Do you remember this Camaro Z28 holographic illustration?

Photos by author.

My start in this business happened to coincide with the release of the Fourth-Gen Firebirds and Camaros. During those early days, one of my coworkers gave me this 1993 Camaro Z28 holographic cutaway. The artwork was done by celebrated automotive artist David Kimble and it was in its own plastic stand adorned with the vehicle’s name.

I’ve kept it on my desk or had it displayed on a shelf ever since. Different viewing angles and lighting provide various body colors and transitions between a full-bodied Z28 and a cutaway. Specifications for the six-cylinder Camaro and the LT1 Z28 are listed on the backside of the card.

Moving the camera a few inches to the right of where it was for the lead photo covers the cutaway Z28 with body panels.

I didn’t ask where it had come from at the time. I just assumed it was a Chevrolet promotional item, much like the postcards dealers used to give away, but with a new holographic twist. In his book David Kimble’s Cutaways: The Techniques and the Stories Behind the Art, David explains, “With permission from Chevrolet, I created an overlay for the 1993 Z28 Camaro cutaway that made it into a solid exterior rendering for a Motor Trend holographic cover illustration. This overlay only covered the transparent areas and I faded it into the solid portions of the cutaway, which proved to be extremely difficult.”

As you can see, adjusting the light angle and/or viewing position also changes the colors on the car. Trying to get it one solid color is a bit tricky. Here’s red…sort of.

It appeared on the cover of Motor Trend’s January 1993 newsstand issues, which contained the magazine’s first Fourth-Gen Z28 road test and a cutaway poster inside. Subscribers instead got on their covers a Ford Probe GT, the magazine’s 1993 Car of the Year. The November 1993 newsstand edition of Motor Trend featured another David Kimble cutaway in holographic form. This time it was the new 1994 Mustang GT.

Here’s green. If you revel in a photographic challenge, try shooting a holographic illustration in its different stages.

Over the decades that followed, however, the Z28 cards like mine didn’t seem, at least to me, to turn up too often. Promotional items are usually made by the thousands and they’re normally distributed to as many potential customers as possible, so you’d expect to see more of them.

Someone who was recently selling one referred to it as a “salesman’s desk display,” which sounds plausible and may explain a more limited distribution, but I haven’t been able to confirm it. When I spoke with David, he related that he recalled doing that cutaway for Chevrolet and its overlay for Motor Trend, but he hadn’t seen this card-and-stand version.

The vehicle specs are on the back of the card.

Regardless of its origin, it’s still interesting to stare at and to appreciate the work that went into drawing that cutaway.

Have you ever seen this holographic 1993 Z28 before, aside from Motor Trend’s cover? Do you know any more about it than what was discussed here? Do you have one of these or one of another car model? Tell us about it.