From the November 1966 issue of Car and Driver.
What’s a Camaro? Chevrolet sent us a French-English dictionary which defined “camaro” as a little-known colloquialism meaning “comrade” or “pal.” The word was so little-known that none of our French friends had ever heard of it. Sounds Spanish, they said, so we tried a Spanish-English dictionary. Eureka! “Camaro” is defined as a gratuity, a shrimp or something very much like something else. Perfect! There was even a little quotation which translated: “The shrimp that sleeps is carried away by the stream.”
Chevrolet seemed to sleep for two years while Ford racked up Mustang-sales by the millions. Now the Camaro is here, and whether it’s gratuity, shrimp, pal, comrade or very much like the Mustang, Chevrolet must have decided it was better late than never. The mystery is why it took Chevrolet so long to launch a car in the animal name market. GM is mum on the subject, but we can speculate.
The Corvair may—in a roundabout way—be partially responsible for the Camaro gap. The Corvair was intended to be the American Volkswagen, and in that, it failed. While Ford’s Falcon and Plymouth’s Valiant burned up the sensible-transportation market, Chevrolet fiddled with the Chevy II. By the time the Chevy II was ready, Chevrolet had inadvertently created a whole new market—the enthusiasts were accepting the Corvair as a sporty car. Chevrolet failed to capitalize on this, and Ford again stole the thunder—this time with the sporty Mustang. Chevrolet was still a leap behind.
As a sporty car, the Corvair was a cul de sac. Chevrolet took great pains to make it the best-handling sedan in America only to discover that potential buyers were more interested in looks and power. With the 180-hp turbocharged engine, the little flat-six was at the end of its tether as far as more power was concerned.
The situation demanded a whole new engine, which would have cost a fortune, and the prospects for a decent return on the investment were slim. A whole new car looked like a better bet than improving the old one. Accordingly, all basic engineering work on the Corvair stopped two years ago, and the Camaro project (which was code-named the “Panther,” or the “F” car) was initiated.
Like the Mustang, the Camaro is not so much a new car as it is a new approach. Like the Mustang, the Camaro is based largely on existing hardware—in this case, the Chevy II/Chevelle models. Like the Mustang, the Camaro is a sporty-looking car with a long hood and a short rear deck, although its styling is related much more closely to the Corvair than to the Mustang.
The youth market—or what’s left of it after The Draft and tight money—is what the Camaro is aimed at, with older folks wanting in on the fun because that’s where they think the action is. It’s Every man’s “cute little car,” with practicality or performance, as you choose. We naturally opted for the performance model, the SS 350. The “SS” stands for Super Sport, a family of high-powered Chevy options. There’s an SS 427 in the full-size Chevrolet line-up and an SS 396 Chevelle (the Chevy II 327 is too hot to publicize, and the 164 cu. in. Corvair is barely warm to the touch).
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Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com
