Therefore, the Camaro was touted as having the same conventional rear-drive, front-engine configuration as the Mustang. Concerned with the runaway success of the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet executives realized that the sporty version of their compact rear-wheel drive Corvair, the Monza, would not be able to generate the sales volume of the Mustang due to limitations with that layout (including its inability to share the whole range of Chevrolet engines) and declining sales, partly due to the negative publicity from Ralph Nader's book, Unsafe at Any Speed. It was produced for the 1967 through 1969 model years on a new rear-wheel drive GM F-body platform as a two-door 2+2 in coupé and convertible models.
The first-generation Camaro debuted in September 1966. Main article: Chevrolet Camaro (first generation) A 1967 standard model The Camaro officially went on sale in dealerships on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year. The public introduction of the new model was on September 26, 1966. The Camaro was first shown at a press preview in Detroit on September 12, 1966, and later in Los Angeles, on September 19, 1966. The accepted French word with the closest meaning is "camarade," from which the English word "comrade" is derived. The article further repeated Estes's statement of what the word camaro was meant to imply, that the car's name "suggests the comradeship of good friends, as a personal car should be to its owner". Rollett found the word camaro in the French-English dictionary was slang, to mean "friend, pal, or comrade". In the book The Complete Book of Camaro, it states that Mr. Automotive press asked Chevrolet product managers, "what is a Camaro?" and were told it was "a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs," an obvious reference to the Ford Mustang, which created and dominated the Pony car market GM was entering.Īccording to the book The Complete Book of Camaro: Every Model Since 1967, the name Camaro was conceived by Chevrolet merchandising manager Bob Lund and General Motors vice president Ed Rollett, while they were reading the book Heath's French and English Dictionary by James Boïelle and by de V. He claimed the name, "suggests the comradeship of good friends as a personal car should be to its owner" and that "to us, the name means just what we think the car will do. Estes then announced a new car line, project designation XP-836, with a name that Chevrolet chose in keeping with other car names beginning with the letter C such as the Corvair, Chevelle, Chevy II, and Corvette. Chevrolet general manager Pete Estes started the news conference stating that all attendees of the conference were charter members of the Society for the Elimination of Panthers from the Automotive World and that this would be the first and last meeting of SEPAW. It was the first time that 14 cities were connected in real-time for a press conference via telephone lines. On June 28, 1966, General Motors held a live press conference in Detroit's Statler-Hilton Hotel. Cutter – Chevrolet public relations SEPAW secretary." These telegrams puzzled automotive journalists. Cutter – Chevrolet public relations – SEPAW secretary." The following day, the same journalists received another General Motors telegram stating, "Society for the Eradication of Panthers from the Automotive World will hold first and last meeting on June 28.(signed) John L. Hope you can be on hand to help scratch a cat. On June 21, 1966, around 200 automotive journalists received a telegram from General Motors stating, ".please save noon of June 28 for important SEPAW meeting. However, Chevrolet has stated, "This is not the end of Camaro's story." Background īefore any official announcement, reports began running during April 1965 within the automotive press that Chevrolet was preparing a competitor to the Ford Mustang, code-named Panther. The Camaro will be discontinued at the end of the 2024 model year. The nameplate was revived on a concept car that evolved into the fifth-generation Camaro production started on March 16, 2009. The Camaro shared its platform and major components with the Firebird, produced by General Motors' Pontiac division that was also introduced for 1967.įour distinct generations of the Camaro were developed before production ended in 2002. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car.
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