History Of The Chevy Camaro | Car History Wrapped

one of the quickest slickest and most iconic cars to come out of America is the Chevy Camaro today we're going to dive into the deep rich history of this beautiful car to find out just how it went from a Mustang killer to a track ready monster I'm Michel Johnson welcome to rev life this story starts back in 1965 the Ford Mustang had just been released and the world was going crazy Ford thought initially that they were going to sell about 100,000 Mustangs in their first year well they ended up selling almost 500,000 so naturally all the other big car makers at the time looked at Ford and said hm I can do that and in April of 1965 there were reports of a code named Panther that was soon to be released at the time Chevy had nothing to compete with the Mustang not only did it catch literally everybody off guard on how well it was selling but it also didn't give these big companies much runway to get something out at the time Chevy had two cars to compete with the Mustang kind of they had the Chevy Corvair and the Chevy 2 Nova but neither could compete with the Mustang in terms of its looks and speed or in terms of how many had sold so within 2 years the Chevy Cima was created and put out for production so the beginning of this story starts off as a desperate rush job to get something out the door into the hands of Americans to make some money the first generation Camaro debuted in 1966 and was first released as a rear wheeel drive twodo hard top coupe with convertible for all you ladies the base engine was a 3.8 L inline 6 but was also offered in a massive 6.5 L water cooled V8 which at the time pushed 295 horsepower and 380 ftlb of torque it came in a four-speed manual had a 0 to 60 in 7.8 seconds and a curb weight of just over 3200 lb and we will see multiple design recalls to this generation in the future so just stay tuned now the Camaro first went on sale for just over $2500 which was really good for them allowing them to sell $220,000 Camaros in their first year which might seem outstanding but in the comparisons to Mustangs almost 500,000 they still needed work and the car stayed relatively the same until 1968 this is when Chevy released the Camaro Rally SS one of my personal favorite cars of all time this car came with some new quote unquote Astro ventilation that eliminated the need for vent windows it also came with new tail lights and grills and certain packages included hidden headlights the SS symbol on the front dual exhaust red striped tires and black accents on the grill and of course a retuned suspension this thing was sick if I asked you to choose between a 1968 Camaro and Ford Mustang what would you choose it's a hard question and in 1968 the Z28 was released now this is going to be a legendary package it's going to go on for many years so just keep your eye out for the Z28 badging it's pretty special a lot of people consider it the ultimate Camaro in appearance now these cars look sweet but they also packed a Punch coming with a 7.0 L 425 horsepower pushing Beast of a big block from here Camaro went back to the drawing board and said okay how can we improve on our car [Music] the Gin 2 Camaro arrived shortly after in 1970 now when this Camaro dropped people were a little iffy on it it looked different it was bigger heavier and probably slower at least from what you would imagine structurally the car was almost identical to the generation before it but people slowly but surely started falling out with the Camaro it was strange the 1970s E28 package also was was released but people just weren't wow a lot of people said that the car just simply wasn't as fun and didn't let you have that adolescent careless feeling while you were driving the car mostly due to the car gaining about 400 lb in weight That's Heavy and although it also came with a big water cooled V8 which pushed 360 horsepower and 370 ft-lbs of torque the car just didn't feel as freeing as it once did and this car had a 0 60 in 5.8 seconds and had a three-speed automatic but at a price of 4400 $ it was getting expensive to own one of these cars now this car was based on the fbody platform and obviously looks a lot different than the Gen one sadly enough in the 1971 models there was some power standardization which basically made it so they had to tune back the power making it so this new engine new car only pushed about 330 horsepower M and as time went on the new federal regulations of safety came out basically ruining the car the main one being that they had to add a big ugly chrome bumper on the front and the back of the car which completely wrecked its Road presence the 1974 Z28 came out with some new shiny Graphics but people were upset people often called the Camaro fat lazy and underpower which when you have a big old V8 under the hood that can only push about 245 horsepower I guess it makes sense but that's not it the regulations crack down even harder on automakers forcing The 1975 Cima to put even more power dampeners on their car including catalatic converters which pushed the Camaro 6cylinder to 105 horsepower and the big V8 down to 145 horsepower the 1978 Camaro Rally Sport was in released which wait this might be my favorite I have too many favorites either way it came with a brand new translucent T-top roof and some pretty sweet looking white walls as well and the last of the Gen 2 Camaros were built in 1981 with the Z28 wrapping it up in my line the Gen 2 Camaro got the bad end of the stick a lot of it has to do with our amazing country and all their amazing safety regulation rules what is that it's not [Music] fun a year later the new generation 3 Camaro was released this car screams the80s more than any other car I've seen and it's kind of cool now you can probably see the boxy futuristic modern design that was put in this thing and actually makes it look pretty sweet and for the first time the Camaro was a hatchback but while the Camaro did look pretty sweet it was seriously underpowered the base Sport coupe models were equipped with the heinis 2.5 L Iron Duke 4 cylinder which pushed 90 horsepower don't put a four cylinder inside of a Camaro please there was also an optional V6 or a 5 L V8 which pushed about 145 ponies and for the people who really wanted some power there was a crossfire injected version in the engine which pushed 165 horsepower 20 more like I said before this engine pushed 165 horsepower had 240 ft lb of torque came with a four-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic was rear wheeel drive and weighed about 3400 lb which is actually lighter than generation before good job Chevy in 1982 the Z28 was released yet again but people actually didn't like this car some claimed that the suspension was so tight that you would feel every individual Pebble when pulling out of a parking space in 1985 a big performance leap was created in the form of the irck Camaro specifically the iro Z with its spectacular 16-in five-spoke wheels and a newly tuned port injection version of the 5.0 L V8 which delivered 215 horsepower now we're talking and by 1988 the Z28 package we talked so much about had vanished and been replaced by the irck in 1990 Dodge took off the SP sponsorship of the international Race of Champions and with it came the right to use the irck name so Chevy said up screw that back to Z28 we go so in 1991 the Z28 was released this actually came with a big tall rear wing some silly hood scoops and five spoke wheels but this car was almost a decade old and needed to be replaced which bring us to the fourth generation aka the first modern muscle car to ever be created this was the Chevy Camaro but it looked different now I know some people who love these cars and some who hate them these cars are often referenced as the catfish Camaro and uh yeah it definitely looks '90s for sure this car came with a 5.7 L V8 which pushed around 275 horsepower and 325 ftlb of torque it also came with a six-speed manual rear wheel drive and with weighed only 3,300 lb this car could clear the/ quarter mile in 14 seconds flat at 100 mph and had a 0 to 60 in 5.6 seconds what would you choose this year's Camaro or this year's Mustang I think I'm going with Mustang on this one now we get to 1999 which I think is a good year for the Camaro they gave it a facelift and new compound hites a brand new 5.7 L LS1 V8 which pushed 305 horsepower GM also brought all SS production in house which allowed the new free breathing LS1 to push 320 horsepower Chevy then celebrated its 35 anniversary with a new SS Z28 convertible and then killed it seriously on its birthday they killed it good [Music] night and in 2010 the Chevy Camaro SS was was released this was a futuristic styling of the first Generations you can probably see the characteristics there side by side this car looked aggressive quick and mean and also sounded amazing the Gen 5 Camaro was initially offered a 3.6 L V6 or the brand new SS powered 6.2 L V8 which pushed a whopping 426 horsepower some people had issues not being able to see while they drove but who cares cares about that you're in a Camaro this car was rear wheel drive again pushed 426 horsepower and 420 ftlb of tourque it came in a manual six-speed and had a curb weight of 3800 lb and did I mention this car looks great have I mention that but Chevy wasn't done cooking there they went back into the kitchen and started making dinner that being the 2012 Karo ZL1 powered by a supercharged 6.2 L V8 which push 580 horsepower it went from 0 to 60 in 4.1 seconds Chevy give me one of these cars please I'll drive every I swear and not to mention this car looks spectacular I mean look at this thing it looks so freaking aggressive I can't even explain it and it's a great way to celebrate the Camaro's 45e anniversary but that's not it because the next year they re-released the Z28 remember that package we've been talking about they brought it back from all the way back in the day up to 2014 this car looked a little bit better a little bit newer a revised face new headlights all the goodies but also came with a new naturally aspirated 7 L LS7 V8 which pushed 55 horsepower it came with enormous 35 mm wide tires and 19in wheels the newest Z28 was optimized for on trck dominance it wasn't a drag trip car it started to become a track car and this is when I believe Camaro began taking its own path away from the Norms of the muscle cars in America two years later the Camaro entered its sixth generation aka the current generation today this car came out lighter more tuned and sitting on top of General Motors excellent Alpha platform the platform change actually made the Camaro dynamically Superior to its predecessors and the must thing but Chevy was like well we'll do something kind of special here let's put a Corvette engine in a Camaro that sounds like a good idea they put the C7 Corvettes 455 horsepower push in V8 and this puppy they also offered a turbocharged four cylinder but we're not talking about that it's Camaro day it's not a EcoBoost Sunday no that's gone it's Camaro like I said before this thing pushed about 440 horsepower and 450 ftlb of torque it came in a six-speed manual with active red match or a 8-speed automatic it had a 0 to 60 and 4 seconds flat and a 0 to 100 and only 8.8 seconds not only that but it only weighed 3700 lb which is actually getting lighter than the generations before it's crazy not only that but these cars were not only fast amazing looking amazing sounding but they were like luxury cars have you seen the Interiors on these cars they're spectacular they're awesome looking now in 2017 they fa an issue the Hellcat was released now the hellcat's crazy 707 horsepower and a Supercharged V8 you can't compete with that right well you actually can you see Camaro re-released the supercharge ZL1 package which was able to push 650 horsepower and although it's down by 57 horsepower it actually beats the Hellcat in a one-on-one okay it's only by2 seconds but it's a big deal because again the Camaro isn't a drag strip car it's a race car literally and then 2019 released for this year the front end got a little bit of an adjustment adding a dark front in treatment that was very similar to the 2019 Silverado pickup truck and this generation was in production until 2023 it's 2025 now which means the Camaro has been dead for 2 years and I miss it now Chevrolet has come out and say that this is not the end of the Camaro name and that it will be revised in the future but what does that mean does that mean electric does that mean you're going to go hybrid or something like that man I hope not Camaro has always been the one to define the track muscle car the no other muscle car in America that can go on the track like a Camaro can I mean other than the GT500 and I believe that the Camaro is something that stands for America when you're saying the national anthem I think about the Camaro and so this is my official beg uh to Chevy just bring it back for me please you have to be silly to sit there and say that the Camaro didn't have some impact over your life whether it was Transformers whether it was a car when you were a kid either way these are very special cars and I think we can all agree that we miss them even if you love Mustangs you got to give credit where credit is due and I mean you got to agree Camaros are sick so I want to know which Camaro was your favorite which generation which package you let me know in the comment section below also if you guys want to see any other cars wrapped up let me know down there and I'll make sure to get them done thank you all for watching it's been a pleasure drive safe and I'll see you guys in the next one peace

Channel: RevLife

Views: 961

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Id: cdJCBH6Hm30

Length: 15min 20sec (920 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 08 2024