THE FIRST DRAFT

YOU CAN’T SWING A CHAMBERED exhaust pipe without hitting an armchair Camaro expert. They’re at the gas station, the auto parts store, at local shows, and all over the internet — oh, especially the internet. It’s understandable, though. The Camaro in general — and first-generation cars in particular — are hugely popular, ever approachable, and there’s been volumes, upon volumes, written about them. Camaros are easy to get to know and even the most obscure examples of the breed have few secrets these days.

But the Hugger Orange 1969 Z/28 on these pages would likely confound many armchair experts. At first walkaround, the car has clearly been restored to a show-stopping standard. Yet why aren’t the stripes quite right? Why does it have quarter-panel trim louvers, yet no wheelhouse or drip rail moldings? And why does it have 15›x›6-inch Rally wheels — an inch too narrow for ’69?

Then there’s the