Building a Camaro Z/28

Let’s say you bought a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro SS, but really want a Z/28, should you trade-in the car to upgrade? If you are mechanically inclined, there may be a way to build a Z/28 instead of purchasing one from a dealer.

Not only can you build your own, but it may cost you less money to do so than to purchase a factory built car. In fact if you want just the look of the higher performance Camaro it will cost under $1,600. However, to get the added performance will cost you 17 times more.

Click past the jump (or scroll down if you came directly to the full article) to find out more of what it takes to build a Camro Z/28 starting with a SS.

So, how is that building a Z/28 can be less expensive than buying a new one? If you purchase a base Camaro SS for the MSRP of $33,505 versus the $72,305 MSRP for the Z/28. That is a price difference of $38,800.

If you upgraded a base SS to be the same as the Z/28 (with a few small differences, such as more sound deadening and air conditioning) the parts would cost you $28,091.02. Now providing that you can do all the labor yourself it would cost you $61,596.02 in total for the car. That is $10,708.98 less expensive than the factory car.

From a cost stand point (providing you don’t mind doing all of the work yourself) it makes a lot of sense to build your own Z/28. While the factory car will be slightly quicker on the track, thanks largely to its weight reduction (and you could do much of this as well if you really want), this build would be a better road car that can do very well on an occasional track day.

“I gotta say the cost of the Z/28 conversion is lower than I thought it would be,” says Mike King, director of NewGMParts.com. “Before I sat down and did the math, I would have told you it would be cheaper to just buy a Z/28. But, assuming you can do all the installation work yourself, it just might be cheaper to build a Z/28 from an SS than to buy one from the dealership,” says King.

“Don’t get me wrong, a factory Z/28 Camaro isn’t the same as an SS that’s been modified,” says King. “The factory cars are lighter due to less sound deadening, they’ve got no A/C, a stereo with a single speaker, etc. The factory-built Z/28 is basically a production race car.” Adds King “Still…this is surprising.”