In the previous My Wheels chapter, I mentioned that the price of the Lumina was improved by the dealer’s need to “make room for the ’93s”. These included an all new fourth generation Camaro and I was instantly smitten by what I still consider one of the most attractive automotive shapes ever. The extremely clean wedge reminded me of futuristic dream cars my friends and I would sketch in the margins of our note books in high school. A new Pontiac Firebird naturally appeared at the same time and many were attracted to the performance oriented Trans Am model but not I. As was common with Pontiacs of the time, the Trans Am distinguished itself with various bits of cladding. There was also what I considered an awkward looking spoiler. In contrast, the Camaro’s simple blade-like spoiler was smoothly integrated into the body. I irritated some Trans Am admirers of my acquaintance by describing the car as “Camaro meets Mr. Potato Head”.

When, two years after buying the Lumina, the time came to “make room for the ’95s”, I was back to buy my third car from the same dealer. Ideally I’d have found a leftover green manual 6-speed Z-28 but I settled for a black 4-speed automatic. It was a Z-28, however, and a test drive of the 275 HP V8 told me that this would be a fun car even with the automatic transmission. It was also great looking. When clean and shining, this was one of the best looking cars I’ve had the pleasure of owning. But, as is well known, black cars are dust magnets and its clean and shining periods were usually rather short lived. This is — and I’m sure it will remain — the only black car I’ve ever owned.

As seen in the photo, I autocrossed this car quite a bit. It was much better suited to the job than the Z-34 Lumina and I did considerably better with it although I was never a real threat. I sure had a lot of fun, though.

Of course I still had some daughter chauffeuring responsibilities. The Camaro wasn’t as roomy as the Lumina but neither was it as confining as the Storm. Hauling two, and on occasion even three, flexible teenagers, was never much of a problem. Maybe the kids like the tasteful rumbling. I know I did.

My previous Wheels: Chapter 30 — 1992 Chevrolet Lumina
My Next Wheels: Chapter 32 — 1986 Ford Bronco II