Chevrolet Camaro History: GM's Answer to the Mustang, 1966–2023

A late start: why Chevrolet needed the Camaro

Ford's Mustang created the pony car class in 1964 and sold in huge numbers from the start. Chevrolet had nothing comparable: the rear-engined Corvair and the compact Chevy II were the closest products. According to some historians, the Super Nova concept shown in New York in spring 1964 was Chevrolet's first response, but it did not go into production.

GM approved a proper rival, and from April 1965 the motoring press reported a car codenamed "Panther". Internally it was project XP-836. It shared a new F-body platform with the Pontiac Firebird, which arrived a few months later.

Naming the car and the 1966 launch

On 28 June 1966, GM held a press conference at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in Detroit and announced the name Camaro. Chevrolet said it came from an old French-English dictionary, where "camaro" was slang for a friend or comrade. Product managers were more direct when journalists asked what a Camaro was: "a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs".

The public introduction followed on 26 September 1966, and the car went on sale on 29 September 1966 as a 1967 model. Buyers could choose a hardtop coupé or a convertible, a six-cylinder engine or a range of V8s, and the RS appearance package or the SS performance package. Almost all first-generation cars were built at Norwood, Ohio, and Van Nuys, California.

Camaro timeline, 1965–2023

The first generation and the birth of the Z/28

The first Camaro offered engines from a 3.8-litre six with 104 kW (140 hp) to big-block V8s; all outputs of the period are SAE gross figures. In December 1966 Chevrolet added the Z/28, built around a 302 cu in (4.9-litre) V8 that met the Trans-Am series' 5.0-litre limit. Only 602 were sold in 1967, nearly 7,200 in 1968 and more than 20,000 in 1969, and the Z/28 won the Trans-Am championship in 1968 and 1969.

The rarest early Camaro is the 1969 COPO ZL1. Ordered through GM's Central Office Production Order system, it had an all-aluminium 427 cu in V8 rated at 321 kW (430 hp). Only 69 were built. The old 1cars text called the ZL1 one of the rarest and most expensive Camaros, and that is still true.

Sales were strong: 220,906 in the 1967 model year, 235,147 in 1968 and 243,085 in 1969, almost 700,000 in three years by our count. That was a success, but the Mustang still sold more. The full story of these years is on our first-generation Camaro page.

The long-lived second generation (1970–1981)

The second Camaro was introduced on 26 February 1970 as a "1970½" model. It was longer, lower and wider, with a fastback coupé body only; no factory convertible was offered. Production ran at Van Nuys and Norwood, with a plant in Caracas, Venezuela, adding cars until 1973.

This generation lived through stricter emissions rules, 5 mph bumpers and the switch from gross to net power ratings. Output fell from 280 kW (375 hp gross) in the 1970 SS 396 to 89 kW (120 hp net) in the 1980 base V8. The Z28 left the range after 1974 and returned in spring 1977. Yet sales grew late in life: in 1979 the Camaro reached its all-time record of 282,571, helped by the new Berlinetta and the T-top roof added for 1978. More details are in the second-generation Camaro article.

Lighter and fuel-injected: 1982 to 1992

The third generation, built from 12 October 1981 to 27 August 1992, was a hatchback coupé roughly 227 kg (500 lb) lighter than the car it replaced. It was the first Camaro with factory fuel injection. Engines ran from a 66 kW (88 hp) four-cylinder to the 5.7-litre L98 V8 with 183 kW (245 hp).

Highlights of the era were the IROC-Z (1985–1990), named after the International Race of Champions, the return of the convertible in 1987 and the 1LE track package. A Camaro paced the Indianapolis 500 again in 1982. In total, 1,567,657 third-generation cars were built at Van Nuys and, until 1987, Norwood. See the third-generation Camaro for engines and buying advice.

Corvette power and the 2002 pause

The fourth generation was introduced in January 1993 and built at a single plant in Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec. It brought composite body panels, standard anti-lock brakes and V8 engines from the Corvette: the LT1 with 205 kW (275 hp) and, from 1998, the aluminium LS1 with about 227–231 kW (305–310 hp). A convertible joined the coupé for 1994.

Sales, however, were far below the 1970s and 1980s: 39,103 in 1993 and 41,776 in 2002. Facing a weak market for sports coupés and spare plant capacity, GM ended F-body production on 27 August 2002, together with the Pontiac Firebird. Our fourth-generation Camaro page covers this period.

The comeback: concept car, film star and fifth generation

The revival began with the 2006 Camaro Concept, styled after the 1969 car. GM approved production on 10 August 2006, and a convertible concept followed in 2007. That year the car reached a wider public as Bumblebee in the first Transformers film, where the character changes from a 1976 Camaro into the new design.

Production of the fifth generation started at Oshawa, Ontario, on 16 March 2009, for the 2010 model year. It used GM's Zeta platform. The ZL1 of 2012 had a supercharged 6.2-litre V8 with 433 kW (580 hp), and the Z/28 returned in 2014 with the 7.0-litre LS7 and 377 kW (505 hp). The Camaro was also sold officially in Europe from November 2011. Read the fifth-generation Camaro article for details.

The sixth generation and the end of production

The sixth-generation Camaro was revealed on 16 May 2015 and built at Lansing Grand River Assembly in Michigan on the Alpha platform shared with the Cadillac ATS. It was more than 91 kg lighter than its predecessor, and its range stretched from a 2.0-litre turbo four to the ZL1 with 485 kW (650 hp).

Sales kept falling as buyers turned to SUVs: from 72,705 in 2016 to 29,775 in 2020. Production ended on 14 December 2023, with the final cars sold as 2024 models. GM said at the time that this was not the end of the Camaro story.

Camaro sales by era

By our calculation, 2023 sales were about 11 % of the 1979 peak, and 89 % less than in that record year. Compared with 1969, the last first-generation year, 2023 sales were 212,057 cars lower. Model years apply up to 2002; calendar years from 2010.

Engineering highlights across six generations

Collecting a Camaro: which classic to buy

Collectors value the first-generation cars most, especially the 1967 Indianapolis pace car replicas (100 were sold to the public), the Z/28 and the COPO ZL1. Third-generation IROC-Z cars and fourth-generation LS1 cars are cheaper ways into the classic V8 Camaro. Among modern cars, the 2014–2015 Z/28 and the sixth-generation ZL1 are the most sought after.

The Camaro's rivalry with the Mustang defined American performance cars for decades; the Ford side of the story is told in our history of the Ford Mustang. To set a Camaro against a Mustang or Firebird of the same year, use the 1cars comparison tool.