens are my favorite years of body styles for both.. Never cared for the more popular '69 Camaro/Bird TBH

That little 302 is a high revving screamer. Thumb up.

I had a 68 400 firebird ram air 4 spd. Same color . I street raced a 68 Z28 that the kid had the back jacked up and all. Most ran their cars like that back then. LOL, in the late 50s to early 60s it was just the opposite. Cinder blocks in the truck and sparkplugs in the tailpipe. LOL, well we line up and he just whines the motor and dumps the clutch and sits there and spins. I'm pretty good at launching and had him off the line by like 3 car lengths. I'm now in 3rd gear and I look and he's coming like a freight train. I know Pontiacs are torque motors so I just put it in 4th and hoped. It gave me just enough to hold him off. He told me that I was just playing with him and he saw the swirl of exhaust coming out just as he caught me. I let him believe that but if he knew how to drive he and didn't jack his car up he would've had me on the launch and I doubt that I would've won. That was a long long time ago. I feel like a kid again for a moment anyway. 😁 P.S. Looks like a lot of Pontiacs there that day ! 👍

Firebird ram air!!!!

Z/28 driver did a nice job coming out of the gate and out gaining the FB on the top end. Little surprised that the FB's torque and automatic didn't get the best of the Z car.

That cross ram setup is downright sexy.

Originally I would just skip to the race. Now I started watching the content, very informative.

The Chevy 302 was a real screamer!😃

Looks like the 302 started to really pull in 4th. Gotta love it

Keep the great videos coming brother, thanks for all you do brother!

That 30-30 cam is just nasty

Absolutely two amazing cars

That Z28 has a lot more lope than I remember stock ones having. 2 great cars, nice match up.

I always loved the hideaway headlights on the Camaro RS (I think that was the model) but could not figure out why Pontiac didn't do the same thing with the firebird. That would've looked really cool! It sure made the 69 GTO look mean

I was in the passenger seat when we raced a 302 z28. It came passed us about 1000 ft sounded like a blower going by

Goodday C & Z, Love that bug eye looking 68 Camaro Z/28. It's funny how every factory version of T/A racing was rated at 290 HP. Boss 302 = 290hp Mopar 340 6 pack = 290hp. Great to see your video again. It was amazing how far down the track the Camaro got too before shifting from 3rd to 4th at least 3/4 track considering the rear end gearing. It's always a great day when I get a notification from C & Z. Marina Blue with White stripes beautiful combination. Nothing wrong with the Poncho. Great exhaust note. Your number 1 Fan in Australia Louis Kats from Melbourne Australia ☺ 👍 ❤

Thanks for the Video.... awesome STOCK (mostly) comparison of two of the best Muscle cars in '68. Well done.... loved it!

Your vids are getting so much better. Well done!

Holy crap, that 302 was pretty damn potent to outrun an engine nearly 1.5 liters bigger than it. I bet the 30/30 cam has more duration and higher lift than the 400’s cam

The DZ 302 in the Z28 was basically a slightly de tuned race engine and was a really fun package. Man, they were fun to drive! I had a co worker in the early 70’s who had one (‘69) and we sometimes swapped cars on our Friday night cruise (I had a 1970 Mach 1, 351 auto with 3.91 rear gears). He had added headers, side pipes, a dual point distributor and big N50 rear tires. In the early 70’s these cars were not well known and were real sleepers. It was incredibly fun to tell guys (without lying) that the car only had a 302 and then see their faces after racing them. One night I was driving the Z and raced a guy (don’t remember what he was driving). After explaining that the car only had the 302 we lined up next to each other. He did a little burnout and I followed by starting the burnout in first and then power shifting to second. The rear end hiked up and I went flying by him with the 302 screaming at about 7000 RPM and smoke pouring off both tires. As I backed up I looked over and the jaws of both the other driver and his buds were literally on the ground. It was hilarious. Of course I smoked the guy. The Z had the Hurst shifter so power shifting was a breeze. There is nothing like a hot small block screaming at 7000+ RPM and banging gears! BTW, the 290 HP rating was a gross rating. With exhaust and accessories attached the HP was probably pretty close. Of course headers really helped unleash the potential of these little screamers. Wouldn’t be surprised if headers added at least 25-30 HP.

9:25 for anyone that just wants to see the race

I still have a 68 firebird 400.. but now its got a procharger 🔥

Love your passion for these cool cars plus your great sense of humour (and brilliant video tech ability). I typically laugh and drool with each vid. Just wanted to say thanks for what you do. 👍

A guy bought one of these with his reenlistment bonus when I was in the service. Great car. He started adding horsepower improvements to it and everything he did made it slower.😊

In 1966, Pontiac wanted General Motors executives to let them have their own sports car based off the Chevrolet Corvette, and name it Banshee. But GM refused to let it happen because it would affect the sales of the Corvette. So instead they had Chevrolet offered the Camaro F-Body to Pontiac and the Firebird was rushed into production.

I did a full body to bare metal resto on my 66 Mustang and every thing was reduced in weight even the glove box door replaced with a lightweight padded wooden one, every bolt trimmed to length, and every bracket and mount, even the clutch and brake pedal arms drilled, lots of fun, got it down to 2650 lbs with fuel as weighed by two amazed 5.0 fox body owners on morosos scales. the 302 in it was 9.5 comp , mild erson cam and a torker 289 on some 351 heads, without posi and on street tires ran a best of 14.4 at 99.4 mph, interesting how the weight is so much more on these. I bet with posi could have kept up .

Loved the vid. In my 67 FB I ran a 14.0 with a 350 Pontiac motor and 3.73 rear. 350P was almost the inverse of the 302 Chevy: smallish bore, long stroke. Fun ride. Someday hopefully soon I will swap in a 400/400 combo on the same 3.73's making estimated 400hp, and see what shakes loose.

Great video thanks! I thought the Pontiac might win having an automatic

68 bird was my 1st car. Miss that old boy. Injun power forever.

Wow that's more then the 70 LT1 350 unless that was underrated too... I'd love to own a 69 Z28 with the RS package... one of the greatest looking muscle cars ever !!!

Thanks much for the video! Back in the day, I had no trouble with "Z's". My '68 RA III 'bird only went just over 3250 lbs w/me in seat. I did have all RA IV valve train except kept 1.5 rockers, comp. valve job, RA IV oil pump, roller timing chain, w.r. Muncie w/12-bolt 3.55 ltd slip, '69 TA hood, & Camaro off-road chambered exh system. The engine was massive performer below 5500 rpm, but pulled even more strongly from 58-6200.

The lady in the red top couldn't be bothered to look up from her phone during this epic race. Lol! She obviously didn't want to be there.😂😁😂

Wow, that was so close. I love both cars.

Pontiac!

Might be my favorite race so far. Great video! thanks

I'm from that era and my '70 Z-28 (360 HP) barely beat a "69 Firebird 400 race after race and my stock auto Z also beat the mighty "73 SD-455 only because the time that TA got traction my Z was 3 links ahead. Great time of my life.

Loved this race! Thanks again C&Z!

That little 302 was screaming!

Im Not a Chevy guy ,But i remember when Z_28 came out in 67' ,Was Very impressed !

UNcle bought that same exact 68z brand new, nothing i looked forward to than him driving that thing over. Nice runs, didnt know these were 13 sec cars new thats pretty decent! Good stuff keep it coming .

Horsesheet... In the mid 1970's I owned a 1968 400 RA Firebird w/turbo 400. Added an upgraded Holley 750 cfm spread bore, and raced several 1968 Z28's, none of which, had the power or torque to beat my Firebird to the line... not even close!

Dude, you're like a history teacher & stuff

Fun Fact... When you bought a Z-28 with the Cross-Ram option, the intake came separate and was in the Trunk. So you basically had two intakes, one for the street and one for the strip. Better tires and I think both these cars would have made it into the high twelves.

That was a great friggin matchup. I’m sure Chevy guys would have some to add also but I feel like that pontiac should have been mph’n around 102-103 but who knows weather etc and I like pontiac. Buuut mad respect always for the 302. Super cool engine and glad you pointed out the cross ram because so many people will tell me it never happened 🤣 sometimes those ole guys think since they were alive then they saw it all 😂😂 I am old enough to come up on magazines and still have them so..... I’m a hoarder I guess? lol ✌🏼

Great presentation. I really just wanted to see who won, but you kept me interested and prevented me from fast forwarding right to the race at the end.

YOU'RE RIGHT !!!!!! THAT CAMARO SOUNDS PERFECT !!!!! ALMOST AS FANTASTIC AS A SOLID LIFTER BIG BLOCK !!!!! I USED TO SIT BEHIND MY L78 SMOKE A CIGARETTE AND JUST LISTEN TO THAT SWEET SOUND !!!!

That car has a set of #96 ram air 2 cylinder heads. The Ram Air 1 engine ran a set of #31 d-port heads. I am familiar with these cars. I own one of the 92 ram air auto cars. Cool video and thanks for posting.

As much as I want to say Z28 FTW, the combo of TH400 & 4:11's is gonna do it.

I normally skip to the race when it comes to these types of videos but I watched urs all the way through

Those little high revving Chevy small blocks were really awesome and the 1st generation Camaros were the sexiest cars ever. 😎

I love the way you could hear that 302 open up. Chevy really did that 1 right. Steel crank, forged pistons, shot peened rods, 4 bolt mains, high capacity oil pump. windage tray to stop oil aeration, special cam and valve springs, heat treated pushrods, hd rockers, on and on.. I read that the reason Chevy rated it at just 290 HP was because it's actual power would embarrass an SS 396, and the thinking was cubes equals more power and more bragging rights, thusly more sales. Ford and Chrysler did the same thing with their 302 Boss and 340 6bbl respectively, on purpose as well, trying to side step insurance company rates while making larger engines in their lineups seem more powerful.. They weren't.

Very interesting duel. I prefer a Pontiac but Z28 Camaro is really impressive. Powerful and super handling car!

I love that green, I'll paint my firebird that color some day

I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT WHEN THIS VID WAS IN MY SUGGESTIONS! It is like WTF!! I actually owned a 69 Z/28 slightly warmed over and a 68 Firebird with a RAIII 400..... All being equal, if the cars are set up right there is no replacement for displacement.

Funny stuff today! This was better than a Monty Python expose on F-bodies.

Execellent! Keep em comin!

A old family friend actually had a 67 z28 about 15 years ago, he found it as completely beat old dirt track car. He never did restore it sadly, bc he passed away shortly after. Can’t imagine turning a 67 z28 into a dirt car.

Love both of these cars and Pontiac was always my favorite GM division but if I had to pick one of these cars it would be the Z28. Love those Chevy 302 small blocks. I'm a Mopar guy but Chevy always built the best small blocks in my opinion... the 283/327 fuelies, the 327 cube L79, the DZ 302, and the 350 cube LT1 just to name a few but there's many other good ones

Remember that one time he showed a car race that other car? Good times

Those 302s are nasty little engines 💪

Came for the drag race....got an automotive history lesson.

In 1969 the crossram 2×4 Holley's set up came in the trunk. Talk about awesome. That setup put out 600 ponies at 7000 RPM

Awesome content! Looks so thrilling my guy! I'm looking to get into cars here soon

This brings back memories. I had a 1968 Z/28 this exact color with the Cowl induction Hood, rear spoiler and the 12 Bolt 4.11 Posi rear end in it. But mine was just a little different than stock. The original 302 was blown up and I put a 1970 LT-1 370 H.P 4 Bolt Main 350 from a Corvette in it. I put a bigger Cam in it. Mine had the 4 speed Muncie in it. That Camaro ran a best of 12.98 in the Quarter mile. I really miss that car.

Notice that the Hollies on the dual carb engine were double pumpers. This was about 3 years ahead of their release to the general public. I saw one on the single carb Z28 also. Funny how searches on the internet say it was a vacuum secondary......

Revs for power is no bargain on the street & running the proper gear ratio for the strip is crazy for highway use. In this area several people found this out the hard way.

The Firebird has #96 heads. That's a round port RA II head!

Thumbs up for referencing some original road test info. This helps validate just how stock (or not) the present day specimens are. This also adds context and quality to the presentation of this website. However, I wish you would site which issue of what magazine you are quoting.

i had one of the 7199, bronze with black racing stripes.

4.56 gears won the race for the Camaro.

8/2023: Excellent race and 2 awesome cars. The "silly parts" of this particular video are over the top. I Loved This One. Thanks as always. 👍😂

Such beautiful machinery! Great video!

We own 3 Firebirds, a '67 and two '68's one of which is a numbers matching block and muncie stamped VIN's with 3.23 gears. The other '68 is a custom that is still getting built. My dad drag raced when I was a kid, cut my teeth on his trophies in fact so as they say it is in my blood.

I read that some 283 blocks had enough beef in them to handle a 4" bore. So the 302 Chevy had already been discovered by hot rodders before the Z/28.

Love me those first gen Z/28s!!

Bird. Edit .. didn’t realize that all the mods had been made to the Z . Kind of mis leading . Both were awesome cars . However I’m thinking we’re the cars evenly matched off the show room floor ? I’d put the money on the fire bird . No one back in the day would have raced a stock automatic, against a 4 speed car with 4:56

Great video with two great cars.

I bought a brand new 1969 Z28 for $3,000 otd. Power steering was an option, not standard. No power steering for me. I installed 4:10 gears in mine. The '69s had a Hurst shifter. Problem was the rubber bushings. I used steel bushings to get rid of the rubbery feel. Wish I still had it.

At 23 and in the Navy, I Bought my Z on 31/AUG76, $1900, heater delete Hawaii car, 13.05 @ 115 7,500 rpm’s and still pullin, will start restoration soon has 70,000 mi, NOT FOR SALE!

Well, I missed that one... the Z28 win goes to the driver, he got the Z past the Fire Turkey with his shifting. I was 15 when these cars were new. I later built a C/Gas-D/Gas '57 Chev 210 2door station based on 302's and the 30-30 Duntov cam. There is nothing sweeter sounding than a high compression SBC with a 30-30. I have one more engine build in my tired old body, and right after I get past cancer, it will be a 350 with a 30-30. Chevy trivia time: the cross ram GM manifold with dual Holleys was remarkably similar to an Edelbrock single four manifold with none other than Smokey Yunich's name on it. I had one for the street and it was superb. Paid 99.00 +SH from Jocko's Speed Shop in NY, the only place I could find one in stock. It made it to Oregon, where I ran it for years. One night in a moment of weakness, and for enough money to buy a tunnel ram I had my sights on, I sold it to a local circle track legend, and he continued to dominate the local track until cancer got him. I just found out the manifold was spotted on a shelf in the next town from where I grew up. I'm planning a campaign to find and return it to its original owner for the 350 I planning on building. In tribute to this vid, here's a story about a car I helped my partner build in the early '80's when we owned a shop together. It was a '70 Firebird Formula 400 with e nose blown off. The rubber bumpers were $1000, which we did not have, ($5k? in today's money?). We got the 400 for $100. A few months later, we were at the wrecking yard getting parts for customer's cars. As we were about to leave the yard, we saw several Camaro fenders in a pile outside the body shop the yard ran. Something about them made us stop, and almost at the same time say, Do you suppose? We bought five fenders, and a hood that day for $50. Actually we bought the hood, the owner gave us the fenders. They were 'replaced' fenders, so we were headed to scrap. Our thinking was eff it, we got a wire welder, we cane get two good ones out of this pile. So, the mission was to put a Camaro front end on the 400. The project took off from there. We ordered a Z28 front air dam from the Chevy dealer, (they were a sponsor of my '57 15 years prior, making the front end a Z28 front clip. We left the 'shaker' intake from the 400, (a through the hood passive induction 'scoop'). As the body was being prepped for black lacquer paint, what should drive up one day but a Chev 4x4 belonging to a roofer who worked at the shake mill and roofing comp next door. We didn't know him, but this 4x was loping, and leaping from the nasty cam. Not what a 50+ old guy would drive, (or we would have known him). He shuts the thing down as we walk out. My gawd damn kid put this motor in my truck, and I can't stand it, (17 year old son has grand delusions, and just enough money to build a motor, but not enough for a car.). It's undrivable. You can have the motor, if you replace it with a stock motor. It was a ridiculously overbuilt 396 BBC, headers, nice intake, cam, 12:1 pistons, good rods. The PO'd dad had the receipts to prove the parts and machine work done. My partner and I looked at each, got big grins, and said, There's the motor we need for the Z400. We had plenty of TH 350's, since I did tranny work back then, and would build 'Frankenstein' TH350's , (used parts), for people with no money, (gave them a killer price, and 6 months warranty. It made us heroes with people hurting financially. Even the headers fit the damn thing. It was a thing of beauty and confusion, coming at you, it looked like a Z28, with a strange hood lump, then as it passed, it created double takes, everytime. About three months after it was finished, we took it to a small car show and swap meet in Portland. It won a 1sr place. As we were loading it up after the show, a middle age guy walked up, and offered us a stupid amount of money for it. There wss less than $1000 in the car, and for what he offered it was stupid not to take it, (the economy sucked in the early '80's, and we were barely hangin' on. It was a LOT of money back then.) The car was to be his daughters high school grad present. We tried to talk him out of it when we found out where it was headed, we offered to build something safer for her, but we figured he wanted it, as much as he wanted to give it to her. We stayed the night in Portland, amde the deal the next day, the the Z400 was never seen or heard of again. Would love to find out its fate. It was way over powered, and we still have an outstanding bet on how long ut lasted before she crashed it, (I'm 67, and my partner is 75. We still talk cars and current craziness at least every few days.) It was a rare build, if you saw it, you'd remember it. Let me know if you have. GeoD

Great cars wish they would have run two more times that was a close race.

The Camaro definitely had some traction issues at the light...shouldn't have been that close...

Considering the weight difference between a Pontiac engine and a SBC, that Firebird is pretty light.

In stock eliminator the Z/28 you show was an E or F stock car. The Firebird RA2 was a B stock car. The Firebird 400 non-RA was an E or F stock car. Shows how fast the Z/28 really was.

Great break down of the cars pre race. I had a hard time picking a winner. I was pulling for the Z28 cause my best friend had one all those years ago.

Driver and tuning make a big difference.

love the flash camaro !

The pinnacle of GM. Two stunning examples. I drove Pontiacs, and loved them. The Camaro makes up for the motor being 75% the size with a much more aggressively built motor from the factory, manual transmission, lower gears, and likely better tuning. Outside the Chrysler TorqueFlight 727, the automatic transmissions of the day put one at a real disadvantage. I still prefer a stick shift today despite the performance of DCT

My father had a brand new 68Z 28 crossram cow induction JL8 brakes . He was associated with Bill Jenkins and Dave Strickler. Set a record at the local dragstrip PID for 11.97 But didn’t back it up.

That's pretty impressive for an old school pushrod 5 liter.

Omg that camaro sounds amazing all bout high reving small block in the quarter. I love them both. But i gotta say i want the Z28

HA, I thought it was gonna be an exact tie (irony of the video) ! I was wrong, but not by much ! Sweet !