The Chevrolet Camaro is an incredible car with a storied history. We’re going back to the beginning and taking a look at the earliest models with Camaro 2016.
Camaro Gen 1
General Motors launched sales of the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro on September 12, 1966, and six months later GM offered a second version of the car, the Firebird, sold through Pontiac dealerships.
The team led by Henry Haga developed the Camaro’s Coke-bottle sculpting and other exterior design details, while its interior accoutrements came from George Andersbach and his stylists; its dynamic capabilities were generated by an engineering enterprise directed by Don McPherson. Though they started with the basics of the new chassis for the 1968 Chevy II, McPherson and company made extensive changes. The Camaro was the first General Motors vehicle with a separate subframe to cradle the engine, and it was also the first created with computer simulation to assist in developing parameters for the suspension system.
Significantly, the Camaro had a wider stance than the Mustang and was an inch longer and slightly lower in overall height than its rival. Available as a coupe or convertible in Sport Coupe or Super Sport (SS) trim, Camaros could be optioned with a special Rally Sport (RS) appearance package that brought hidden headlamps, parking and backup lights grafted into the front or rear valences, and other cosmetic enhancements.
The standard engine for this early version of the Camaro was a 230-cubic-inch inline six-cylinder that pumped out 140 horsepower. Also available was a 250-cubic-inch six that offered 155 horsepower. Since nearly three-quarters of first-year buyers opted for V-8 engines, though, the most common version seen on the road was either a 327-cubicinch unit rated at 210 horsepower or a 327 tuned to provide 275 horsepower.
Meanwhile, the Super Sport (SS 350) carried a 350-cubic-inch V-8 that took the power rating to 295 horsepower. Just before the end of calendar year 1966, Chevrolet added a SS 396 version. That car came with a “big-block” 396-cubic-inch V-8, providing 325 horsepower (and a Posi-Traction rear axle to help keep that power under control). In May 1967, a Camaro SS 396 convertible served as the pace car for the 51st Indianapolis 500-mile race.
During the Camaro’s first model year, a 302-cubic-inch V-8 with 290 horsepower also became available. This special version of the car, known by the unusual moniker of Z/28, was named for the alphanumeric used in the Chevrolet options ordering system. Ford’s Mustang and Mercury Cougar, General Motors’ Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, Chrysler’s Plymouth Barracuda and Dodge Challenger, and American Motors’ Javelin represented versions of the new and sporty pony car genre. In response, the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) offered those cars a place to race, first incorporating the category into the American Road Race of Champions and then creating a new professional racing series, the Trans-American Sedan Championship. Almost immediately, the series was known simply as the Trans-Am. Soon after, this name became so popular with motorsports fans that Pontiac applied the name to the high-performance version of its Firebird, paying the SCCA a fee for each car that carried the badging.
Regulations restricted cars racing in the Trans-Am series to 5.0-liter (305-cubic-inch) engines. This presented a couple of challenges for Chevrolet. For example, under the terms of an American Automobile Manufacturers Association agreement, Detroit automakers had vowed not to participate directly in motorsports competitions. To get around this rule, they had to find creative ways to encourage (and fund) private racing teams to use their products. A further complication: GM didn’t have an engine that was competitive and fit the 5.0-liter limit.
Both challenges were overcome by Vince Piggins. Piggins had been chief engineer of the “Fabulous Hudson Hornets” that dominated Southern stock car racing in the early 1950s. He moved over to General Motors just as Chevrolet was launching its “small-block” V-8. Working through the Nalley Chevrolet dealership in Atlanta, Piggins established the Southern Engineering and Development Company (SEDCO) as a way for Chevrolet to field what were basically factory entries in NASCAR racing. SEDCO fielded six specially built and exotically equipped 1957 Chevrolet 150 sedans that became known as “Black Widow” Chevrolets. Powered by fuel-injected engines with 283 cubic inches of displacement (cid), the cars won races, sometimes finishing 1-2-3. But the effort was short-lived, as Congress pressured Detroit to pull out of racing, in part because politicians believed it encouraged reckless driving on public highways.
To get the Camaro into Trans-Am racing, Piggins, at this point manager of Chevrolet’s product promotion department, maneuvered vehicle marketing money into a racing budget. With his team, he devised Regular Production Order (RPO) Z/28, an option that included stiffer springs and anti-roll bars, quicker steering gears, rear-disc brakes (from the Corvette), a stronger rear axle, a larger fuel cell, and a modified engine.
To create the 302-cubic-inch displacement engine, Piggins’ group took the Camaro’s 327-cubic-inch engine block and inserted an upgraded version of the crankshaft from the 283-cubic-inch V-8 that powered the Chevy II Nova SS. The high-compression engine was also equipped with special pistons, camshaft, an intake manifold topped by a Holley dual-feed carburetor, and an exhaust system that featured less restrictive mufflers. Bolt on a good set of tires and you were ready to go racing, which is just what happened. The first Z/28 went to Chevy dealer and racing team owner Roger Penske, who ordered some race-prep enhancements from legendary racing mechanic Henry “Smokey” Yunick. The car was slated to be driven by the soon-to-be-famous Mark Donohue. Donohue dominated the 1968 Trans-Am racing season, winning 10 of 13 races and helping to launch one of the racing history’s most famous dynasties—and one of the most famous automotive option codes.
But Piggins and team were far from finished. While the Z/28 proved to be great for most high-performance applications, getting serious power required an even larger engine, something like the 427-cubic-inch ZL-1 that was available in late 1960s Chevrolet Corvettes. For 1968, the ZL-1 could be ordered for the Camaro, but only through the backdoor method of employing the company’s Central Office Production Order (COPO) system designed for cars sold to special fleets, such as police departments. Offered through special dealers to special customers, the so-called COPO Camaros provided blistering performance potential on American drag strips.
The Camaro went through annual updates, and each of the early cars has become cherished among classic car collectors. Then, for the 1970 model year, the car underwent a ground-up, generational change with significant alterations instead of minor annual facelifts and equipment updates.
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Showcasing exclusive interviews and more than 300 behind-the-scenes photos, Camaro 2016 tells the inside story of this iconic muscle car.
It’s the pony-car showdown: the Ford Mustang versus the Chevy Camaro. Both manufacturers share the same goal-create the ultimate American muscle car.
General Motors was caught off guard when Ford unveiled the first pony car in 1964. GM took the fight to Dearborn in 1967 with the introduction of its Chevrolet Camaro, and for the next 35 years, Mustang and Camaro waged an intense battle for gearheads’ hearts and wallets. Chevrolet re-introduced the Camaro for the 2010 model year, and its appealing retro-influenced body style allowed it to frequently outsell its Ford competitor.
For Camaro fans, there is no greater source of speculation and excitement than the pending introduction of a new-generation Camaro. In anticipation of the Camaro’s 50th anniversary, GM has prepared a significantly revised, sixth-generation car to take on Ford’s latest 2015 Mustang. Featuring revised bodywork, a new chassis platform, expanded and new driveline options, and a reworked interior, the new Camaro raises the bar and again puts Mustang on the defensive.
Camaro 2016 tells the complete story of the new sixth-generation Camaro, available just in time to celebrate the model’s 50th anniversary. Featuring exclusive interviews with engineers, designers, and other Camaro team members, as well as more than 300 behind-the-scenes photographs, this book offers readers an intimate Camaro experience–putting them behind the wheel of the latest edition of one of America’s greatest muscle cars.
The gears are always shifting, and Camaro 2016 tracks the entire journey.
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