The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car and some versions also as a muscle car. It went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed as a competing model to the Ford Mustang. The car shared its platform and major components with the Pontiac Firebird, also introduced for 1967.
Four distinct generations of the Camaro were developed before production ended in 2002. The nameplate was revived on a concept car that evolved into the fifth-generation Camaro; production started on March 16, 2009. Over 5 million Camaros have been sold.
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| Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Courtesy of carspot.tumblr.com |
Background
Before any official announcement, reports began running during April 1965 within the automotive press that Chevrolet was preparing a competitor to the Ford Mustang, code-named Panther. On June 21, 1966, around 200 automotive journalists received a telegram from General Motors stating, "...please save noon of June 28 for important SEPAW meeting. Hope you can be on hand to help scratch a cat. Details will follow...(signed) John L. Cutter – Chevrolet public relations – SEPAW secretary." The following day, the same journalists received another General Motors telegram stating, "Society for the Eradication of Panthers from the Automotive World will hold first and last meeting on June 28...(signed) John L. Cutter – Chevrolet public relations SEPAW secretary." These telegrams puzzled the automotive journalists.
On June 28, 1966, General Motors held a live press conference in Detroit's Statler-Hilton Hotel. It was the first time that 14 cities were connected in real time for a press conference via telephone lines. Chevrolet general manager Pete Estes started the news conference stating that all attendees of the conference were charter members of the Society for the Elimination of Panthers from the Automotive World and that this would be the first and last meeting of SEPAW. Estes then announced a new car line, project designation XP-836, with a name that Chevrolet chose in keeping with other car names beginning with the letter C such as the Corvair, Chevelle, Chevy II, and Corvette. He claimed the name, suggests the comradeship of good friends as a personal car should be to its owner and that to us, the name means just what we think the car will do... go. The Camaro name was then unveiled. Automotive press asked Chevrolet product managers, what is a Camaro? and were told it was a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs.
According to the book The Complete Book of Camaro: Every Model Since 1967, the name Camaro was conceived by Chevrolet merchandising manager Bob Lund and General Motors vice president Ed Rollett, while they were reading the book Heath's French and English Dictionary by James Boïelle and by de V. Payen-Payne printed in 1936. In the book The Complete Book of Camaro, it states that Mr. Lund and Mr. Rollett found the word camaro in the French-English dictionary was slang, to mean friend, pal, or comrade. The article further repeated Estes's statement of what the word camaro was meant to imply, that the car's name "suggests the comradeship of good friends, as a personal car should be to its owner". In fact, the actual French word that has that meaning is "camarade," from which the English word "comrade" is derived, and not "camaro"; "camaro" is not a recognized word in the French language.
The Camaro was first shown at a press preview in Detroit on September 12, 1966, and later in Los Angeles, on September 19, 1966. Public introduction of the new model was on September 26, 1966. The Camaro officially went on sale in dealerships on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year.
The sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro, , was first introduced to the public on May 16, 2015. Sales started in 2015 for the 2016 model year. The Camaro now utilizes the GM Alpha platform shared with the Cadillac ATS and CTS and features MacPherson struts in front, rather than the former Multi-link setup. General Motors claims that 70 percent of architectural components in the new Camaro are unique to the car.
The sixth generation of Camaro saw production return to the United States as the fourth and fifth-generation models had been assembled in Canada.
Like its predecessor, the sixth generation of the Camaro is available in coupé and convertible bodystyles. Compared to the previous generation, it is 2.3 in (58 mm) shorter, 0.8 in (20 mm) less wide and 1.1 in (28 mm) shorter in height. With similar equipment and engine, it is also more than 200 lb (91 kg) lighter.
Engines and Transmission
The sixth generation of the Chevrolet Camaro is available with three engines choices:
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The 2.0 liter LTG Ecotec turbocharged straight-four which has a power output of 275 hp (205 kW) at 5,600 rpm and 295 lb⋅ft (400 N⋅m) of torque at 3,000 rpm and is the first four-cylinder in a Camaro since the 3rd generation model. It is available on 1LS, 1LT and 2LT trims.
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The 3.6 liter LGX V6 engine having a power output of 335 hp (250 kW) at 6,800 rpm and 284 lb⋅ft (385 N⋅m) of torque at 5,300 rpm.
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The 6.2 liter LT1 V8 engine which is shared with the Corvette C7 and has a power output of 455 hp (339 kW) at 6,000 rpm and 455 lb⋅ft (617 N⋅m) of torque at 4,400 rpm.
Engines installed on high performance models include:
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The 6.2 liter supercharged LT4 V8 which is shared with the Corvette Z06 and has an output of 650 hp (485 kW) at 6,400 RPM and 650 lb⋅ft (881 N⋅m) of torque at 3,600 rpm.
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| Courtesy of camarosofmichigan.com |
All engines were initially available with a 6-speed manual and 8-speed automatic transmissions, except for the ZL1 models which use a 10-speed automatic in addition to a standard 6-speed manual. The 8-speed was replaced by the 10-speed automatic in the 2019 SS and 2020 V6 models.
