Camaro: Fifty Years of Chevy Performance

by Mike Mueller

Fifty Years of Chevy Performance chronicles the first fifty years of Chevrolet's iconic Camaro through fascinating photography, history, and commentary about this legendary pony car.

The early 1960s saw American auto manufacturers desperately trying to sell cars to the emerging baby-boom market. Chevrolet attained some success with its sporty Corvair Monza. Ford responded first with a sportier Falcon, then with its grand-slam, home-run pony car, the Mustang. At first, Chevrolet hesitated to abandon the technologically advanced Corvair, but when it finally entered the pony car market in 1967, its new Camaro instantly became one of the most iconic cars of the classic muscle-car era. When muscle cars went dormant for a generation, it was once again the classic pony cars that jump-started American performance . The battle that raged between Camaro and Mustang in the 1980s rejuvenated the US auto industry's interest in high-performance muscle cars. The Camaro lost its way in the 1990s, with Chevrolet pursuing technological advances and Ford pursuing classic American muscle. As was the case in the 1960s, Ford's muscular pony car trounced Chevrolet's technologically advanced sporty car in the race that mattered showroom sales. The Mustang thrived while the Camaro left the scene. Fortunately, that departure was only temporary. Chevrolet introduced a twenty-first-century Camaro in 2010, and it has become one of Chevrolet's most popular models . With stunning photography from author Mike Mueller and never-before-seen archival photography from partner General Motors, Fifty Years of Chevy Performance chronicles the Camaro's rich history, from the early attempts to reach the youth market in the 1960s, through the potent and turbulent years of the classic muscle-car era , the resurgence of muscle in the 1980s, the sad decline of the 1990s, and the triumphant rebirth of the new car in this new millennium.

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 2, 2017

Reviews

[Donald Ohlinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Mueller is a highly respected automotive author who has done a lot of outstanding titles like Chevy Chevelle 50 Years and many more Camaro : Fifty Years Of Chevy Performance is another great title loaded with valueable info on chevorlets most sought after and desirable performance car to ever come out of GM besides the corvette and many others from the past although the Camaro came in many styles and trim levels also customer preferred packages each car has held up its end no matter what generation it is though my favorite is the 1967-1969 Camaros wich is considered the 1st generation especially when equipped with the Z28 package and a 427 V-8 or the fast 302 V-8 in 1968 Z28 Camaros though it gets more technical as the generations go on and performance does get even better with every generation however some cars may not have all the power like some Camaros but they can still be fun to drive or race the later F-body models of the 1970s to earlie 1980s were larger Camaros but still employed the 350 V-8 with carberation as most cars did in the earlier years in 1982 chevorlet would introduce the smaller 3rd generation Camaro with a 4-cyclinder or a V-6 however the largest engine avalible was a 305 V-8 with either a manual or automatic transmission though Camaro enthuists felt that the 305 was underpowered when compared to Camaros in the past in 1987 chevorlet offered a new fuel injected 5.7 ltre 350 V-8 avalible in IROCS and Z28s the fourth gen was sleeker and more aerodynamic and offered a new V-6 engine in a base coupe and convertible but if you wanted power and performance you could step up to a new Z28 with T-tops or a convertible with a manual or automatic transmission later chevorlet would offer a SS ( supersport ) model with performance suspension and brakes plus new areo headlights and new interior the Camaro would last until 2002 when chevorlet would celebrate with a limited edition Camaro in hugger orange that came in coupe and convertible the Pontiac division did the same with the transam and offered the car in yellow both in coupe and convertible however after GM pulled the plug on the F-body wouldn't return for some years until Ed Welburn the owner of a beautiful 1969 Camaro Z28 decided to do a new Camaro based off the 1969 Camaro and reintroduce the car at the Detroit auto show and many others the new Camaro had a starring roll in the block buster film transformers as bumblebee and became well known the Camaro has become a big hit with modern muscle car fans a few years back GM offered a new drag pak and gave owners the chance to build there own race engines at the GM engine factory however the new 5th generation keeps getting better with new customer preferred packages and trim levels plus new engine technology and advancements though Camaro has been around it will be around for the next 50 years , We can only hope the Camaro continues to entertain enthuists and fans for years to come both on the streets and in showrooms as well as the BF. Goodrich SuperChevy show that travels the country.