The Super Sport option had always indicated one of Chevrolet’s top performers, from the SS 409 Impalas of the early sixties through the SS Chevelles. When Chevrolet decided to add a Super Sport option to the Camaro line, they made sure that it would continue the tradition of high performance. Curiously, Chevy never called it a Super Sport, referring to the option only as “SS.”
For 1968 the big block SS Camaros received a black painted rear body panel to help distinguish it from the small block cars. This was continued in ‘69, as shown here. The engine choices also increased, including the L34 396/350 hp, the L33 396/325 hp, the L48 350/295 hp, the L78 396/375 hp, and the aluminum head L89 396/375 hp.
When the Camaro was chosen to pace the Indy 500 in 1967, and again in 1969, Chevrolet chose their top performer, the 396 Camaro SS. All the Pace Car replicas were SS/RS convertibles, except for a small number of ‘69 Pace Car hardtops.
The RPO designation was also changed slightly during the first generation. Until 1969 the engine RPO identified the car as an SS. In 1967 the Trim Tag included info about options such as the SS in Group 4. An SS350 was a “P”, a 396/325 was an “N”, and a 396/375 was a “K”.
In 1968 the Trim Tag was changed, and since this code does not appear on the trim tag it can be difficult to verify the identity of a 68 SS. In 1969 the SS was assigned RPO Z27, which appeared on the trim tag of Norwood cars as an “X” code.
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