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- Wayback Wheels -
Vintage Car Talk
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- Camaros old and new still in demand
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- By Aaron Neilly
- In June of 1966, a selected group of automotive journalists
received a strange telegram:
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- "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.
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- And a day later, they received another:
"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."
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- This (obviously) confused everyone who received the telegram,
but it also piqued their interest. What was going on? And what
the heck was SEPAW?
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- On June 28th, the cat was let out of the bag (pun intended).
General Motors held a press conference at the now demolished
Statler-Hilton Hotel in Detroit, and announced they would be
introducing a new kind of car, codenamed project XP-836. In keeping
with the trend of vehicle names that started with the letter
C, this new car would be called the "Camaro."
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- When asked what a Camaro was, GM executives said it was a
small, vicious animal that devoured Mustangs.
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- In September of '66, the first actual Camaro was shown at
a press release in Detroit, and later again that month in Los
Angeles. Sales of the Camaro began at the end of the month. It
was an instant success, and gained loyal fans immediately.
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- For 1967, Camaros were available with a respectable variety
of engines, ranging from small inline 6 cylinders, to the most
impressive being in the performance oriented Z/28. This 302 cubic
inch V8 with a massive Holley carburetor was actually created
to race in the Trans Am series, but was available to the public
in this car, and even had an understated horsepower rating.
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- The engine's output was advertised at 290 hp to keep insurance
costs down, while tests indicated the car had upwards of 360
horsepower. (And close to 400 horsepower with the optional dual
carbs.)
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- The Z/28 had dual racing stripes on the hood and trunk lid,
a small badge denoting the fire breathing 302 under the hood
on each front fender, and reworked suspension to keep the little
Mustang-eater glued to the road.
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- Production of the Camaro continued (in various forms) until
2002, when it was halted due to a low demand for sporty cars.
However, in 2006, General Motors unveiled plans to bring the
Camaro nameplate back to the Chevrolet lineup.
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- The car was loosely styled after the first generation Camaro,
and like the original, was an instant favourite.
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- Built in Oshawa, Ontario and sold as a 2010 model, sales
of the fifth generation Camaro started in March 2009, and a year
after its long awaited release, it is still one of the coolest
new cars money can buy.
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- The new Camaro has outsold Ford’s Mustang in each of
the previous seven
months leading up to December, 2009. In the month of December,
Ford sold
6,327 Mustangs, Chrysler sold 2,536 Dodge Challengers - and G.M.
sold 7,548 Camaros.
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- If you want one, be patient . . . there's still a waiting
list.
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- Aaron Neilly is a licensed mechanic with a soft spot for
unique automobiles. He can usually be found tinkering on a classic
Volkswagen in his spare time. You can e-mail him at: bandicoot.rally@gmail.com
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