By now you know that Chevy is bringing back the Camaro and preliminary pictures and stats look phenomenal.  This got me thinking of Camaro's in the past, where the car has came from and where it may be going.  Below are a few years that I thought really defined the Chevrolet Camaro.

1969 Camaro

1969 was the last year for the first generation Camaro to be built and was cluttered with different engine configurations to help compete against the wildly successful Ford Mustang.  The 1969 Camaro was available in an in-line 6 cylinder, 4.9, 5.0, 5.4, 5.7, and 6.5 litre V8.  When lining up next to a Camaro of the First Generation you never really know what they are sporting under the hood, but chances are it's mean.

1970-1981 Camaro

The Camaro was still being built on the F-Body platform, but lost it's bulging roots in terms of looks and feel.  Through the 2nd Generation Camaro production years it began to start feeling dated as the suspension and body was all from the previous generation and only minor tweaks to the exterior were being performed.

1992 25th Anniversary Special Edition Camaro

Chevy fans started seeing some big improvements and upgrades to the Camaro beginning in 1982 and this third generation Camaro continued until 1992.  In 1992 fans were rewarded with a 25th Anniversary Heritage Special Edition Camaro and marked the last year the original F-Body platform would be used, later years would use a modified version.

Amongst the updates in the Third generation Camaro and in the 20th and 25th Anniversary editions were the utilization of throttle bodies on the engine and an upgrade 4 speed transmission.  Furthermore, the introduction of the IROC-Z was hailed in with upgrades to the Camaro's suspension, and larger 16" rims.

2002 Camaro

In 2002 Chevrolet pulled the plug on the 35 year production running Camaro.  The Fourth Generation Camaro was the first since 1967 to have an updated F-Body platform.  The last of the Camaro's was produced in part due to slowing sports car sales and generally slow sales of the Camaro specifically, Chevy felt it was time to exit that market.

The Fourth Generation Camaro offered plenty of options for potential buyers in terms of cosmetics and engine treatments.  There was a souped up SS version that offered the LT1 Corvette engine, paired with a 6-speed Manual transmission, along with smaller V6 RS versions.  In addition, there were T-Top models available and convertible edition Camaro's, but all the options failed to please the market and production haulted in 2002.

2010 Camaro

In 2009 the World will be introduced again to the Camaro with a 2010 model year becoming available.  We've already seen concept photos from as early as 2006 and in 2007 were treated to a Convertible Camaro Concept.  It's expected that the engine configurations available will be a 300 horsepower V6 and a 422 horsepower V8, with both manual and automatic transmissions.  Furthermore there will be an RS appearance package available on the LT and SS models.  300 horsepower just sounds a bit high on any V6, but time will tell and there will still be time for Chevrolet to change specs and availability.

With so much buzz surrounding the new Camaro, such as parts in movies like Transformers, lots of concept shots, and a huge fan base, will we see another 35 year production run?  The success of the retro styled Mustang seems to say yes and hopefully Camaro will catch up with Ford again.

Tags: 1969, 1981, 2002, 2009, 2010 Camaro, chevy

Automotive article was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 8:26 am and is filed under Chevrolet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.