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Entire sight is copyrighted. Text and photos contained on this sight may not be reproduced or distributed without written permission from the sight owner.
Information herein is presented for the enjoyment of the reader and is believed accurate. Many sources - both contemporary and historical - have been utilized to educate the author. Errors made are not intentional - they are mistakes! |
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Tony Sanzone’s 2 owner Z16! VIN 138375K173755 Black, red interior - one of three in existence! |
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Here’s Tony’s super rare black Z16 with a red interior. Only three are known to exist in this color combination! What’s more, Tony was the second owner of this car, purchasing it in 1967. He owned it for 39 years!
Your author had some fine conversations with Mr. Sanzone (he’s in his 80s!) in January of 2006 when he decided to sell the Z16. He provided a great deal of information about the car’s history, and his son, Dan, was kind enough to forward photos of the car and Protect-O-Plate as well as furnish the information on the trim tag.
Tony related the following: The original engine was gone from the car when he bought it in ‘67 (a 1967 photograph of the car taken by Tony when he bought it, shows a beautiful, straight body with the front end sitting high from the lack of the engine and a loose hood) so he dropped in a blown 427! The transmission was gone, too, so a Turbo 400 automatic replaced it. Remember, now, that Z16s were just another big block Chevelle in the era that Tony did most of this work, so none of this was a concern. Later modifications saw the unique Z16 spindles swapped for disc brake-type (yep, the original spindles were trash canned by the brake shop), the Z16-only radiator was replaced, the special power steering was removed as were the power brake booster and console. Tony said he regretted disposing of all of these parts in the 1990s, but he just didn’t know their value to the car.
But the original engine (stamped K173755 T0301IX) engine isn’t lost! Since there are so few Z16s left (about 75), some die-hard fans keep very good records of the cars and their components and have for years. Case in point: This car’s engine floated around southern California for a time and was sold to a Z16 owner in Texas. He had the block surfaced and restamped it, so, unfortunately, it will be impossible for Sanzone’s Z16 to ever have it’s original “numbers matching” engine.
While Mr. Sanzone sold this Z16 in February of 2006, his car has an interesting story and illustrates just how many of these cars were modified over the years. He took excellent care of the body and built a nice car! So if you see a black Z16 around with a red interior, check the VIN. You have a 33 % chance that it’s Tony’s old car! |
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Z16 Chevelle.com |
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This Z16 is documented with the original Protect-O-Plate. It provides the rear axle, transmission and engine numbers that were stamped on those components.
Since this car’s original engine and transmission are long gone, the numbers here could be stamped into replacement components to fool an unsuspecting purchaser if the car were then sold. We’ll just hope that, should the car be restored back to stock , the owner will be honest!
The trim tag (not pictured) also tells the story on Z16s. This one does, indeed, show it was a 1965 Chevelle Malibu SS396 from the factory. The body number is 14976.
Many thanks to Tony Sanzone for keeping one more Z16 from the crusher! |
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Tony didn’t show the car much, but here it is in southern California with all the modifications described above.
Hard to beat black with that red interior. Very sharp!
Photos courtesy of Dan Sanzone |
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Z16 prices are pretty well known since several have sold at collector car auctions, but just what would this modified Z-16 bring at a big auction like Barrett-Jackson (some call it B-J or Barrett Jackson ) or Russo and Steele? We’ll never know……. |