Chevrolet Camaro SS

Camaro SS at a glance

The 1967 Super Sport option

Chevrolet launched the Camaro for 1967, a little over two years after the Mustang. Sports Car Market lists the Super Sport as option "SS L48" at US$210.60 in 1967. The money bought the 350 cu in Turbo-Fire V8, a heavier suspension, a special bonnet with non-functional air inlets, a blacked-out rear panel and SS striping. The Rally Sport option cost US$105.35 and could be combined with it, which is where the RS/SS cars come from. Wikipedia gives RPO Z27 for the SS package, but marks that claim as lacking a citation.

Fewer than 20 percent of 1967 Camaros were ordered with the SS. A 396 RS/SS convertible paced the 1967 Indianapolis 500, and about 100 replicas were sold. The SS had a clear place in the range: above the six-cylinder and small V8 Camaros, below the Z28 built for Trans-Am racing and the 427 cars that dealers such as Yenko converted.

SS 350 and SS 396 engines 1967-1972

Engine figures for the first generation vary between sources. Wikipedia's text gives the 1967 SS 396 as 325 or 375 hp, while its engine table lists the L35 at 300 hp and the L78 at 350 hp. From 1970 the big-block badged 396 actually displaced 402 cu in (6.6 l), and Chevrolet kept the old name. The second-generation body of 1970 brought no new SS engine; GM Authority notes that the 454 never reached the Camaro.

For 1971 compression fell from 10.25:1 to 8.5:1 so the engines could run on low-lead fuel, and the ratings dropped with it. Road & Track still included the 1971 SS 350 among its ten best cars in the world in August 1971. The 1972 figures are SAE net, so the drop to 149 kW looks larger on paper than it was on the road.

Production and the 1972 exit

The SS sold 34,411 cars in 1967, 27,884 in 1968 and 34,932 in 1969, figures quoted by MyAutoWorld. The sources used here give no SS totals for 1970 and 1971. In 1972 only 6,562 Super Sports were built, 970 of them with the big-block.

That year was hit from several sides. A UAW strike at the Norwood plant lasted 174 days, and 1,100 unfinished Camaros were scrapped because they could not meet the 1973 bumper standards; Chevrolet still built 68,656 Camaros in 1972. Insurance rates for performance cars were climbing, and emission rules were cutting compression. 1972 was the last year for the SS 350 and SS 396 and the last year of a factory big-block Camaro. The second-generation Camaro carried on without an SS until 1981.

The SLP-built SS of 1996-2002

The badge returned in 1996 as the Z28 SS, developed with SLP Engineering of Troy, Michigan. Its 5.7-litre LT1 was tuned to 227 kW (305 hp), against 205 kW (275 hp) in the regular Z28. In 1997 a limited number of SS cars received the 246 kW (330 hp) LT4; Chevrolet built 979 30th Anniversary cars across the Z28, SS and RS that year.

The fourth-generation Camaro took the LS1 V8 for 1998. Conceptcarz lists the SS at 239 kW (320 hp), against 227 kW (305 hp) for the Z28, with forced-air induction through a composite bonnet scoop, its own rear spoiler, 17 in wheels with P275/40ZR17 tyres and 3 in stainless exhaust tips. Its 1998 price list shows about US$25,000 for the SS coupe and US$21,000 for the Z28 coupe. For 2001 the SS was rated at 242 kW (325 hp). A 35th Anniversary package was offered on the 2002 SS, and the last fourth-generation Camaro left the Quebec plant on 27 August 2002.

The 6.2-litre SS from 2010 to 2024

Fifth-generation production began at Oshawa, Ontario, on 16 March 2009. The manual SS used the LS3, the automatic the L99, and both displaced 6.2 litres. AutoGuide quoted a starting price of US$30,995 and 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds. The 1LE package of 2013 gave the SS coupe a Tremec TR-6060 six-speed, a 3.91:1 limited-slip differential and ZL1-based wheels, and the 2014 facelift added a bonnet vent.

The sixth generation of 2016 shared its LT1 with the Corvette C7 and weighed 1,671 kg (3,685 lb) as an SS. Chevrolet claimed 0-60 mph in 4.0 seconds and a 12.3-second quarter mile with the eight-speed automatic, 4.3 seconds to 60 with the six-speed manual, and 0.97 g of lateral grip. The 1SS started at US$37,295. A 1LE package for the SS returned for 2017 with magnetic dampers, an electronic limited-slip differential and Brembo six-piston front calipers. For 2019 a ten-speed automatic replaced the eight-speed and the front end was restyled to wide criticism; for 2020 the SS received a body-colour bumper and moved the bow-tie to the upper grille. The last car was built at Lansing Grand River on 14 December 2023; the 2024 Collector's Edition SS came in Panther Black Metallic. Above the SS sat the supercharged Camaro ZL1.

Camaro SS today: what to check

The SS was the volume performance Camaro, and that makes copies common. Sports Car Market notes that clones of RS/SS convertibles trade well below genuine cars, so the paperwork and the engine matter more than the stripes. On 1972 cars the VIN carries the engine code, which is how a seller can show that a car left the factory as a Super Sport. On earlier cars buyers rely on build documents and the decoding work of the Camaro Research Group.

For later cars the question is which version to choose. The 1996-1997 cars were finished with SLP, so their SLP parts and paperwork are worth checking. The 2010-2015 manual SS has 20 kW more than the automatic L99 car. The 2016-2024 SS is the quickest and lightest of the 6.2-litre cars, and the 1LE versions add the chassis hardware that otherwise came only with the ZL1.