Camaro History

The Chevrolet Camaro was designed and built by General Motors in response to the Ford Mustang which was released in 1964 and quickly became popular. As such, the Camaro had to compete in the showrooms and on the race track. Development accelerated quickly with changes being made every year until until it slowed in the late 1970’s coinciding with the oil crisis at that time.

There are currently six generations of models, with a gap between 2002 and 2010 when Camaro was not being made in any form.

Gen 1: 1967-1970

Gen 2: 1970-1981

Gen 3: 1982-1992

Neither the first third-generation Camaro nor the Fox-body Mustang were well-received in base-model form as they offered laughably poor performance albeit in a new package. Imagine trying to convince buyers to drive this with a four-cylinder engine that barely made 100HP! By the end of the model run both cars would get better engines and performance but not before copping a lot of criticism from the press and fans alike.

Gen 4: 1993-2002

Again, styling was controversial at the time, as it seemed to discard all of the old design cues and go for a much more modern look. To some eyes they succeeded but these cars are very cheap now so perhaps time has not been kind to the Gen 4 Camaro.

Gen 5: 2010-2015

After an eight year break the Camaro was back! Spurred on by the increasing interest in reviving old brands for the baby-boomer market, GM built something that was able to use the great engines that were available combined with an existing suspension platform and create with plenty of go that was fun to drive.

Australians know the Gen 5 Camaro platform was originally developed for the all-aussie VE Holden Commodore and this was wisely used, not only a cost-saving measure, but as basis for performance handling and options that accommodate a wide range of engine and gearbox combinations.

Gen 6: 2016-

Refreshing a retro brand like Camaro was never going to be easy, especially as the competition was getting more powerful and had a lot of options. Buyers had plenty of choice from looks to luxury to performance. Build around the new Cadillac platform, the 2016 Camaro was designed to improve the handling and “feel” of the older model while retaining its muscle car roots.

As with many of the new performance cars, a range of engine options are available from the weirdly small but surprisingly powerful 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder, the 3.6-litre V6 and old-school 6.2-litre V8.