Many who are waiting for the revived 2009 Chevrolet Camaro remember the 1968-69 Camaro Z-28, which was basically a Trans Am race car anyone could buy at a Chevy dealership. But its race engine wasn't very suitable for street driving, and I found that the car -- as with all race cars -- was generally uncomfortable.

The new 1970-73 Camaro, which also came as a high-performance Z-28 model, was much better. For one thing, it was comfortable. For another, it was gorgeous. The 1967 Camaro had bland styling, while the chunkier 1968-69 Camaro looked almost trucklike.

The exquisitely styled 1970 Camaro coupe came from the best era of General Motors styling, done under legendary GM styling chief Bill Mitchell. It resembled the fabulous Pininfarina-styled short-wheelbase Ferrari Berlinetta, with a small, high-set ovalish grille, long hood, short deck, pointing front fenders -- and trim and tapered rear fenders. It looked like a Ferrari for Americans.

The styling was so good that it lasted a dozen years, although no convertible version was offered because of fading demand for soft-top cars in the 1970s.

In his 1978 book, Modern Classics, Rich Taylor writes of a wealthy bachelor friend, the editor of a major motorsports magazine, who "could own any car he wants, near enough. And as a driveable collector car, he chose the [1973] Z-28 [because] all things considered, like service and parts and performance and style and all-around panache -- it was the best car for his purposes he could find in the world."

The new Camaro was sold with a variety of engines, but the 1970 Z-28 had a 350-cubic-inch V-8 producing 360 horsepower. It was essentially the potent 1970 Corvette V-8 with just 10 less horsepower but an equal amount of torque.

The smooth, quiet V-8 gave the new Z-28 much broader appeal. The 1967-69 Z-28 had a high-revving 302-cubic-inch V-8 with virtually no punch below 3,000 rpm. It produced neck-snapping acceleration at higher revs, which was fine for the track but not so good for the street. Chevy rated its horsepower at 290, but it actually produced at least 350.

The Z-28 V-8 was more tractable, less temperamental and more reliable. It generally outperformed the 302 V-8 in every way.

The new Z-28 coupe could top 100 mph in the quarter-mile run, which is pretty good by today's standards.

Moreover, the 1970 Z-28 was the first to come with standard front disc brakes, front/rear anti-sway bars, more comfortable seats and a better insulated and quieter body. It retained the same race-oriented gauge cluster as the 1968-69 Z-28, but the instrument panel was redesigned.

Power steering and brakes became standard, and an automatic transmission was optional for the first time if you didn't want the standard four-speed manual gearbox.

Wide body stripes and two different types of rear spoilers helped distinguish the 1970 Z-28 from other Camaros. The Z-28 was a bargain at around $4,500, and drew nearly 9,000 buyers despite an abbreviated production run. (The new Camaro didn't arrive until the spring of 1970 and thus the 1969 Camaro was sold through December 1969.)

GM dropped compression ratios of nearly all its cars to 8.5:1 in 1971 so they could use unleaded gasoline. However, it let the Z-28 and Corvette have a higher 9.0:1 compression ratio through 1974, although that still was a step down from the 1970 Z-28's sky-high 11.0:1 power-producing compression ratio.

Horsepower of the 1971 Z-28 thus dropped from 360 to 330. Still, the car was plenty fast. For 1972, GM began using SAE net advertised horsepower figures for its engines instead of "gross" (spell higher) ratings. The 1972 Z-28's advertised horsepower thus fell to 255. A 174-day strike against GM in 1972 made Camaros scarce and held Z-28 production that year to only 2,575 cars.

The 1973 Z-28's advertised horsepower dipped to 245, but it remained fast enough and 11,574 were sold.

The 1970-73 Z-28s weighed only about 3,300 pounds and were fairly small and handy for American cars. They had taut, assured handling with their sports suspension and performance tires.

Styling continued to be nearly flawless. As a bonus, the price of the Z-28 option, which had high-performance components that turned a standard Camaro into a Z-28, fell from as high as $786.75 in 1971 to $502.05 in 1973.

The 1974 Camaro Z-28 was saddled with aluminum bumpers to meet new federal requirements, and that forced revised front styling and taillights that didn't help the car's appearance. Chevy suspended Z-28 production at the end of the 1974 model year, but the car returned as a mid-1977 coupe with the same basic appearance as the 1970 Z-28.