Driving Sports

For baby boomers, the Chevrolet Camaro was an iconic pony car – the macho alternative to the two-seat Corvette. The Camaro was the working man’s hot rod, populating every dragstrip, road course, and local stock car racing circuit in America. In its Pontiac Trans-Am flavor, the same car achieved cult status as Burt Reynolds’ most famous movie ride.

The original Camaro went out of production in 2002, but in the wake of Ford’s retro-success with the latest generation Mustang, it was inevitable that GM would revive both the nameplate and the looks of the first-generation Camaro. With Chrysler bringing back the Challenger, the pony car wars are on again in Detroit.

And that’s good – the Big 3 need a morale booster right now. A big heaping helping of good old-fashioned fun could be just the right prescription for a case of the doldrums.

The Camaro certainly looks the part. Like the Challenger and the Mustang, GM’s exterior designers went for the body lines and styling cues of the original. But they tarted up the bodywork with a pre-chopped greenhouse, muscular shoulders, bigger wheel and tire spaces, and generally patterned the new car after a Hot Wheels interpretation of the venerable ’67 Camaro.

Inside, the feeling is once again back in the 60s, from the little bank of square gauges in front of the shifter to the classic design of the seats. Of course, the retro look has been applied to a fully modern car – your stereo and cruise controls are mounted on the steering wheel, and you’ve got every modern convenience.

Our test car this week was the 2LT edition with the RS appearance package. This car uses the 304 horsepower, 273 pound-foot V6 engine, mated to GM’s 6-speed automatic transmission. Interestingly, that’s about the same as the most potent Camaro available in ’67 – the Z-28 option offered 290 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque. However, GM enthusiasts are quick to point out that the 290 horsepower number was nominal for insurance purposes, and the cars really produced about 400 horsepower.

That would put the original Z-28 more in line with the new SS version, which produces 425 horsepower in the manual transmission tuning and 400 horsepower with the automatic transmission.

That’s a happy return to power, because by the mid-1970s the Camaro was reduced to abysmal performance. In 1976, you had your choice of a sleepy 105 horsepower straight 6, or a pair of equally somnolent 140 or 165 horsepower V8 engines. A decade later, you could even order your 1986 Camaro with a 4-banger making just 88 horsepower.

The new Camaro is a real head-turner out on the road – people everywhere stop to look, and you’ll get comments every time you gas up. Which actually won’t be too often, as the Camaro gets 18/29 with a real-world average of 22 MPG. You won’t feel cheated by the V6, either – it’s got plenty of get up and go.

My biggest downside on the Camaro is the visibility. Tight parking spaces are a challenge, and you want a clear field to back this car up.  That’s the price you pay for ultra-bitchin styling.

The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro starts at $26,580, and that’s a good deal - you get the 6-speed manual transmission, USB/CD/satellite stereo, air, heated seats, cruise, and power everything. The test car had a lovely, sexy and ultimately ridiculous 21-inch wheel package costing a whopping $5,000!  (You can see that wheel package on the Camaro in this article.) That’s one I’d leave on the shelf unless you want to win the Pebble Beach Concours in 2059 by being the only person in the world to have bought that wheel package. Actually, looking over the options, there’s nothing there I’d want. $2,265 for a ground effects body package, $1,450 for the RS package, which includes 20-inch wheels (wasted if you bought the wheel pack) body-color moldings, HID lights, rear spoiler, and replacement taillights. The automatic tranny is $1,185, and $900 for a sunroof.

So, as decked out, the test car carries a sticker price of $38,540. That’s too much for a Camaro – especially a V6 Camaro. But the Camaro 2LT is one hell of a beast for $26,580, so my advice is to leave the option book closed and just enjoy the very nice base model.