Review: LEGO 10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 1969

August 20, 2023 | 3

The LEGO Icons theme has produced numerous detailed LEGO models, from the botanical series to space shuttles and football stadiums.

One staple of the theme is this series of highly detailed, 1:12 scale brick-built model cars of iconic vehicles. The subtheme originated under the Creator Expert banner but has since been categorised under the Icons theme, and one of the newer entries is 10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 1969, released in August 2022.

With its sleek lines and customisable colours, let’s take a closer look at this set and all its details!

This is a guest review from our LEGO Speed Champions and automotive correspondent Vaderfan who has been reviewing a ton of other LEGO vehicles. Check them out below!

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Special thanks to the LEGO Group for sending this set over for review.

10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 1969 Set Details

Set Number: 10304
Set Name: Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 1969
Pieces: 1456
Retail Price: US$169.99 / £149.99 / AU$249.99 / €169,99 / CAD$209.99
Theme: Icons
Release Date: 1 August 2022

Unboxing

The front of the box has a big Camaro Z/28 logo, along with a dark red bottom border. Unfortunately, the black colour of the car somewhat blends into the black background of the box art, which does not make the actual car stand out.

The reverse of the box shows a comparison to the real car, along with cutouts to showcase the customisability of the model.

Inside you get 8 numbered bags, four loose tires, a large black instruction manual and a sticker sheet. The manual and sticker sheet do not have any protection in the box so my sticker sheet was annoyingly bent quite badly.

Build Process

Bag 1 builds the flat base for the center of the car.

Bag 2 adds some more details, including the beginning of the steering mechanism.

Bag 3 extends the model to the front, adding part of the engine and building on the front steering mechanism.

Bag 4 builds the opening doors, with a smooth sleek design.

Bag 5 extends the bodywork around the front engine, adding some more stickered and brick-built detail.

Bag 6 extends the bodywork to the rear and adds other key elements like the headlights and front grille. This bag also begins the customisability, with extra parts left over to change the colour, the design of the headlights, and the license plate.

Bag 7 adds the front bonnet and the windscreen, and even more leftover parts are included. After this bag, you can choose to finish the model as a hardtop car or a convertible.

I decided to go for the hardtop design in Bag 8, and as you can see there are a bunch of leftover pieces for the convertible mode that I kept in my own ziploc bag (not included).

10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 1969 Completed Model

The finished Camaro has a predominantly black design, with sleek bodywork lines.

The underside reveals the Technic frame which gives support, along with a swathe of brightly coloured pieces around the steering mechanism. Most of these are not visible from a normal angle, however.

Indeed, the vehicle looks good when placed on a shelf or table, appearing attractive from this lower angle with its curved front and rear sections and gentle sloping bodywork towards the bottom.

A higher angle does reveal the boxiness of the design, an unfortunate drawback as the design does not fully capture all the subtle curvature of the real car. Instead, some of these shots from above present a decidedly more rectangular shape.

The front is one of the more visually impressive parts of the exterior, featuring the 1969 Camaro’s iconic grille design. Wedge plates and sideways textured bricks are form separate assemblies, then mounted almost seamlessly onto hinges to achieve the perfect angles. A pair of stickers are used for some additional details.

Underneath are a pair of extra lights, along with three small Technic panels that form the front diffuser.

The Camaro features new wheels and a new mudguard element, which work in synchrony excellently.

These new wheels are relatively thin so they have a slightly wider steering angle; unfortunately when they are turned fully some unsightly colours are visible inside the bodywork.

The smooth curves of the car continue to the back, including the usage of tiles and curved slopes mounted sideways.

The rear has printed 1×4 trans-red tiles for the rear lights, along with some additional stickers for the numberplate and Z/28 logo.

A pair of light grey fireman axes flank the numberplate for additional detail, while drum-lacquered flat silver Technic elements represent exhaust pipes. A strip of light grey cheese slopes represent the silver strip present on the rear of the real car.

Prominent stripes are featured at the front and rear of the car, although these designs do not continue onto the roof.

The Camaro uses popsicle pieces in light grey for its mirrors, along with some stickers on the sides of the windscreen to represent the A-pillars. The stickers are slightly too short to complete the look, though.

The rear window uses the same element as the front windscreen, but is mounted with hinges to achieve a steeper angle. Flanking slope bricks and 2×4 curved slopes above complete the shaping for this area well.

The steering wheel in the interior is linked via a Technic joint to the front wheels, enabling a working steering mechanism. There is no hand-of-god steering, however, so steering the car during play is a little trickier as the steering wheel is rather inaccessible.

Another moving feature is the front bonnet, which opens up to reveal the engine detailing. The clips which support the bonnet are slightly lacking in clutch power, so the bonnet often shuts by itself shortly after opening.

The engine inside looks good, with brick-built V6 details and a sticker for the 302 Turbo. You can see part of the working steering mechanism underneath too.

The doors can open, as is common for Creator Expert cars in this scale.

In addition to the hinge plates on the exterior, the doors also have linkage arms for extra stability. Rounded bricks are used at the edges of the door to ensure that it closes flush and does not leave any gaps in the rest of the body paneling.

There is also a rear-view mirror (represented by a silver 1×2 sticker) and a pair of dice hanging from the roof, which adds some character to the model.

Although the roof is not meant to be detached, it is only connected via 10 studs altogether so you can detach it to access the interior.

The interior has a contrasting red seats, which use textured bricks built sideways for the textured fabric effect.

The front has the large working steering wheel, a stickered speedometer gauge cluster, an adjustable gear shifter, and a stickered radio. There is also a glovebox with a printed 5-cent coin inside.

The rear seats are one joint assembly, along with a stickered 2×3 tile to represent an old LEGO Model Team magazine left on the seat. Do you remember 5541 Blue Fury?

Additional dark red bricks form the perimeter of the interior, although the floor is made from studded light grey plates which does not quite match.

Behind the rear seats is the boot, which has the striped motif as part of the design.

The boot lid hinges open to grant access.

Inside is rather devoid of details, although it is tiled off nicely and does not have any strange colours or gaps.

As previously mentioned, the set comes with multiple customisation options, including the option to change the striping colours, the headlights, the numberplates, and even swapping between hardtop and convertible versions!

It requires some disassembly of bags 7 and 8, but it is not too difficult to swap. Here is the model in its convertible mode, with white striping and the printed square headlights.

Most notable is an alternate mirror sticker used on a cheese slope which attaches to the windscreen directly, along with a dark red subassembly that forms a retracted convertible roof.

The striping can also be swapped out for white, dark red, or dark grey – I have opted for white in this second configuration.

Without the roof, the shaping of the bodywork is more uninteresting due to its flatter design, but it grants easier access to the interior and the steering mechanism.

The printed 2×2 headlights look good too, and the customisability is a welcome addition to this model since you can design it as you see fit.

Final Thoughts

On the whole, the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 is another deserving entry to the LEGO Icons cars lineup, maintaining a good level of detail both inside and out, and featuring some fun features like working steering and an opening bonnet.

The option to customise between hardtop and convertible modes, as well as different colour striping is also welcome, although it does increase the piece count.

It is not without its drawbacks though. The brick-based system ultimately means that it still lacks some of the nuanced shaping of a real Camaro, which results in a slightly blocky, rectangular-shaped final model , which is very apparent when viewed from certain angles.

The price is also rather high in comparison to the size of the completed build, but if you have other LEGO Icons cars in your collection like the Ford Mustang or the Porsche 911 then this set is a worthy addition to the lineup.

Build [4] – A well-designed model overall with some nice brick-built details, although it looks a bit too rectangular from some angles and the interior flooring is a little bare.
Real Value [3] – US$170 is an expensive retail price, despite the model’s quality.
Innovation [3] – Sticks to the scale and template of the LEGO Icons cars well, but has some nice part usage.
Coolness [4] – A good-looking model that does a solid job of recreating an iconic American car.
Keepability [4] – Joins a prestigious lineup of well-designed LEGO Icons cars, and deservedly earns its spot.

Rating and score: 4/5 ★★★★✰

Thanks for reading! LEGO 10304 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 1969 is available online from LEGO.com, or at your local LEGO store.

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