ok so all this talk about the nototious z16 conv. makes me wonder out of all the people who are constantly looking for this car, no one has seen it? T-man seems to be the only one of us who knows someone who at least seen it. out of all the chevelle nuts who visit this site how come it can't be found. I've heard tales I've read books that talk about it but thats it. could someone please go on a crusade and find this car, I am starting to loose my faith that this car ever existed does anyone have a picture, t-man maybe your friend does that would be a hell of a picture to put on the site, why is this car so illusive I mean we found the dead sea scrolls and the titanic but not this one car. Maybe thats where they hid Jimmy Hoffa's body and the guy who shot Kennedy. I think the car was a legend a myth a fantastic rumor the holy grail of chevelles forever lost to Davey Jones's locker. graemlins/clonk.gif :confused:

Originally posted by 65forever:
oooooopppppssss sorry about that I ment T-man not Dan I don't know where that came from? graemlins/clonk.gif graemlins/clonk.gif All you have to do is click on the edit pencil above your post to change it.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Dean/edit_ubb6.gif<--


Someone here claims to have ridden shotgun in the Z16 convertible but I have forgotten who it was.
Maybe it was T-Man

If anyone here has seen or has pictures please help reveal this mystical unicorn to the rest of us :D :eek:

The 65 El Camino that was build for the Chi.Fair was a 396 With removable top. Does that count?

Sure, it would be cool to find that lone Z16 convertible, but there are a few things to remember:

first, even though this site is great and has alot of traffic, the people here only make up a small portion of Chevelle owners and enthusiasts..

Secondly, the rumor I recall is that this car was wrecked, way back when. Unless you were Super-hardcore Chevelle enthusiast back THEN you wouldn't know it was special (I think it was fairly common to swap in a big block into a 65 chevelle). This car, if wrecked badly, might have only been considered a parts car, and then the wrecking yard might have crushed it for scrap...

Maybe the current owner doesn't realize its "1 of 1" and its hidden away in a garage/barn to be restored someday...

Maybe the current owner Knows its a million dollar car, but doesn't want to let anybody know they have it until they can document and restore it...

What if it has already surfaced, but lack of documentation/missing parts makes "experts" tell the owner its a clone?

I think that would be funny... Guy shows up with the ONE REAL Z16 convertible (replacement motor, repaint, etc), but everyone thinks/says its a clone, so the guy "restores" it "back" to a stock small block powered SS convertible... :D it could be right under someones nose...

Yeah, it would be cool to see it (even better to find it yourself)...

The information I am currently being told on the car was that it is unrestored and is triple black.The documentation shows that it was GM exec ordered and wound up in Milford for a short period.This info is from a past owner who sold it to its current owner.I am doing everything I can to get this car to Pigeon Forge for my show.This info is being relayed to me by someone I have no reason not to believe.If I obtain anymore info I'll update.Remember I am not gauranteeing this is the car just passing on info I feel could be true.

I don't buy it. The most credible story I've heard about it was that it was an executive special order and that it was gold (tan) with a tan top AND that it was wreaked and crushed eons ago. The reason it has never surfaced yet is because there is nothing left to surface, it's long since been made into toasters.

Years ago someone in the NCOA began dropping hints that they might have found the Z16 convertible, with little bits of "new" information leaking out every so often. It always felt to me like they were leaking made up facts which would later support the legitimacy of the Z16 convertible they would then fake and present to the public as the real deal. The story of the black convertible strikes me this way as well. I'll remain highly skeptical until more and meaningful evidence is produced. Given the ever rising values of musclecars I do not expect these rumors to lessen and I do suspect someone will at some point try to pass a fake off as a legit "find".

Not even GM can produce any evidence the car ever existed. If it did exist, why have no photos of it ever surfaced? Why does GM have no records of such a car being ordered or produced?

Rich -L79 its comments like that that keeps cars like this buried.To hurl a comment that this car I am discussing is just another made up story to legitimize a car thats been buried since the seventies is a little off base.The most credible story you've heard is that it was gold so I guess that story will stick until a gold one pops up.As you see in my previous comment I'm not gauranteeing anything and the current owner and past owner haven't cared either.I brought it up.The reason this car will probably never surface is because skeptics right away will shread the car.Evidently I have the wrong car and hopefully a gold car comes to light.

you know the story of the gold car seems credible t-man mentioned the guys name who had it but I too think it is most likely that the car is long gone with guys like Tim Allen, Jay Leno with millions of dollars to spend on ultra rare cars if it still existed it would have surfaced by now. but what about that show car elcamino the surfer 1 roadster pickup? I've seen pictures in Terry Boyce's books, but one car I seen with my own two eyes is a 65 ss with rear brake coolers molded in front of the rear wheel well it was a concept car in the begining. he was racing at super chevy at bandimere speed way the car was pink, my friend got a peek at the V.I.N. and said it was unlike anything he'd seen in a 65 :cool:

Easy now! No one can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this car actually existed, not on paper anyway, I tried. The car was gold, I rode in it a few times right after a friend of mine bought it. He bought it through the GM pep car program and was a GM employee at the time when the car was new. He has no pictures of it, no sales paper work, insurance papers, all gone. I went to the dealership he took delivery at and they keep sales records for seven years then they are destroyed. It would be great for this car to pop up somewhere but the numbers better be dead on, that's for sure. He hit a curb with it and bent up the right side suspension and had a heck of a time finding the parts to fix it. That happened in 1965! Good luck out there!

Originally posted by copoloco:
Rich -L79 its comments like that that keeps cars like this buried.To hurl a comment that this car I am discussing is just another made up story to legitimize a car thats been buried since the seventies is a little off base.The most credible story you've heard is that it was gold so I guess that story will stick until a gold one pops up.As you see in my previous comment I'm not gauranteeing anything and the current owner and past owner haven't cared either.I brought it up.The reason this car will probably never surface is because skeptics right away will shread the car.Evidently I have the wrong car and hopefully a gold car comes to light. But that's just my point. Lots of folks can talk about it but no one, NO ONE, seems able to supply any tangible credible evidence of the car's existance. T-Man's story is the only one I've ever heard that seems to hold any water since he claims to have seen the car and riden in the car. How the car he rode in came to be is still shrouded in mystery at that.

My raging skepticism stems from the incredible number of times I hear folks say, "I have a lead on the one true Z16 convertible" in which no shred of evidence is ever produced. Not ONCE has any photo, documentation or credible evidence of any kind been produced.

I think it would be entirely cool if the car surfaced some day, I just honestly don't think it ever will. If it does, of course it will be torn to shreds as you say, but if it is legit it will survive the gauntlet.

Of the 201 built, only about 25-30 are known to still exist. The odds are against it having survived I'm afraid and I have to believe if it still existed in any way it would have surfaced long before now.

I don't see how skepticism is keeping it buried but I do see how skepticism will keep stories about the car kept in perspective. You probably think I'm being harsh or picking on you but I'm not.

Rich I've been around too long to take it personally.But you have to remember not to discount anything.If i would have been the owner of such a car and read your comments you wouldn't hear from me again.I'm not discounting the gold car but give someone an opportunity to present another side before discounting them.I can sit here and tell you tons of storys of people that tell me they didn't do this or that and most of the time their comments are incorrect.Most people believe they made 1 but where theres 1 there could be 2.I'm doing everything I can to either see this car or get some sort of documentation.This car was purchased in the seventies and changed hands in the early eighties when it meant nothing.I'm being told by the previous owner that the car retains its original paint and the only thing thats been changed are the wear and tear parts.He now knows now what the car is or could be.Neither one is promoting this car.I stumbled across it by accident.I'm not a skeptic i've seen too much.But i know it takes docs to verify.If I ever get to see them Jim Mattison is the first contact I'll make to help verify any descrepencies.If it isn't anything I'll shout it from the rooftops but I'm hoping it holds some truth.2nd car prototype ? or nothing.
P.S. my brother called me one day and told me he found an original 10,000 mile 1968 BALDWIN MOTION PHASE III CAMARO and I laughed and told him no way I never heard of this particular car.I almost discounted his story.We went to take a look at the car.Its on the cover of this months MUSCLECAR ENTHUSIAST.

I understand where you are coming from and I look forward to any revalations you may be able to share.

Hey, How come people make clones of this car all the time and it's Red because they saw it in some old magazines? Well I guess they could really see the color in black and white photos graemlins/clonk.gif But I don't know about you guys, but I always seen clones and they're always red, not that Gold color as T-Man said. There's a clone in The Super Chevy Magazine,Chevelle edtion(Winter 2003) if you you have that issue, front cover, Pg 17. :confused:

A clone doesn't have to be based on any specific or real car, only a concept. The one cloned convertible I've seen, the one you mentioned that was featured in a magazine recently, is probably red for two reasons:

1. it is one of the three known Z16 colors
2. red sells and wins shows and looks good in magazines

Oh i see. I guess if I was building that clone, then I would build it exact with the original color because that's the only Chevelle convertible with a BB, but I guess that guy couldn't find that out

Rich-L79 contact me for info on the Z-16 cvt.Tim

I emailed my phone #

I remember reading an old 1971 Popular Hot Rodding magazine(month unknown).In the classified section someone was selling a Z16 convertible.Back in those days who would know or screw around right?Does anybody remember this magazine?I wish I still had it!