https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnNVrQF1-GM
Today was a big day for Camaro; not only was it the official revealing of the latest iteration of the iconic pony car, but it was one of the largest gatherings of five generations of the nameplate assembled in recent history. To be more specific, just over 1,000 Camaro owners turned up with their pride and joy to kick off the launch of their favorite car!
Prior to today’s historical unveiling of the 6th-Generation car, however, Dennis Pittsenbarger gives us a quick history lesson on some of the more desirable and memorable Camaros throughout its past, using the twenty-five examples Chevrolet had brought to the party.
Starting with none other than the very first production Camaro, VIN No.1, the basic, brown, 6-cylinder/three on the tree machine that paved the way for the big-block powerhouses of the sixties and early seventies. It serves as genesis for the near fifty years of pony car excellence that would succeed it. Following closely on its heels, is the ’67 Z/28 that Mark Donahue drove in the Trans-Am Series – that would ultimately serve as the dream car for generations to come.
Fast forward about a decade and a half, we catch a glimpse of the quickly-becoming-a-classic ’85 IROC-Z. Making mention that it’s attached to a stigma many of us would rather it didn’t have, Dennis does point out the racing heritage that is associated with this car, citing its namesake racing series that featured some of the most legendary racers who ever walked the earth in recent decades.
Skip ahead another 21 years, and now we’re talking about the 2006 Camaro Concept (borrowing heavily from the ’69 model in terms of styling) that ignited the flame of today’s resurgence of the Chevrolet pony car. Closely resembling the actual production car that would hit the streets for the 2010 model year, it would pave the way for the killer road machines that we have now; the LS7-powered Z/28 and supercharged ZL1. The former of which ran the monuments Nurburgring lap time of 7:37.40 – in the rain.
Now that the LT1-powered 6th-gen is among us, we can only look ahead to the future of what kind of performance variants this particular car will bring. While still largely resembling the 5th-gen it replaces, as well as giving a slight nod to the first-generation car, it truly is a perfect evolution of the Chevrolet pony car.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
