Grady Bryant ZL1 #29
 

I saw Grady Bryant posted on FB that he had a new 1969 ZL1.
Was curious so did some research on it.

It shows up on the CRG ZL1 list as Hugger Orange #29 selling dealer Bill McKay Chevrolet Fort Worth, TX.

It went through Fred Gibb Chevrolet then sent to the Dick Harrell shop.

Grady Bryant and Dick Harrell were friends from early 60's drag racing

From what I can tell, Grady raced it in Pro Stock with McKay Chevrolet sponsorship for one year then returned it to the dealer. The car was then sold and may have been stolen or may have been buried in the ground on some sort of insurance fraud?

BTW Grady is an interesting guy ! FC drag racer, actor, book author , producer, etc , here is his web site https://www.gradybryant.com/

here is some other stuff from my search

x

cool pic , I'm guessing that is Grady in the McKay Chevy showroom

paint by opp on the lower quarter

Cool history.

So does this car exist today? If so, I would love to hear more of that backstory.
If still missing and being buried is true that might start a treasure hunt somewhere in Texas :grin:

That wouldn't be the Camaro that Charley found down in TX, would it?

Well shucks, that was more than 10 years ago and no good explanation.

Nothing has come to light since?

in the drag racing forum, from about 10 yrs ago, they were asking Grady what happened to the car and a guy said he heard it was wrecked. Grady replied it was never wrecked but may have been stolen or maybe buried. Does anyone have a LiDAR ? :)

I read that too Joe, and makes me wonder if there was any truth to it being buried for an insurance claim since the car apparently hasn't come to light since.

I say we go on a treasure hunt :grin:

Since the VINs became known in 1981, 19 ZL1 Camaros remain in the wind. 7 of their engines still exist.

Six are known to have been raced and could still exist as cut up tube frame race cars. Generally, never titled or registered. Most famous of the bunch would be Shay Nichols car, supposedly #5. However, vintage photos of it show a white standard interior. None of the 69 had a white standard interior. #42 was Malcom Durham’s race car. There was a For Sale ad in National Dragster 1973 for a 1969 Camaro race car “ex-Malcom Durham Pro Stocker” located in Washington DC. However, Durham had more than one 1969 Camaro. Engine still exists.

Six are known to have been stolen, five from Merollis Chev in Detroit. At the time, they were still on MSO, not titled. It is likely all were recovered [less engine/trans] and the remains disposed of by GMAC at auction. #11 exists, now fully restored. #24 was reported as junked 1973. The remaining three have not shown registration, may have been reconstructed or parted out. #43 was stolen from Hauser Chev 1972. It was there for warranty work due to chronic engine problems. Still titled to an insurance company. May exist at the bottom of the Lehigh River.

Two others were still registered in the ‘80s. May or not mean something; salvage yards did not have to report scrapped cars in those days.

No longer easy or even possible to obtain registration info. All the VINs have been run many times over the past 40 years.

So, go treasure hunting! Here’s a lead: the block for ZL1 #21 N609651 was found in AZ about 15 years ago.