The Chevrolet Camaro - American Muscle

2009 Camaro

The Chevrolet Camaro was first introduced in 1967 to directly compete against the Ford Mustang. The Camaro has gone on to success in its own right, becoming one of the most popular models in automotive history. The Camaro has went through four generations with the fifth generation expected to debut in late 2008.

The first generation of the Camaro was produced for three years, from 1967 to 1969. This is still regarded as the golden age of the Camaro by many enthusiasts. The Camaro was based in Mustang's successful two door, four seater platform. Sales were brisk, but because the car had been hastily designed, Chevy's designers went back to the drawing board and redesign the car for the 1970 model year. The first generation style has been highly influential and will be echoed in the design of the upcoming fifth generation Camaro.

The second generation lasted for eleven years, almost four times as long as the first generation. Those eleven years were turbulent for the Camaro. The former muscle car went from a high performance, mega horsepower sports car to a car that was a pale imitation of itself with engine horsepower that suffered due to environmental regulations and gas shortages. In addition to small engines, the body style was longer and wider than the first generation Camaros, so ¼ mile and 0 to 60 mph times suffered. Minor changes were made throughout the second generation, but by the time 1981 rolled around, the Camaro was due for a major overhaul. In 1982, Chevy introduced the new third generation Camaro to widespread acclaim.

The 1982 Camaro was completely redesigned and were the first Camaros with fuel injection and five speed manual transmissions. The 1982 Camaro Z28 was named Motor Trend's Car of the Year and other Camaros made various year end lists. Like the second generation, many of the engines available suffered from low horsepower output. Even the Z28 was stuck with just 145 hp. By the end of the third generation, Chevy had started to concentrate on performance and horsepower output again. The 1991 Camaros were available with 250 hp engines in the Z28, an increase of over 100 hp from the beginning of the third generation.

By the time the fourth generation Camaro was introduced, the engines were more powerful and offered the kind of performance that Camaro had built its reputation on. The base Camaros were offered with a 3.4 L V6 that generated 160 hp and Camaro was available with an LT1 V8 that produced 275 hp. When production of the Camaro was halted in 2002 the Camaro was once again offering high performance engines. Horsepower ratings topped out at 325 hp on the Camaro SS.

The new Camaro will feature styling that is reminiscent of the first Camaros to roll off the assembly line and the engine will be engineered for high performance and speed. The concept car that was shown at the North American International Auto Show featured a 400 hp engine. The fifth generation will make its debut at the end of 2008 and it will bring the Camaro line full circle.