CHEVROLET CAMARO

LONGER, WIDER AND HEAVIER THAN THE ORIGINAL WITH LESS TO EXCITE PERFORMANCE-FOCUSSED BUYERS

For quite some time and even now, Australia’s most famous Chevrolet Camaro was a blue car that ended its active racing career upside down and against a wall at the Mt Panorama race circuit.

Following years of arguments with motor sporting regulators about brakes, 1974 Bathurst 1000 winner Kevin Bartlett succeeded in transforming the lugubrious Camaro into a Touring Car front-runner. At the 1983 event it had a real chance of victory before a broken wheel literally turned Bartlett’s world on its head.

The second-generation Camaro was launched in February 1970. Described as a 1970 ½ model, these cars were longer, wider and heavier than the original, with less to excite performance-focussed buyers.

1973 brought the familiar ‘W’ nose design and 1974 a full-width front bumper. The Z28 performance pack was dropped in 1974 and didn’t resurface until 1977.

Largest of the SS ‘Super Sport’ engines was a big-block with 402 cubic inches (6.6 litres) producing a notional 375bhp or 278kW and it lasted only until 1973.

The majority of cars had 5.7-litre (350 cubic inch engines) that started out with an alleged 268kW but once ‘smog’ laws, low-lead fuel and legal requirements for truthful output claims had their way, the power from 1978 model Z28s dropped by half. From 1976 a 305 cubic inch (5.0-litre) motor was added.

Performance was affected, but not by as much as the plunge in claimed power might suggest. When tested, a late-1970s Z28 manual with the 5.7-litre motor stopped the 0-96km/h clock in 8.2 seconds. That was about 1.5 slower than pre-1970 cars. It also ran the standing 400 metres in 16.3 – a time similar to that recorded by Australia’s new V8 Commodore SL/E.

Sales during the 1970s recovered quickly and for 1978 247,000 Camaros sold, with 233,000 in 1979. Some from this era came to Australia as personal and dealer imports; helping Holden keep faith with its Monaro loving fanbase once the local model disappeared.

Most would have been 305 V8s with three-speed automatic transmission. As an Aussie buyer you might have expected your costly Camaro to be packed with luxury features, but disappointment was looming.

V8s did have power steering, some added power windows and air-conditioning. There was also perhaps a Rally Sport (RS) package which added twin mirrors, sports wheels and two-tone paint.

By the 1980s, decade-old Camaros were looking dated, but helping boost 1982 sales was a Pace Car tribute version. These came with lift-out ‘T Top’ roof panels, special paint and big ‘500’ decals on the doors. About 6400 were built, making them not especially rare but interesting.

Pre-1973 cars are considered more desirable, but a lot of later ones which have been fitted with uprated engines to address their lack of performance. Genuine four-speed manual cars will generate more money than an auto of the same age and condition.

These cars did remain very cheap for many years and average examples don’t cost a lot even now. Be wary of the ones that have been neglected because previous owners didn’t see them as worth restoring, or even properly maintaining in some instances.