What’s in your garage?
Car & Driver Reunited!
By Fred Tscheulin

     Recently, I had the pleasure of driving to Union Hall to meet Dick Gray and talk with him about our feature series, “What’s In Your Garage?” And while our attention was clearly focused on his 1968 Camaro Z-28 Rally Sport, I discovered there was more, much more, in his garage that morning.
     That day, I discovered something greater and much bigger than any garage could ever hold … the memories, the pure joy of owning, working on, tinkering with and talking about the car, as well as many other things collected over the years. In Dick’s case, that includes his dad’s fire fighting helmet and bunker coat, fire truck and Camaro models, a Wild Turkey decanter collection, tools, equipment and Camaro parts.
     The story behind the ownership of this specific Z-28 housed in his garage is a sequel to a bygone romance. In 1968, at age 24, Dick traded in his GTO and bought a new Camaro Z-28 Rally Sport. A high-performance racing machine, this classic muscle car was painted British green with a white stripe. He added a few goodies of his own, including a tachometer, water temperature and oil pressure gauges and his initials stamped into the manifold. He loved that car. But, as Dick explained, “in 1970, along came the energy crisis, rising gasoline prices (50 cents per gallon), bad press about ‘muscle cars’ and an interest in hunting, so I traded in the Z for $1,500 and purchased a Ford Bronco.” Isn’t it true? You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone! And gone it was, but the memories lingered on. So much so that upon his retirement he decided to recreate his beloved Z. 
     In 2000, Dick retired from the Bureau of Engraving & Printing where he was responsible for maintaining the presses and related equipment. He and his wife Diane moved from Leesburg, Virginia, to Smith Mountain Lake in 2002. In May 2004, upon completion of a spacious and well equipped garage at their home in Union Hall, Dick purchased a black 1968 Camaro and began a nationwide search for authentic parts with which to recreate his Z-28.
     Truly a labor of love, Dick’s intention was to recondition and paint the car to look like his original Z-28.  His search proved more successful than he ever imagined. While searching a registry in Jacksonville, Florida, in early September 2004, he found the car he once owned. Dick had retained all the original paperwork; order form; bill of sale; window sticker and vehicle license application and the VIN number on the vehicle matched. He learned that the car had just been sold to a man in Ohio, although it was still in Jacksonville. After some negotiation, Dick bought back his dream car site unseen. Then he traveled to Florida, and with his heart pounding removed the cover to discover that it was near perfect. In fact, he said, “better than when I sold it.” He discovered it had only 64,256 original miles on it, that it had been repainted the original colors twice, had no rust or corrosion and had six or seven previous owners. Among them was Lou Gramm, lead vocalist for the rock group Foreigner, who purchased it in 1993 and shipped it to Florida.
     Upon examination, Dick further confirmed his previous ownership. There on the manifold were his initials “DG” just as he had stamped them 36 years before. He also established that it is a “numbers matching” car meaning the serial numbers on the transmission and engine block match.
     Dick’s intention is to continue to rebuild the black ’68 Camaro and you can find him working in his garage almost every day. As for the ’68 Z-28 Rally Sport, “this is going to be a ‘trailer queen’ and taken to car shows. I’m ready to go,” he exclaimed, as he put on his customized green and white Z-28 cap and embroidered jacket to match. “I’d like to see a car club formed at the lake,” he said, “so all interested collectors could get together and swap stories and information. I think it would be great fun.”
     Thank you for your responses to “What’s in Your Garage?” Your editors at SmithMountainLaker.com want to share them with our readers, so keep the e-mails and photos coming. And let us know what you think about Dick’s idea for a lake car club. You can contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Happy motoring!