Val Pompeo Was So Determined to Have a Camaro ZL1 That He Bought One Twice

For the 2012 model year, Chevrolet revived one of the Camaro’s most iconic designations. It drew its prodigious power from Cadillac’s CTS-V super-sedan and borrowed track-spec technologies from the king of Corvettes—the ZR1. It still stands as one of the most powerful, fastest, best-handling GM cars ever built. It was the fifth-generation Camaro ZL1.

The Car Before the Storm

I grew up with Valentino Pompeo in Rockaway, Queens NY. He was a car guy from the get-go, and I credit him with much of my early automotive exposure and driving fun. By the early 2000s, Val had built a successful architecture firm and acquired quite a few impressive cars.

Val was always a GM man, and enamored with America’s sports car. His first Corvette, a 1994 model, was a graduation gift for completing architecture school, and it wouldn’t be his last. By 2012, he had two models of the plastic fantastic, a 1996 Collector Edition and a 2008 C6 convertible. But another Chevy, one that had just arrived on showroom floors, had begun to draw his attention.

Val says he incessantly researched the new-for-2012 ZL1 Camaro and quickly concluded he had to have one. After doing his due diligence, he made a beeline to East Hills Chevrolet. It was early spring, with summer just around the bend and Val’s C6 drop top scored good trade-in value. He ordered a 2013 ZL1, which added features like a touchscreen with navigation. He chose Summit White and also checked the box for a six-speed manual, even though he had never owned a stick-shift car before. Val’s thinking: The manual was the more celebrated of the two available transmissions, and he wanted the new super-Camaro in its most visceral guise.

He waited several months, taking delivery in late September. His factory-fresh ZL1 was everything he had hoped for and more. Two weeks in, he took a road trip to Atlantic City, not only to try his luck at the tables, but more importantly to practice rowing through the gears on Interstate 95. Needless to say, he loved his new ZL1 and was quickly becoming proficient with the stick. He returned home, tucked her in the garage and was fulfilled.

Sandy

They called it the storm of the century, a hundred-year storm, or just super-storm. On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy, which was technically a post-tropical cyclone when it made landfall, slammed into the East Coast of the United States. Coastal communities from south New Jersey to Maine were affected, with the Rockaways being one of the most devastated. The combination of Sandy’s strong winds with high tides and a storm surge roiled the Atlantic Ocean and the inlet bay which separates the Rockaway peninsula from Brooklyn. The sea level rose by almost 10 feet. Catastrophic flooding destroyed infrastructure, homes, cars, and lives.

I was texting back and forth with Val as Sandy wreaked havoc. He said the water was so deep, he and our friend Scott were navigating the streets by kayak. By the end of the long, hard night, Sandy’s destruction was complete and the waters receded. The next day, I went to see my old neighborhood and was shocked by what resembled a town ravaged by war. Although many people lost far more than their cars, this is a car story, so I will stay on topic. Val and his family lost all of their automobiles, nine in total, including his four-week-old ZL1. Val says the water was up to its roof at one point.

Now it was about survival. With no power for weeks–food, water, generators, and running cars were the priority. The insurance company acted fast, but the other cars were replaced first and that took time. On the positive side, since the ZL1 had been lost within three months of purchase, Val got a 100% reimbursement. Now all he had to do was find one.

The Sequel

By February 2013, Val was ready to replace the ZL1. Initially, he was going to order another, but as luck and destiny would have it, East Hills Chevy had just received an almost identical car. The only thing missing was the dark gray stripe package, which they informed Val could be dealer-installed. Val was elated that he didn’t have to wait any longer. He went to the dealer, insurance check in hand, and got behind the wheel of his second brand-new Camaro ZL1.

More Thoroughbred Than Pony

The 2012–‘15 ZL1 was the second iteration of the famed ultra-Camaro, picking up where the 1969 Central Office Production Order (COPO) cars, left off. This time, though, the ZL1 did not designate a 427-ci engine option like the originals that found their way to the public via dealer-backed racers like Fred Gibb and Don Yenko.

This time around, the secret sauce was forced induction. Shared with the second-generation Cadillac CTS-V, the ZL1’s 6.2-liter/376-ci supercharged LSA V-8 gained 24 horses and five lb-ft on the Caddy, via a higher-flow intake, a revised blower lid and intercooler, and a dual-mode exhaust, for totals of 580 hp and 556 lb-ft. 

The ZL1’s chassis and suspension were up-gunned over a Camaro SS with stiffer bushings all around, larger front and rear sway bars, and the crème de la crème, the first application of GM’s Magnetic Ride Control 3.0. Revised to be faster-reacting than the previous system, the MRC electronically-adaptive dampers could be adjusted from the default Tour setting to a Sport calibration with the push of a button. The driveline was strengthened, too, with a heavy-duty drive shaft, a cooled rear differential and asymmetrical rear half shafts (60.5mm passenger-side/33.25mm driver-side) to mitigate wheel hop.

The ZL1 also employed power electric steering. The upgraded system over that fitted to an SS was deemed necessary because of the ZL1’s wider tires and increased performance.

Another Camaro first found in the ZL1 was Performance Traction Management (PTM). Adapted from the ZR1 Corvette, PTM provided five track-spec modes, Wet, Dry, Sport 1, Sport 2, and Race– each with specific calibrations of traction control, electronic stability control, Magnetic Ride Control, and steering response. PTM also offers Launch Control, and in Race mode provides a more aggressive Track setting for the MRC shocks.

Additional ultra-high-performance components emphasized air management for the ZL1’s anticipated and intended higher speeds. These included a specific front fascia with larger grilles and a splitter, front wheel spats, a rear lower diffuser, rocker molding extensions, and a rear spoiler. All were designed to reduce lift and make downforce. The hood’s heat extractor serves two purposes—venting heat from the engine bay and allowing airflow over the top of the car at speed, again to reduce lift. There is an under-car aero tray which furthers lift reduction and provides drivetrain cooling. All told, the fifth-Gen ZL1 made 65 lbs of downforce at 150 mph.

Though the Zeta platform on which the car was built was not known for being particularly trim, weight reduction was factored into the ZL1 brief. The ZL1 wears an aluminum hood with a carbon fiber center section, rolls on forged aluminum wheels, and even its Goodyear F1 Supercar G2 tires were designed to be as light as possible.

Hauling down the mother of all Camaros were race-derived Brembo six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers, clamping 14.6-inch two-piece front and 14.4-inch rear co-cast, iron rotors.

Through the efforts of General Motors Performance Division (GMPD), the ZL1 became the highest-performance, most track-capable Camaro to date. With that, the 2012 Camaro ZL1 shed its pony car mantra, hurling itself into the realm of the supercar by recording an incredible 7:41.27 lap time at Germany’s vaunted Nurburgring race track. It was capable of sub-four-second 0-60-mph sprints, 12 seconds flat in the quarter mile, a 184-mph top speed, and 1g of lateral grip. All for around 60 grand.

As for Val’s ZL1, it has a few of the available options including the aforementioned stripe package, an exposed weave carbon fiber hood extractor rather than a painted piece, the Sueded Microfiber Package, which covers the steering wheel, shifter/boot with the Alcantara material, and the ambient lighting package. Val also applied black overlay decals on the front and rear bowties.

Perhaps unsurprisingly after his ordeal early on, Val cherishes his 2013 ZL1 Camaro, and it definitely lives a charmed life. It’s logged 5,000 mainly highway miles on the clock over the last decade. He also goes to Sunday cars & coffees, where the rare beast always draws a crowd. Val considered a vertical move to a sixth-generation ZL1, but he always comes to his senses when driving his still-like-new example.