Description
By: Ray Miller .
In the Fall of 1966, some two and a half years after its major competitor had shown the way, giant General Motors Corporation brought to the marketplace a new car designed to staunch the flow of buyers flocking to Ford's new Mustang. Based largely on the characteristics of that competing car, the dimensions of the new GM products were almost identical the styling extremely similar, and the price highly competitive.
By the time that Chevrolet's new Camaro appeared, Ford had already sold over one million of their new Mustangs, creating both a demand from new customers and also a market within for the now-loyal owners. It had been incumbent upon GM to respond, and their response was an extremely effective one.
First revealed to the public on September 12, 1966, its body shell would remain fundamentally unchanged for three model years, and then, after its first substantial change, continue almost unaltered for another twelve! Throughout these 15 years, the car retained its own special characteristics, performance, handling ease, comfort, and distinctive appearance. At first a somewhat undersized car, it appeared even smaller as conventional cars grew in the early '70's, but by 1980, when the others had been down-sized it appeared almost ponderous.
Camaro was a sporty car; it went with ease to the fun places of the era. Driving an early convertible Camaro with the top down was an enjoyment long remembered. It offered a quiet, almost docile, trip to the Supermarket, but at the same time, some production versions of the car came off of the showroom floor ready to compete as racing vehicles. With special preparations, including stuffing over-size power plants into its commodious engine compartment, it performed outstandingly on the race circuit.
Thus was, and is, the classy Chevrolet. Other models are larger, some more powerful, some more aggressive, and some more solid, but the Camaro offers response, comfort, distinctive appearance, and most of all, total enjoyment.
Come with us now and follow the changes in an unchanging car, CAMARO!, Chevy's classy Chassis ...
