Terry Yiengst is a Parts Disbursement Liaison/Technician at an auto parts store in his home town of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. In layman’s terms, he works behind the counter. “I’ve been doing this for 40 years,” Terry told us. “It is the only full time job I’ve ever had.” Back when he was just out of high school, it’s that same job that afforded him the chance to buy this 1977 Z28 Camaro. This particular Z28 came with a 350 cubic-inch engine with a four-barrel carburetor, backed by a four-speed manual transmission, and 10-bolt rearend with Positraction and 3.73 gearing — a drivetrain that is still in service to this day.

“I bought it used with maybe 3,000 or 4,000 miles on it,” Terry explained. “It was always a toy, I never used it as an everyday car. It has always been garage kept, and has close to 93,000 miles on it now. Most of the miles were put on it ‘back in the day’.” Back in 1978, Terry was driving his 1969 Camaro when he saw this car on the lot of Mease Motors. “As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to buy it,” he explained. “I just thought, ‘I am buying this car’.”

This car has never been modified, never been in an accident, nor has it had any major maintenance or repair. “You probably won’t believe this” Terry said, “But it still has the original exhaust.” The only major mechanical repair work that Terry has done to the car is replace the timing cover seal and timing chain, other than that, it is mechanically all original.

So why restore the car? If it has been garage kept its entire life and never used as a daily driver, why do all the work? Terry explained that the old lacquer paint was starting to crack and haze, and after having the car for so long, he just wanted to make it look really good again. He started the restoration in 2004, and it took 10 months to complete. Even after more than a decade since completion, it is still a stunning car. “It’s a driver,” he said. “And that’s what I do, I drive it.”

Refreshing the car was in no way a lone wolf undertaking. Terry made it clear that it was a group effort, and he had people to thank for getting his car to look the way it does. “I want to say thank you to Ed Miller, Terry Mauser, and Richard Bleistein,” he said. “I want to send a very special thanks to Ken Witters, he is the guy that had the real body expertise. He was in the body shop business, and if it wasn’t for him and his experience, I am not sure this would have ever happened.”

Terry says that Ken is the kind of guy that likes to do something once, and do it right. After all the bodywork was done, he had the car painted by Jeff and Larry Kreiser of Jonestown, Pennsylvania. He also wanted to extend thanks to Charles Smith, the owner of Smith Auto-Electric also in Jonestown.

Terry has also replaced the carpet, seat skins, dash, and detailed the engine. Although the engine has an impressive new paint job, it’s never been out of the car. The car didn’t receive a frame-off restoration, but this isn’t the kind of car that really needed that kind of treatment.

“The bottom-line of the story is that I had all my buddies help me with this thing, and we had a good time doing it,” Terry described. “I’m not the richest guy around, but having friends to work on my car with me, that was rich to me.” Terry is returning the favor, by helping Ken Witters work on a 1937 Chevy truck that he is restoring. It pays to have friends like Ken and Terry. They always help each other out.

When we asked what his plans with the car were, Terry didn’t even have to think about it. “It’s stock, and that’s how I’m going to keep it.” He continued, “Of course my buddies tell me ‘you ought to do this or you ought to do that’, but I just don’t want to.”