Troubled times
An arm rests on the ledge of the open window, the radio plays ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd and beyond the long bonnet there is nothing but the open road vanishing in the distance where it meets the horizon… the myth of American driving in 1974. Under that bonnet of the Chevrolet Camaro LT there growled a mighty V8, of course. It is the mid-seventies and although 5.7 litres still counts as generous engine capacity, the power output of 185 horsepower was far lower than before the oil crisis. But given that there were strict speed limits… in California the maximum permitted was 89 kilometres an hour… the power was adequate. And with all that was happening in the world… President Nixon toppled after the Watergate affair, the inevitable tensions in the Middle East, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman meeting at the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in … a bit of relaxation was truly welcome.
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- The big leather seats are very welcoming and the airy interior and the huge side windows seem to say… “Here is where you belong, buddy”.
Surprisingly relaxed
For a classic American automobile the metallic orange Camaro is surprisingly easy to drive, even with its weight of 1.7 tons and a very primitive rear-axle configuration unconducive to best driving dynamics. But the big leather seats are very welcoming and the airy interior and the huge side windows seem to say… “Here is where you belong, buddy”. The shifter for the automatic transmission is positioned so far forward that there is nothing to prevent you from holding hands with your girlfriend in the passenger seat. And even with the moderate power available there is still enough to get the tyres smoking at quick getaways when the lights turn green.
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- The first generation Camaro… “It’s a wild animal that eats Mustangs for breakfast”, was the promise made by Chevrolet back in 1966, clearly identifying the opposition when the first generation was presented in Detroit.
The Mustang in the cross-hairs
The Camaro was always an automobile in which the driver would get noticed. “It’s a wild animal that eats Mustangs for breakfast”, was the promise made by Chevrolet back in 1966 when the first generation was presented in Detroit. General Motors had been completely taken by surprise when two years before Ford had such success with their ‘Stang. But even before the Mustang appeared Chevrolet had been making plans for a compact with sporting qualities and it was on the basis of the unassuming Chevy II that the Camaro was finally created.
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- The car was an affordable speedster with everything that a Pony car required. The ‘long hood, short deck’ design, the sporting individual seats rather than a bench, rally striping available as an option.
Lots of power, little driving dynamics
The car was an affordable speedster with everything that a Pony car required. The ‘long hood, short deck’ design, the sporting individual seats rather than a bench, rally striping available as an option… it offered everything needed. Including power, starting with a 3.8 litre six pot motor but going up to a V8 with 5.7 litres capacity. Perhaps less impressive was the road holding… strong acceleration was too much of a challenge for the simple rear-axle construction and the primitive springs.
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- For a classic American automobile the metallic orange Camaro is surprisingly easy to drive, even with its weight of 1.7 tons and a very primitive rear-axle configuration unconducive to best driving dynamics.
A Camaro for European tastes
The current fifth generation Camaro is visually an homage to the styling of the sixties. But it was the second generation Camaro of the seventies which was the first on the appeal to European motorists and a favourable exchange rate helped to make it affordable on this side of the Atlantic. The first model of this range was designated the 701/2 and very much resembled its predecessor… but the body styling was not as boxy and almost European in allure. Under the bonnet there might be a 155 horsepower V6 but a big V8 with 6.5 litres capacity and an output of 375 horsepower was also available.
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- Powered by a 360 horsepower motor with high compression the car accelerated to a hundred kilometres an hour in a test of the Camaro Z28 conducted by the US magazine ‘Car And Driver’ is just 5.8 seconds.
Z28: The renowned top version
The Z28, the top-of-the-range version, was the car which set the pulse of drivers racing, gave the insurance companies headaches and ensured that traffic cops had plenty of work on their hands. Powered by a 360 horsepower motor with high compression the car accelerated to a hundred kilometres an hour in a test conducted by the magazine ‘Car And Driver’ is just 5.8 seconds. The quarter-mile… the classic duelling distance for hot-rodders… took 14.2 seconds and ended with a speed of 160 kilometres an hour.
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- The Camaro was destined to make a stunning comeback. Although the 1979 version was almost identical to its predecessor it became the model which proved the most popular ever built until then.
Ups and downs
In the late seventies suddenly cars with massive horsepower were distinctly unpopular. The start of the decade fuel prices shot up, insurance premiums became horrendous and the beginnings of environmental awareness appeared to sound the death knell for pimped Pony cars and muscle cars with big engines. But the Camaro was destined to make a comeback. Although the 1979 version was almost identical to its predecessor it became the model which proved the most popular ever built until then. The ‘Berlinetta’ equipment level saw the introduction of a dashboard with modern instrumentation and the ’79 Camaro found a record 283 thousand buyers. Then in 1982 it was all over. Gone was the distinctive styling to be replaced in the third generation by a much more boxy look with squared-off double headlights. It was no longer an automobile which inspired passions, nor were the cars of the fourth generation (1993 to 2002). It would be the fifth generation Camaro, also being made available for European buyers, which would bring back some of the old thrill. And indeed this is the version which seems to be eating Mustangs for breakfast… currently it is selling in the far better than the rival made by Ford.
