"How Smokey Yunick Broke More Than 300
Bonneville Records With a 'Stock' 1967 Z/28"
Smokey Yunick always thought big. With access to Chevy’s brand-new 1967
Camaro—and liking its wind-cheating body and the availability of both
small-block and big-block power—Yunick thought it the perfect vessel to
conceivably smash hundreds of Federation Internationale de l’ Automobile (FIA)
time-trial records and also have some fun at the expense of Ford’s Trans-Am
efforts. Looking over the U.S. Auto Club (USAC) speed records, he saw more than 300
production records he could break in both the 305–488ci displacement “B”
production class and the 183–305ci “C” production class. Yunick loved to absorb
rulebooks and specifications, then outthink or otherwise beat the sanctioning
body and competition between the pages. He built a stock-bore 445hp small-block and 540hp big-block that contained
“optional heavy-duty parts” that were production components available from
Chevy, which they had to be for eligibility. Both used solid lifters. Muncie
four-speeds and Positraction 12-bolt rearends suspended from stock leaf springs
completed the drivetrain. The three Camaros he built were said to be Z/28s, though they may have
started out as pedestrian Camaros with Z/28 markings. Smokey stressed that he
deviated from stock by only adding rollbars, magnesium American Racing wheels,
and 10.00-15 rayon racing tires. This must have been where the term “Smoke[y]
and mirrors” originated. Says Vic Edelbrock, who owns the restored car today (2018), “The front suspension
points were relocated and the subframe Z-cut and rewelded to allow for a lower
floorpan. The entire body was acid-dipped, the hood and front fenders are
reshaped and are wider and lower, and every surface under the body was made
smooth and reshaped to reduce drag. The windshield was laid back and the drip
rails pulled in flush with the body.” On their way to Bonneville, Smokey called HOT ROD’s Jim McFarland to come
meet him at Riverside Raceway, where the Bud Moore Mercury Cougar team was
practicing for the upcoming Mission Bell 250. Smokey flat towed one of the
Camaros for this detour. When he got there somehow he was allowed to unload the
Camaro at the track, where this shot was taken. With Lloyd Ruby driving they
broke the Trans-Am qualifying record, sending the Moore team into fits. Smokey was immediately kicked out of Riverside, with a big smile on his face. At Bonneville in October 1967, a 10-mile course was marked off on the salt,
and with driver Mickey Thompson and stock car drivers Curtis Turner, Bunkie
Blackburn, and Johnny Patterson, they spent 12 days breaking hundreds of
flying-mile records, some more than once. .