Camaro – Five Generations of a Chevy Legend

The Chevy Camaro was introduced to the public in September of 1966 for the 1967 model year. It is reported that GM had begun preliminary production design of the Camaro as early as 1958, but the project didn’t become a priority until after the release of the first Ford Mustang in 1964 which sold nearly half a million units. It was then that GM realized it wanted a piece of the four seat sports car pie.

The official GM project name for the Camaro was XP-836, archived documentation often refers to it as the “Panther” and there are also photos that show the final production model badged as a “Chaparral”. Despite all the name-tossing, Camaro was the one that stuck. When asked the meaning of the word, productions managers stated that it was “a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs”.

The first Camaro was unveiled to the public in late 1966 and sold as a 1967 model. It was a big improvement over GM’s sporty compact car, the Corvair. The utilization of a rear-drive configuration with a front-engine gave the car an edge over it’s rear-engine predecessor that was touted as “unsafe at any speed” by the press. It was available in four different models, including a convertible, and was designed to accommodate any one of 6 available powerplants in the engine bay. The first generation Camaro ran from 1967 to 1969.

Sales of the 1969 models extended into early 1970 until the release of the Second Generation in February. Some of the 69′s were titled as 70′s which created some confusion. The Second Generation actually started with the 1970 1/2 and remained in production for 12 years until 1981. Inspired by Ferrari, Gen 2 was bigger and heavier and the convertible body style was removed from the line-up. Although they still offered seemingly endless engine options, emissions regulations and power rating changes in the industry slowly squashed the engines’ outputs. In spite of the weaker pulse, the 1977 model holds the bragging rights to landing the Camaro ahead of the Mustang in sales by almost 40,000 units. Sales remained strong through 1979, which proved a banner year for the company with sales pushing the 300,000 unit mark – a number which they have yet to repeat. Sales dropped considerably in 1980 and 1981 which prompted the re-design and subsequently the Third Generation Camaro.

1982 ushered in the third generation, and a truly all-new Camaro design. The engine options were still disappointing at best, starting on the low end with a 2.5L, 90hp powderpuff and the ability to option up to a carburated V8 that put out 165. But, first-time offerings like factory fuel injection, four speed automatics, five speed manuals, 16 inch rims and a hatchback were enough to keep the public buying. The star of Gen 3 was the IROC-Z which was introduced in 1985. It’s Tuned Port Injection engine could crank out 215hp that was welcomed with open arms by the power-starved, but loyal Camaro fans. The big engines (and the convertible) officially returned in 1987, and by 1991 they had bumped the output up to 245hp.

The Fourth Generation Camaro was produced from 1993 through 2002. The line-up was slashed to just two models, the 160hp, V6 sport coupe and the Z-28 which boasted Corvette’s 5.7L, LT1 V8 and it’s 275hp. The convertible was, once again, removed from the production line. Power upgrades continued annually through the Fourth Generation models and finally broke into the 300hp range in 1996 with it’s SLP engineered SS model. The first all-aluminum engine since 1969 was offered in 1998 in the form of a small-block LS1 V8. A beast of an engine packing 305hp that was boostable to 320 with the available ram-air induction system. The Camaro remained virtually unchanged through 2002 except for some small engine and accessory add-ons and a few graphics packages. 2002 was the last production year for the Chevy Camaro for eight long years.

The long-awaited return of the Camaro finally came in 2010. Based largely on the pleasing aesthetics of the classic 1969 model with enough new-age technology to satisfy today’s drivers, the fifth generation Camaro was a huge success. The LS and LT versions come well-equipped with a 300hp V6, and the beast of the line-up is the SS which is packed with a 6.2 liter V8 that smacks down some serious 426hp grunt.

There’s no doubt that the 5th gen Camaro scratches the itch of many Chevy fans. With it’s above average performance and over-indulgent power, it’s sure to stick around for a while.

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