Back in 1964, after the release of the Ford Mustang, General Motors had no immediate reaction. In August of that year, just a few months after the Mustang’s impressive introduction, GM realized the America’s desire for four seater sports cars and began taking their desire for a piece of this market seriously.
While many people (incorrectly) believe the Camaro was built in response to Ford’s ponycar, ironically the Mustang was created in response to the Chevrolet Corvair Monza (what a fine car, not). In addition, the Camaro was had actually been in the works as early as 1958…
“I remember a four-passenger, sporty type car of the general size and weight class of the Mustang being worked on in an advanced studio. In the early ’60s, similar cars were developed from time to time. Everyone wanted to do one, but at the time there was really no corporate interest.” said Bob Porter, a designer for Pontiac.
When the Ford sold 100,000 Mustangs in just the first six months and nearly 500,000 the first year of production, GM took a keen interest. Responsibility for building the Mustang’s nemesis was assigned to the GM Design Center’s Chevrolet Studio, at that time ran by Henry C. Haga. The Camaro’s interior design was given to George Angersbach, a substantial contributer to the design of the Corvair, Corvette and the Chevy II, which later became known as the Nova in 1968.
Another common misconception is that the first Camaro, in 1967, was designed from leftover Chevy II components – it was actually the other way around. It is true, however, that the 1968 Chevy II and the 1967 Camaro shared many parts.
While GM considered many different Camaro models, even mock-ups of a 2 seater roadster, a fastback and even a station wagon, there ideas were all niched in an effort to keep costs down. Their goal was, afterall, to compete with the Mustang (though remember, supposably the Camaro was in the works nearly 10 years prior) – thus the decision was made to build just two models, a coupe and convertible.
The Camaro was offered with a wide variety of engines, ranging from a 230 cubic inch six cylinder to a 327 V8. In addition, a new engine displacement was created just for the Camaro, a 350 cubic inch V8 rated at 295 horsepower – which later became Chevy’s bread and butter for making big, reliable power. Getting power to the rear tires was the responsibility by choice of either a 3 or 4 speed manual transmission or either of two automatics – a two speed Powerglide or the preferred Turbobydramatic.
As it’s launch date neared, the Chevy’s Mustang killer remained without a name. It had been given many code-names by both GM and the media including the Panther, Wildcat (Buick used this later), Chaparral and even the Nova (oh no). It’s even rumored that Chevy also considered using the letters “GM” in the name, and came up with G-Mini, which evolved into GeMini, and finally Gemini. Another rumor was that General Motors’ Headquarters didn’t want letters “GM” used – just in case the car was a failure. How’s that for confidence?
Finally the car bacame a reality and was introduced to the world as the “Camaro”, and they considered it to be a good name because nobody really knew what that word meant. In true competitive fashion, Chevrolet procured an old French dictionary showing that the word meant “friend” or “companion”, but Ford found an alternate meaning in an old Spanish dictionary -”a small, shrimp-like creature.” The automotive press had a good laugh it, and an even bigger one when a journalist found yet another meaning-”loose bowels.”
It didn’t take long for the laughter to stop once Chevrolet unveiled the 1967 Camaro though. This lean and aggressive sports car retailed for $2,466 – quite a bargain compared to the average cost of today’s car.