Documents confirm that Mr. Boyette sold the car after five years to an out-of-state buyer in Pennsylvania. Sometime afterward a subsequent owner removed the significant components and stored them with the original Protect-O-Plate. These were later discovered by noted Camaro enthusiast and restorer Tom Harrison, who agreed to purchase the Protect-O-Plate and return for the parts if and when he could locate the original car, which he was later able to do through the efforts of a family member working in law enforcement and experienced in tracking investigation subjects. Harrison then approached the owner, documented by copies of the State of Pennsylvania as a young man in Feasterville, PA. Initially unwilling to part with the car, he turned down several offers before his father intervened and negotiated the sale to Harrison, who then purchased the original parts and began restoring the car in the mid-1990s.
As part of the rotisserie restoration the car received new floorboards and numerous GM NOS parts including quarter panels, bumpers, gas tank, miscellaneous sheet metal and other parts. Although the DZ-code 302 CI engine block appears to be decked, obscuring the pad stamping, the car’s VIN is stamped on the oil filter mounting boss and appears to be factory original, strongly suggesting it is indeed the original block, although this has not yet been confirmed. In refinishing the car Harrison eschewed the original Fathom Green for a custom shade closely approximating the factory Rallye Green, added Black Sport stripes and replaced the original Green interior with an RPO Z23 Special Black interior. Over a dozen years later the resulting presentation remains exceptionally pleasing to the eye.
In 1998 the car was sold to Chicago industrialist Dale Kengott. A passionate and experienced collector, Kengott babied the car until selling it through the Volo Auto Museum to professional wrestler John Cena, who later sold it to a Naples, FL dealer.
Dubbed by its present owner as the “Reunion Camaro”, this extraordinary JL8-equipped Camaro Z28 is documented with the Park Chevrolet bill of sale, Protect-O-Plate and warranty book, period photographs from the original owner and copies of the title issued by the State of Pennsylvania confirming the car’s sale from the original owner to a Pennsylvania resident in October 1974.
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