Bubba Clint’s Camaro Story
How times change. Ford’s Falcon, the American small car leader, was putting consumers to sleep by 1963. The Chevrolet Corvair’s unusual appearance and layout kept a sizeable number of people away. US automakers tried to spice up their economy cars with sporty options, new trim levels, and bigger engines. Nothing seemed to work.
Then came the Mustang. What started as an exotic prototype speedster turned into a four-passenger personal coupe for the masses. Ford engineers used the Falcon platform for the new car. Unlike the Falcon, the Mustang was handsome and looked great. America was in a sensation and, instantly, the Baby Boomers became the Mustang Generation.
There were several reasons why the Mustang was such a hit in showrooms and in the press. The car’s appeal spread across classes, backgrounds, ages, and races. It had a starting price of just $2,400, but could be loaded with luxury options suited for an accomplished businessman from Bel Air, or kept simple for the struggling teenager getting through high school with money he made working as a bagboy at a supermarket. Carroll Shelby even added his touch he produced the GT350, a two-seat sports car variant.
GM was caught with its pants down. Ford had hit the youth market perfectly. From 1964 to 1966, Ford produced 1,289,000 Mustangs. General Motors’ flagship brand, Chevrolet, needed its own intermediate-sized “pony car” to take on the Mustang on its own turf. While GM management originally scoffed at the Mustang in the car’s initial presentation days, it quickly changed face. America’s corporate giant claimed its Corvair Monza could take on the Mustang, but Ralph Nader’s crusade against the Corvair and its deadly rollover accidents ended that notion.
GM’s stylists and engineers had played with many conceptual ideas for exciting vehicles. The XP-836 was a sharp-nosed project that would slowly evolve into what would be Chevrolet’s pony car. One of GM’s designers, Bob Porter, commented on how GM experimented with a sporty, four-seat vehicle in the Mustang’s weight class (around 2,600 lbs.) as early as 1958. In any case, GM began a new project in the summer of 1964 to produce a new intermediate-sized two-door passenger car. The project would be split with Chevrolet and Pontiac variants. (This project killed John DeLorean’s Pontiac mid-engine, two-seater effort.)
Henry Haga directed the overall styling effort, while interior design was headed by George Angersbach. The new coupe would borrow from the Chevy II replacement called the Nova, but be released in advance of it. It used a unibody structure and an independent front suspension. Test cars were completed by February 1965. They served as “mule cars” and ran on proving grounds, long-distance trips, and wind-tunnel testing. Chevrolet experimented with several body styles, including a slick “fastback” roofline. Budget cuts limited the body style options to a convertible and plain hardtop.
Three months before the car’s release, Pete Estes (the Chevrolet general manager) told the press the name of the new car: Camaro. Estes told the press it was an old French word referring to a comrade or friend; Ford folks used another obscure translation referring to a type of shrimp. Others went so far as to claim it meant “loose bowels.” Estes wouldn’t have to worry about such slander. The new car would prove its worth on the street.
The Camaro debuted in September 1966 to a lavish publicity campaign that included a documentary film on the car’s production, an off-Broadway play, and even a clothing line. The Camaro had a base price in the area of $2,500 and a robust list of factory options and dealer accessories. There were two major trim levels at launch. The RS appearance package included hidden headlights and a deluxe interior. The SS was more impressive, with nose stripes, a domed hood, a hard-tuned suspension, and larger tires. Six factory engines with five different sizes were available for the 1967 models. They ranged from the base 140 hp 3.8 L L-6 to the L48, a 295 hp 5.7 L V-8. The L48 was specially built for the intermediate-sized coupes. The 5.7 L displacement would live on for decades in future Camaros, Impalas, and Corvettes well into the 2000s.
Chevrolet liked to keep its cars limited in engine options. The L35 and L78, 6.5 L V-8 power plants, were preferred for the mid-size Chevelle. They made it as shadow options for the Camaro. Overall, the large line of options and powerful engines made the Camaro a hit. The new car fared well in magazine reviews against the Mustang and the Plymouth Barracuda, even though the Mustang was considered more refined and the Barracuda more useful for utility.
Two months later, Chevrolet quietly introduced the Z/28 edition. The Z/28 included a special, high-revving 4.9 L V-8. It was built for Trans-Am racing and was used by Roger Penske. For the few buyers who did purchase these hard-nosed Camaros, the Z/28 option was more than just a $360 motor. The Z/28 required power-assist front disc brakes, a heavy-duty suspension, and a special four-speed manual transmission. Penske took his Camaro Z/28 to race in Daytona, only to retire after mechanical problems. Craig Fisher, however, finished in second place. The Camaro was selected as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500, the perfect marketing move for Chevrolet. Overall, the 1967 model year turned about be a fine debut.
The Camaro continued on mostly the same for 1968. 1969 saw cosmetic changes with the grill, headlights, fenders, and a lower, wider look. The 5.4 L power plants lost sway to a new 5.0 L and 5.7 L V-8. A second Indy 500 pace car was produced, with replicas made available to the public. The secretly-built central office production order (COPO) editions were the cause of the biggest fuss. These cars, of special request by powerful dealers, were stripped of luxuries (to save weight) and powered by a 7.0 L V-8. A small percentage of the COPO Camaros had the aluminum ZL1 motor, which was underrated with a gross horsepower rating of 425. Of all the Camaros built, the COPO models are the most desired by collectors today.
The first run of Camaros was a brief one. The Mark I edition ran only from 1967 to 1969. But GM proved it could build a car capable of running with Ford’s best. For 1970, the Camaro was enlarged with rounded lights, a curvier body, and a prominent grill. Instead of being a stop-light street machine, Chevrolet engineers and stylists focused on making the Camaro into a European-style grand touring coupe. The Camaro would have many battles with the Mustang in the coming decades and do well in all of them before its retirement in 2002. But that’s another story.
