1968 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28

WHEN WE FIRST ENCOUNTERED John Bremser’s 1968 Camaro Z/28, last year, the howling homologation special was on its way to winning class honors at the Labor Day weekend edition of Hemmings Muscle Machines’ Musclepalooza.

But that’s really the tail end of the story.

For John, 53, the desire to own and resurrect this British Green brawler first struck in the 1990s. Back then, John and his buddies used to cruise around northern Connecticut looking for muscle cars hiding in plain sight.

“We called it backyarding,” John said. “I grew up in Enfield, and we would drive around on weekends looking for cars to buy. We ended up with some Mopars, including a Dart GTS 383, some Chevelles, and a lot of Camaros.”

This Z/28 — one of fewer than 8,000 built to make Chevrolet’s pony coupe eligible for the Sports Car Club of America’s Trans-Am