The Chevrolet Camaro is a popular pony car made in North America by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors. It was introduced at the start of the 1967 model year to compete Ford's Mustang. The Camaro was an F-body and shared the platform and major components with the Pontiac Firebird. There were four generations of the Camaro produced
1967 until 2002.Even though the name Camaro has no meaning, GM researchers claimed they found it in a French dictionary as a slang term for "friend" or "companion." GM's offical project designation for the Camaro was XP-836. When the press asked Chevrolet product managers "What is a Camaro?", they answered "a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs". Camaro fits Chevrolet's "C" naming structure that included Corvair, Chevelle, Chevy II, and Corvette. The first generation Chevrolet Camaro debuted for the 1967 model year on the new rear-wheel drive GM F-body platform. It was available as a
2-door 2+2 coupe or convertible with a choice of 6 cylinder and V8 engines. The first-gen Camaro ran until the 1969 model year. The Camaro's standard drive train was a 230 c.i. straight 6 cylinder engine rated at 140 horsepower attached to a Saginaw 3 speed manual transmission. A four speed manual transmission was also available. The two-speed "Powerglide" automatic transmission was a popular option in 1967. The first generation Camaro shared some mechanicals with the 1968 Chevy II Nova. Almost 80 factory and 40 dealer options, including three main packages, were available Including the RS package, the SS package, and the Z/28 package.Available on all models, the RS was an appearance package that included the hidden headlights, revised taillights, exterior rocker trim, and the RS badges.
The SS package included three engine options. The 350 c.i. V8 engine which was only available in the Camaro in 1967, and the L35 and L78
396 c.i. big block V8's were also available in the Super Sport package. The larger Turbo 400 3 speed was an option on L35 SS Camaros. The SS featured air inlets on the hood that were not functional, dual striping and SS badge on the grille, gas cap, front fenders, and steering wheel. You could order both the SS and RS to create the Camaro SS/RS. A 1967 Camaro SS/RS convertible with a 396 c.i. engine was the pace car at the Indianapolis 500 in white with orange stripes.The Z/28 option package was not mentioned in sales literature and was unknown to most buyers. The Z/28 option included power front disc brakes and a Muncie 4-speed manual transmission. The Z/28 package came with a 302 c.i. small-block V-8 engine modified with a 3" crankshaft with 4" bore, an aluminum intake manifold, and 4-barrel vacuum secondary Holly carburetor of 780 CFM. The Z/28 302 c.i. was designed by Chevy specifically to race in the Trans Am series that required displacement smaller than 305 c.i.'s and that the car be available to the public. Advertised power was listed at 290 horsepower. This was an under rated figure since Chevrolet wanted to keep the horsepower rating at less than 1 horsepower per cubic inch for insurance and racing classes. The factory rating of 290 horsepower occurred at 5300 rpm with peak power for the high-revving 302 c.i. was closer to 360 horsepower with the single four barrel carburetor. The Z/28 package produced up to 400 horsepower with the optional dual four barrel carburetors at 6800-7000 rpm. The Z/28 package also came with suspension upgrades, racing stripes on the hood, and Z/28 emblem. It was also possible to combine the Z/28 package with the RS package. Only 602 Z/28 Camaros were sold in 1967. The 1967 Z28 received air from an open element air cleaner or from an optional cowl plenum duct attached to the side of the air cleaner that ran to the firewall and got air from the cowl vents. 15 inch rally wheels, were included with Z/28s had while all other Camaros had 14 inch wheels.
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