Did you know that . . . ?
The Camaro was born on September 29, 1966
The Camaro was originally going to be called the "Panther". Right up until
the car's debut this was the name of one of America's finest cars. Chevrolet
even had the molds made for the emblems, but then luckily for us they changed
their minds !
The Z28 name was chosen because it just happened to be the next available
option after
Z27 !
Chevrolet had originally planned a tri-power carburetion option for the
small-block Camaros in 1967 !
The 1969 body style was to continue in production for two full years. The
'70 body style made its debut in 1971 instead of 1970 !
Chevrolet designers had four body styles - coupe, convertible, fastback
and station wagon planned for production instead of just two !
Chevrolet had cobbled up a special two-seat convertible some 18 inches
shorter than a normal Camaro convertible !
The first 50 ZL1 Camaros were delivered with a carburetor that was too
small. This made the car slower than its originally intended mid 11 second
quarter mile time !
Believe it or not, 1967 Camaros were to run on 13" tires !
The 350 cubic inch engines in the 1967 Super Sport cars were a Camaro exclusive
!
For the late 1970 and 1971 body year runs, the was a planned edition called
the "Hurst Sunshine Special" with a slide back sunroof. One car was actually
produced and can still be seen in some Chevy advertisements. Look for a
yellow '70 1/2 Z28 ... and look VERY closely !
1972 almost marked the end of the line for the F-Body cars, since they
did not meet the new bumper safety laws !
The Camaro set an Indianapolis track record in 1967 and '69 by being the
first car selected as the Official Indy 500 Pace car two times in the first
three years of its production. No other car has achieved this distinction
since !
Instead of a two light system with retractable covers, cars equipped with
the Rally sport option were originally going to have four headlights, which
were to show through a "full width, egg crate" grill !
For years the name Camaro was often misspelled CAMERO by enthusiasts and
automotive writers alike. Contrary to popular belief, there is no 'E' in
Camaro, which by the way, means "FRIEND" in french. The "CAMERO" spelling
means "Shrimp" in spanish. Thank God Chevy made a wise choice in spellings
!!!
These trivia facts originally appeared in Super Chevy
magazine by Bob Brennan Copyright 1998
