In a day and age where the more power your car has the better, it’s getting more and more difficult to find restored factory-correct Chevys owned with as much pride as modified classic muscle cars. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to come across such cars.

Lucky for us, we were able to find some killer 1969 Z/28s in Fort Lupton, Colorado that not only fit the form but also inspired us to take a look at what having an almost completely original ’69 Z/28 means in the industry today. After all, these Z/28s are owned by an avid Chevy collector who has done his part to maintain the integrity of a dying breed. Not only does our feature car owner John Rotherham save handfuls of Camaros from going to the chopping block, he also restores them to the amazing pieces of work the factory intended. Watch out modifiers, it’s about to get crazy!

“Gearhead” Ingrained

As an avid car guy, especially when it comes to Chevys, it’s no surprise that Rotherham has had his foot in the industry for quite some time.

“I’ve been into cars all my life and I also attended WyoTech right out of high school in 1983,” Rotherham told us.

Being the Chevy guy that he is, he bought his first Camaro way back in the day, which was a 1979 Z28. After that, it was all first and second-generation Camaros until 2011 when he started purchasing retro fifth-gens.

Since his first performance car, Rotherham has owned dozens of vehicles, including two fifth-generation Callaway Camaros, one being the only Callaway Indy Pace Car edition Camaro, a classic Impala, C4 Corvette, double COPO Camaro (which we’ll get to later) and a number of 1969 Z/28s, all of which still reside in his garage, the shop that’s building several for him, or the storage containers out back. That’s right boys and girls, Rotherham takes his Chevy passion very seriously!

In addition to his own personal collection, Rotherham has also contributed some amazing Chevy builds to the industry, including a Shadow Grey 1970 LS6 Chevelle, a 1968 L89 Camaro currently in Brian Frank’s Scotts Bluff, Nebraska collection, a yellow and black, as well as a blue and white 1969 Z28 RS for John Lee and the American Muscle Car Museum, and about 15 other Z28s, many of which were ZL1 or big block cars. He even built a very special Maroon 1967 L89 435hp Corvette roadster. Needless to say, amazing factory-correct restorations aren’t the only type of builds Rotherham can pull off!

A Diamond in the Rough

With an undeniable passion for Chevys and an eye for classic Z/28s, Rotherham picked this particular ride up in Boulder where he found the car sitting in a storage lot. But with so many Camaros on his books already, why take on another one?

“I buy all ’69 Z/28s I can find and the Red Deluxe interior really helped,” Rotherham noted about his purchase decision. So for $8,000, one more Z/28 went home to Fort Lupton with Rotherham.

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While the Red Deluxe Interior wasn't a popular interior option in 1969, today it's one of the most sought-after interior features of '69 Camaros.

Red Deluxe interiors made up a very small portion of all interior options for the 1969 model year. In fact, according to the Camaro Research Group, it is estimated that only about three percent of Camaros built for the 1969 model year included a red interior, with only a fraction of those being of the Deluxe standard. Therefore, this particular Z/28 with its factory Red Deluxe interior still intact is quite rare and desirable.

Sticking With Factory Cool

Wanting to preserve the Z/28’s history and rarity, Rotherham enlisted the help of his friends Eric Leskinen and Jesse Read of Madman Fabrication and Paint to do a complete restoration of the car. This meant keeping virtually everything from the factory stock, including the engine, suspension and interior, all of which make this car that much more unique.

In true GM style, you’ll find the factory 302ci engine under the hood of Rotherham’s Camaro, complete with Holley carburetion. The only machine work that has been done to the power plant is a bit of work on the camshaft, but other than that the engine features true factory internals.

The engine is backed by a Muncie 4-speed transmission controlled by a “new for ’69” Hurst Shifter. Out back you’ll find the factory 12-bolt rearend with 3.73 gears.

The car also features its factory F41 “Special Purpose” suspension. This consists of stiffer valved shocks and springs with higher spring rates compared to those of the base Camaro. This package also added a rear swaybar while increasing the size of the front sway bar.

Although other Camaro sub-models could be ordered with the F41 suspension package, it was only the Z/28 F41 package that came with larger 15-inch tires to support the car’s upgraded handling capabilities. Rotherham’s car still sports 15×7.5-inch Rally wheels while making use of newer radial tires for a nicer ride.

Going along with the factory-correct theme, the car was painted by Leskinen and Read in PPG Cortez Silver, matching the factory WA3927 paint code for the car.

As you would expect, the Red Deluxe interior, including the factory dash and tachometer, was left alone, only upgraded with some council gauges and a custom stereo system. After all, this was one of the major selling points of the car and Rotherham’s favorite parts of this particular Camaro.

In total, the car took four years and nearly $40,000 to restore to its present condition, which Rotherham assured us left no nut or bolt untouched.

A Continuing Story

While a full restoration for a factory-correct Camaro may be the end of the story for other cars, it’s only the beginning of the story in this case. That’s because this Z/28, having been completed in October, now joins Rotherham’s other Chevys on his personal property, including the double COPO Camaro we promised to revisit! Check it out below.

Being the avid first-gen Camaro enthusiast that he is, Rotherham was always on the lookout for one of the illusive 1969 COPO Camaros in his hunt for new projects. So when he ran across this one, though pretty torn up, he jumped at the chance to own it. After all, not only was it an original COPO car delivered new to the Denver metro area, it was also of the famed “double COPO” breed.

That means that, in addition to the all-iron 427ci engine and all the goodies that came with the COPO 9561 production code, this car was equipped with the “Sports Car Conversion” package associated with the COPO 9737 production code. This package included a 140mph speedometer, a 13/16-inch diameter stabilizer bar, and E70x15 Goodyear Wide Tread GT tires wrapped around 15-inch rally wheels.

Like most COPO Camaros, the COPO that Rotherham picked up was raced back in the day. As a local Colorado car, the Camaro was raced by Brink’s Automotive and Towing, run under the name “Weasel.” As you can see from these few pictures, the car still maintains its as-raced paint scheme, missing the paint off the front end due to a planned restoration of that area prior to Rotherham acquiring the car.

Because it was raced like countless other COPOs in the late 60s and early 70s, the car’s original engine didn’t stay with the car for long. This, unfortunately, meant that Rotherham picked up the car without the factory equipment. But that didn’t stop him from pursuing any lead he could to find an appropriate engine for the car.

In his search, Rotherham came across a correct date-coded 427 engine that would complete the car quite nicely. The only thing better would have been the original engine.

Lucky for Rotherham, a friend also perusing the interwebs for COPO parts came across just what Rotherham wanted- the exact engine that was associated with his COPO Camaro.

Now with nearly everything the car came with originally, Rotherham will be working on putting the car back together. His intentions? To keep the car in its racing livery with correct engine, original interior and all the history that goes along with it.

A true gem in the automotive realm, Rotherham’s COPO was a treat to see, as was his recently completed Z/28 and the rest of his amazing Chevy collection.

For more photos of both the Z/28 and the COPO, be sure to check out the GALLERY below!