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BY DAN JEDLICKA Chicago Sun-Times Auto Editor

High-production automakers don't build factory-engineered race-ready cars you can buy in showrooms any more, but Chevrolet made such a car from 1967 through 1969. It was the Camaro Z28 and is among the most unusual and highly prized cars in the booming classic muscle car market.

The Z28 was built to win the Sports Car Club of America's hot new Trans-Am racing series championship and beat the rival Ford Mustang in the process.

Two car classes competed in the series, which drew big-name drivers: cars with engines under 121 cubic inches in displacement, which was ideal for foreign cars, and autos with engines of no more than 305 cubic inches, a maximum 116-inch wheelbase and a minimum weight of 2,800 pounds.

The larger-engine class was suited to American cars such as the Mustang, which won the first Trans-Am championship in 1966 and infuriated Chevrolet, which had no Camaro racer ready to compete. Chevy was pretty angered to begin with because the Mustang beat the Camaro to market by more than two years.

Three of the eight Mustang teams were competing in the Trans-Am under race car builder Carroll Shelby's colors. That clearly meant Shelby had factory support from Ford, which he had been associated with for years.

Chevy had a problem in that it needed to make a race Camaro for the Trans-Am, but had no suitable engine for it. However, Chevy engineer and promotion specialist Vince Piggins found that if the Chevy 283-cubic-inch V-8's crankshaft was put in the automaker's 327-cubic-inch cylinder block, you had a 302.4-cubic-inch V-8 -- nearly perfect in size for the Trans-Am.

The engine had to be powerful, so it had Chevy Corvette cylinder heads, a huge Holley four-barrel carburetor to feed gobs of fuel; oversized high-rise manifold; large valves, race-engine camshaft to accompany noisy, but efficient, solid valve lifters; cast-iron exhaust headers, and dual exhausts.

The special engine was part of a "Z28'' RPO (Regular Production Option) package for Camaro coupes. The new hot Camaro originally was to be named "Cheetah,'' but General Motors and Chevy feared they'd get bad publicity if known to be selling a race car as a regular production model.

Pontiac had done virtually the same thing in turning a 1964 Pontiac Tempest into the iconic GTO muscle car by offering a GTO option package with a sizzling V-8 and such.

Chevy didn't want to alarm insurance companies, so it rated the Z28's horsepower at 290. The actual horsepower figure was anywhere from 350 to 400, judging by the car's performance. It did 0-60 mph in 5.3 to 6.7 seconds, depending on gearing, and hit nearly 130 mph.

I tested a Z-28 for the Sun-Times and found that, as with many race engines, it was a high-rev unit that had little punch below 3,000 rpm -- but really took off above that rpm mark, all the way to 7,000 rpm.

Legendary racer Smoky Yunick got his modified 1967 Z28 to top 174 mph at the Bonneville salt flats, where the car captured 259 world speed records.

The Z28 was clearly designed for road racing tracks. It had a heavy-duty suspension, power front disc brakes, metallic-lined rear drum brakes, large clutch, quick steering, hood air ducts, a close- or wide-ratio four-speed manual gearbox and "Wide Tread GT" high-performance tires.

The Z28 wasn't happy during street driving, with its high-rev engine, heavy manual steering and stiff suspension, although it could be used daily on roads if you were willing to expend the extra effort it took to drive it.

Besides the special V-8, the race-oriented equipment was part of the "Z28'' package. The Camaro with that package was reasonably priced because Chevy used existing parts and wanted the "Camaro Z-28'' affordable enough to be sold to regular muscle car fans -- not just to Trans-Am racers who knew exactly what the car was all about.

As it turned out, the word hadn't gotten out much to the general public about the Z28 in 1967, and thus only 602 Camaros with the Z28 option were built out of the 220,917 Camaros made that year. Chevy gave the car no promotion and even most Chevy dealers knew nothing about it. Most must have been baffled when customers asked for the mysterious "Z28'' package.

The "'civilian'' Z28 package cost about $400, but ended up closer to $800 because the four-speed transmission, disc brakes and special rear brake linings were "mandatory options.''

Broad racing stripes were standard for the 1967 Z28, although a "ducktail'' rear spoiler was a $32.68 option. Power-boosting exhaust headers cost a few hundred bucks and were put in the trunk at the factory for dealer installation. One could also order a cold air ram induction system that added horsepower.

There were other hot Camaro models, so you could add regular Camaro high-performance and cosmetic items, including a Positraction limited-slip differential and a Rally Sport appearance package.

A Z28's price could top $5,000, but this Chevy still was an amazing high-performance bargain. A 1967 Z28 now is valued at $110,125-$115,750, with the 1968 model at $80,100-$85,725 and the 1969 at $100,00-$105,750.

The Z28 proved itself in the Trans-Am series, beating the Mustang to win two Trans-Am championships in 1968 and 1969 after a track development year with only three wins in 1967. In 1968, the Z28 was virtually unbeatable, winning 10 of 13 races, including eight in a row.

Chevy finally began advertising the Z28 a little in 1968, when the car finally got "Z28'' badges. It ran a March 1968 advertisement in Motor Trend magazine that pictured a Z28, listed the car's prime high-performance features -- and called it the "closest thing to a Corvette yet.''

The 1968 Z28 got a bunch of improvements. They included four-wheel "Corvette-type'' disc brakes, larger engine bearings and stronger rear springs. There also was a $500 dealer-installed aluminum dual cross-ram manifold with two big Holley carburetors which now is seemingly worth its weight in gold in the Z28 collector market.

Factory racing equipment included light plastic bucket seats and specially designed steering components, air dams and spoilers. Anyone off the street could order all the options because that's what Trans-Am series rules required.

The word was getting out about the Z28, and the car's 1968 sales climbed to 7,199 units.

All 1969 Camaros were restyled to look more aggressive. The Z28 added a big "Cowl Induction" hood with a rear-facing scoop that sucked in air from the area immediately in front of the windshield. The manual transmission got a Hurst shifter, found in 1960s muscle cars. And the high-revving V-8 became stronger with four-bolt main bearings. High-performance white-lettered 70-series tires also were added.

The word was fully out now about the Z28, and 1969 sales more than doubled from 1968 to total 19,014 cars. That was a high figure for such a specialized car, and close to the number of 1969 Corvette coupes sold.

The redesigned 1970 Z28 was much more civilized. It had a more conventional high-performance V-8 and no longer was a race-oriented model. The same was true for all following Z28s, although they remained the highest-performance Camaro until the car was dropped after 2002.

But look for a Z28 version after the Camaro is reintroduced for 2009.