The Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced Feb.26 it has selected the all-new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro to pace the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 24, 2009.
The Camaro Pace Car was unveiled during a ceremony at the IMS Hall of Fame Museum with IMS President and Chief Operating Officer Joie Chitwood, and Indianapolis 500 winners Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser Jr. and Eddie Cheever Jr.
"The Chevrolet Camaro first paced the Indianapolis 500 in 1967 with one of the most loved Pace Cars of all times, followed by the 1969 Indy 500 Camaro Pace Car with the hugger orange paint scheme," Chitwood said. "Just 40 years after that car made its mark as a Pace Car favorite, we're pleased to have Camaro return to the streets and to the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to start our Centennial Era."
2009 marks the fifth time the Chevrolet Camaro has been selected to pace the Indianapolis 500 (1967, 1969, 1982, 1993, 2009). It will be the 44th time a General Motors vehicle has paced "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing," with 20 by a Chevrolet.
Powered by the 6.2-liter LS3 all-aluminum Chevy V-8, the all-new 2010 Camaro produces 426 horsepower at 5,900 rpm and 420 lb-ft of torque at 4,600 rpm. It features a Tremec six-speed manual transmission and 3.45 axle ratio.
No drivetrain or suspension modifications are required to prepare the Camaro for its Pace Car duties. The only modifications to the vehicle include a fully integrated strobe system, including a GM-designed custom light bar utilizing Whelen 500 series linear strobes.
The car carries a bold paint scheme for the Indianapolis 500, created by GM Design. More information on the production version of the all-new 2010 Camaro can be found at chevy.com/camaro.
The 2009 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car driver will be announced at a later date.
Most of the Chevy Camaros were ordered using the Regular Production Option (or RPO) method. This provided a wide variety of performance and styling upgrades, but the Central Office Purchase Order (COPO) is legendary for creating rare, super secret, high performance Camaros.
The COPO system was truly intended for more mundane fleet type of alterations. The most common use of COPO system was to specify fleet paint schemes for municipal vehicles, heavy duty springs and special fabrics for use in taxicabs. It was never intended for creating ultra high performance Chevrolet vehicles, but try telling that to Don Yenko, Baldwin-Motion, and Berger Chevrolet.
Don Yenko of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, is largely credited with being the first to exploit Chevy's COPO system. Exploiting it, is probably not the right term to use here, Yenko simply build Chevrolets the way he thought they should have been built all along, more powerful.
Chevrolet had two primary COPO codes for camaro 9560 and 9561. There were also, perhaps one of the best keep secrets, the COPO 9567 option.
Without a doubt, the most exotic of all Camaros were those rare 1969 models equipped with COPO 9560, which cost $4,160.15 above the cost of a base Camaro coupe. The price tag ran higher if any other options were ordered. At $7,000 new, it was quite simply, the most exotic engine available at the time from any auto maker, the all-aluminum ZL1 427.
The ZL1 featured an aluminum cylinder case, cylinder heads, intake manifold, and even an aluminum water pump. The ZL1 was fitted with forged aluminum Chevrolet TRW pistons, which squeezed on the air/fuel mixtue at 12.25:1. This predominantly aluminum ZL1 engine was incredibly lightweight. For comparison, the ZL1 weighted roughly the same as a typical cast-iron "small block" 350 V-8.
Chevrolet was hoping to get the ZL1 Camaros into the lower class in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) drag racing, because they knew results at the track was results in the showroom. Chevy under rated the horsepower at 425, but both sanctioning bodies quickly saw through chevrolets facade and re-classed the ZL1 engine into the appropriate class. Word spread fast, the stock ZL1's were churning out nearly 550 horsepower on the dyno.
Professional engine tuners, quickly changed from the pathetic cast-iron exhaust manifolds to tubular exhaust headers which allowed the engine the produce enormous horsepower. Though teams kept the true horsepower secret, drag strip performances in the mid-10-second bracket indicated that they were developing around 600 horsepower.
Today, these COPO Camaros are some of most coveted Camaros ever. This was not the case the late 60's, given its steep price tag most Camaro buyer passed on these exotic optioned Camaros. In fact, most of the 9560-equipped Camaros that made it to the dealers' showrooms sat there for ages before ultimately being sold at a steep discount to get them off the lot!
1993 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 "572" Custom Coupe
The 1993 ZL1 was, in truth, built on a dare. When the 1993 Camaro first came out, a person from the media stated to an important employee in Chevrolet that "I bet we will never see another big-block Camaro built". The ZL1 was a one of a kind not sold to the public, boasting a 572ci Donovan Aluminum Block Big Block Engine with over 700 hp (520 kW). Custom body styling, hood, black paint, and custom magnesium alloy wheels were also featured.
Barrett-Jackson Lot: 902 - Sold for 145,000 - Sold on a Scrap Title.
Features a Donovan big block aluminum 572cid engine with Brodie heads that produces an estimated 673hp with 710 ft/Lb of torque. Also has a Tremec 5-speed transmission, Brembo front disc and production disc rear brakes, Aluminum wheels with 11" rims, Goodyear gsc 275 x 17 tires on 9.5" rims (front) and Goodyear gsc 315 x 17 tires on 11" rims (rear). Has a black exterior with silver striping, modified hood and ground effect package. The interior is production.
1993 Camaro ZL1 on the 1/4 mile track runs a 9.55 seconds at 144 mph
Third-generation Camaros were the first built without front subframes or leaf-spring rear suspensions. Now the front end was held up with a modified MacPherson strut system, and the hind end relied on a long torque arm and coil springs. These were also the first Camaros with factory fuel injection, four-speed automatic transmissions, five-speed manual transmissions, four-cylinder engines, 16-inch wheels and hatchback bodies. In January 1982, the Camaro was, for the first time since 1967, truly all-new and slightly smaller.
But the 1982 engine selection was hardly scintillating. Base sport coupes started with a 90-horsepower version of GM's lethargic 2.5-liter "Iron Duke" four and could be optioned up to a 112-horse 2.8-liter V6 (base engine in the Berlinetta) or a four-barrel carbureted 5.0-liter (305-cubic-inch) small-block V8 rated at 145 horsepower. That V8 was the Z28's base powerplant; buyers could opt for a Z28 "Cross-Fire Injection" (throttle body-injected) version producing 165 horsepower. The carbureted V8 could be had with either a three-speed automatic or four-speed manual, but the injected engine was automatic only.
A Camaro paced the Indianapolis 500 again in 1982, and the silver and blue replicas of that car are probably the most attractive of the '82s. However, the T-top Z28 that actually paced the Memorial Day classic that year used a highly modified 350 (5.7-liter) V8 for motivation that wasn't available to the general public. Kind of sad, really.
The three-tier Camaro lineup continued into 1983 with minimal visual differences. However the Z28 got a nice power bump with the introduction of the "L69" engine option. With a Corvette-spec camshaft, revised exhaust and a healthy four-barrel carb, the 5.0-liter L69 "H.O." V8 was rated at 190 horsepower and could be backed by a new five-speed manual transmission.
For 1984, availability of the L69 improved on Z28s (the junky Cross-Fire engine died) and the four-speed "700R4" automatic was adopted by most Camaro models. Because anything digital was, of course, good, the Berlinetta sprouted a funkadelic digital instrument panel and overhead console this year, as well. The instrumentation was probably more entertaining than the V6 that powered most Berlinettas.
The great leap forward in third-generation Camaro performance came with the introduction of the 1985 IROC-Z, named after the International Race of Champions, which was contested with Camaros. The IROC featured big 16-inch five-spoke wheels and unique graphics. Carbureted versions of the 5.0-liter small-block V8 were still available, but the big improvement came with the fitment of Tuned Port Injection (TPI) to that engine to produce a flexible 215 horsepower. Sadly, the TPI engine could only be had with the four-speed automatic (in either the IROC or the regular Z28).
Beneath the Z28, the sport coupe and Berlinetta blustered through 1985 unchanged, except for a new fuel-injected version of the 2.8-liter V6 that now pushed out 135 horsepower.
The 1986 Camaros were easy to spot because of the goofy blister fitted atop their rear hatches to accommodate the federally mandated center high-mounted stop light (CHMSL). Beyond that, there was a new exhaust system for non-Z28 cars and a new basecoat/clearcoat two-stage paint system.
Big engines returned to the Camaro for 1987 with the good old 350 (5.7-liter) V8 making its way into IROC-Zs as an option. Capped with the TPI system, the 5.7 was rated at a full 225 horsepower — the highest horsepower in a Camaro in 13 years and with vastly better drivability. While the TPI 5.7 came only with the four-speed automatic, the TPI 5.0 liter was finally available with the five-speed manual.
Equally good news was the comeback of the Camaro convertible — the first Camaro convertible since 1969 — and the consignment of the four-cylinder engine to a well-deserved eternity in junkyard Hell. The high-output carbureted 5.0-liter V8 also disappeared, and a new 165 horsepower carbureted 5.0-liter V8 became the standard Z28 engine. Also gone from the '87 Camaro line were the Berlinetta (replaced with an "LT" option package), and, on any Camaro with a rear spoiler, that ugly CHMSL housing on the rear glass. The CHMSL was instead built into the spoiler and Chevy would simplify its own production for 1988 by making the rear spoiler standard on all Camaros.
So that brake light blister was gone entirely from the 1988 Camaro, but so was the Z28. Since Chevy had firmly established the IROC name, all high-performance '88 Camaros became IROCs. Base '88 Camaros, meanwhile, inherited the elegant 15-inch five-spoke wheels from the Z28, as well as the Z28's lower body skirting. Also, the Z28's 5.0-liter V8 was now optional on the sport coupe; it gained a throttle body fuel-injection system to make 170 horsepower.
The rarest and most intriguing '88 Camaro was the 1LE road racing package optional on the IROCs with both the 5.0- and 5.7-liter TPI engines. Featuring oversize disc brakes, an aluminum driveshaft and a well-tweaked suspension, the 1LE was built to win showroom stock road races.
Proving that no name is forever dead in the world of Camaros, the old "RS" (but not Rally Sport) designation returned for the 1989 model year. Looking much like an '85 Z28, the RS was a basically a trim package atop the base sport coupe and was powered by either the V6 or a throttle-body-injected 5.0-liter V8. Although the 5.7 TPI V8 now boasted 240 horsepower, about the only way to tell '89 IROCs from previous years is to look at the ignition key and see if has the "Pass-Key" theft deterrent resistor embedded in it.
The IROC breathed its last breath during the short 1990 model year, as Dodge picked up sponsorship of the International Race of Champions. The big changes that year were the growth of the base V6 from 2.8 to 3.1 liters, with a bump in output from 135 to 140 horsepower and the fitment of driver-side airbags to all models.
Chevy jump-started the 1991 model year by re-introducing the Z28 in the spring of 1990. Sure, the '91 Z28 got a tall rear wing, new lower body cladding, new phony hood scoops and new five-spoke wheels, but it was otherwise still an IROC and now the top engine was a 245 horsepower 5.7-liter TPI V8. All other '91 Camaros were pretty much '90 Camaros with revised ground effects that featured fake air inlets.
Law enforcement got its own Camaro in 1991 with the introduction of the Camaro B4C pursuit vehicle. Basically, a B4C was a Z28 that was badged as an RS and equipped with most of the good stuff developed for the 1LE race package. Very few B4Cs were ever produced.
With an all-new Camaro coming for 1993, the 1992 model was barely changed from '91. The big change was that they all sported a "25th Anniversary" badge on their instrument panels. Further, a $175 "Heritage Package" of stripes was offered for any '92 Camaro.
Wednesday, 26 September 2007 Written by Jason Huber
All-New Chevrolet Camaro SS 2009 - 2010
Build An All-New Chevrolet Camaro
Next generation of classic sport coupe goes into production in late 2008, on sale in 2009; will be almost identical to wildly popular concept unveiled at NAIAS
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Dear sports car fans: General Motors heard you loud and clear.
GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced today that GM will build an all-new version of the Chevrolet Camaro sport coupe based on the award-winning concept that stole the spotlight at the North American International Auto Show and has ignited the passion of car enthusiasts around the world ever since - even spurring consumers to start petition drives and send in certified checks in hopes of placing early deposits.
"The overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to the Camaro Concept continues to remind me of the uniquely iconic place our products can have in customers' hearts," Wagoner said. "Camaro is much more than a car; it symbolizes America's spirit and its love affair with the automobile."
The all-new Camaro will begin with early production versions at the end of 2008 and will go on sale in the first quarter of 2009. "The new Camaro will be almost identical to the concept, a thoroughly modern interpretation of the 1969 model, considered by many to be the best design of the car's first generation," said Ed Welburn, GM's global vice president of design, who owns a 1969 Camaro SS. The front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sport coupe will feature an independent rear suspension, and will be offered in a variety of models with the choice of manual and automatic transmissions and V-6 and V-8 engines.
Chevrolet General Manager Ed Peper said the new Camaro will appeal to both men and women, and unite customers with fond memories of previous Camaros with those who first experienced a Camaro when the concept was unveiled in January.
"We intend to make the all-new Camaro relevant to younger buyers while retaining its appeal to current fans," said Peper. "The beauty of the best Camaros is that they have always been beautiful to look at with performance that rivals expensive European GTs. Yet they were practical enough to drive every day and priced within the reach of many new-car buyers."
In fact, the Camaro Concept design team embodies the universal appeal that Chevy envisions for the car: The core team reporting to the lead designer ranges in age from 27-35 and came from all over the world, yet they all had similar experiences growing up with a love for the Camaro and American performance cars. Their concept redefines the Camaro for both existing and new generations of fans in a contemporary way with responsive performance and modern technology.
Peper said Camaro will complement Chevy's already-popular portfolio of performance vehicles led by Corvette and including its broad SS lineup.
An American icon The Camaro has touched many lives - and graced many garages - with nearly 4.8 million produced between 1967 and 2002. More than 1,000 Camaro clubs exist globally, and thousands of Camaro web sites pay homage to the sports coupe. A recent report on America Online's Top Searches of 2005 placed Camaro in the Top 10 car searches for the year.
About Chevrolet Chevrolet is America's No. 1-selling automotive brand. With the largest dealer network in the United States, Chevy is the leader in full-size trucks and the leader in sales of vehicles priced $35,000 and above. Chevrolet delivers more-than-expected value in every vehicle category, offering cars and trucks priced from $9,995 to $78,175. Chevy delivers expressive design, spirited performance and great value with standard features usually found only on more expensive vehicles. For more information on Chevy cars and trucks, please visit www.chevrolet.com.
About General Motors General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader for 75 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 327,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. In 2005, 9.17 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM operates one of the world's leading finance companies, GMAC Financial Services, which offers automotive, residential and commercial financing and insurance. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.
Just as the first Mustang was based on Ford's compact Falcon, so the first 1967 Camaro was based on Chevy's compact Nova. However, it was based on the upcoming redesigned 1968 Nova and therefore more robust than a comparable 1967 Nova.
The basic engineering of the Camaro was a unibody structure from the windshield and firewall back, with a separate steel rail subframe for everything up front. Double A-arms made up the independent front suspension while the solid rear axle was suspended by semi-elliptical leaf springs. As was typical of standard-equipped vehicles at the time, braking was by four drums, the steering was slow and manual, and Chevy's rugged 230-cubic-inch straight six poked out an optimistically rated 140 horsepower while twisting a three-speed manual transmission.
The base $2,466 '67 Camaro was lean and aggressive, as was the convertible. Adding substance to that appearance was done either by picking or combining individual options or trim packages called RS and SS. View the original 1967 Camaro commercial
Buyers could opt for a larger 250-inch version of the six making 155 horsepower, a 210-horsepower 327-cubic-inch small-block V8 fed by a two-barrel carb, that same V8 with a four-barrel carb and a higher compression ratio was rated at 275 horsepower, or two versions of the 396-cubic-inch big-block V8 making either 325 or 375 horsepower. Those engines could be lashed to a series of wide- or short-ratio three- or four-speed manual transmissions, or one of two automatics: the slushy two-speed Powerglide or outstanding three-speed Turbobydramatic.
The Rally Sport (RS) appearance package brought deluxe interior trim and hidden headlights with it, and the high-performance Super Sport (SS) package had its own distinct decoration (including a domed hood with simulated vents, "bumble bee" stripes encircling the nose and the iconic SS badges), a heavy-duty suspension and larger D70-series tires on 14-inch wheels. Beyond that, the SS-350 model also offered a new 350-cubic-inch small-block V8 rated at 295 horsepower — Chevy's first 350. The Rally Sport and Super Sport packages could also be ordered together to form the most lavishly equipped Camaro of them all, the RS/SS. And it was an RS/SS convertible powered by a 396 that Chevy provided as pace car for the 1967 Indianapolis 500.
Almost outside the regular Camaro line was the race-oriented Z/28. Introduced in December 1966, the Z/28 was powered by a special high-compression 302-cubic-inch V8 whose displacement was achieved by matching the short-stroke crank of the 283-cubic-inch version with the big-bore block of the 327. Rated at 290 horsepower and built to rev, the radical powerplant was matched to a more aggressive suspension.
How did the first Camaro perform? Car Life magazine's test of an SS-350 had it completing the quarter-mile in 15.8 seconds at 89 mph while Motor Trend reported that its SS-350 did the same trick in 15.4 seconds at 90 mph.
Thanks to "Astro Ventilation," General Motors eliminated the side vent wing windows on the 1968 Camaro and also added federally mandated side marker lights and a revised base grille). Mechanically, the most significant change was the adoption of staggered rear shocks (one in front of the rear axle, one behind) to counteract wheel hop under hard acceleration.
While the 1969 Camaros structure and mechanical elements were virtually unchanged from the '68 model, new fenders, door skins, rear quarter-panels, grille and taillights gave the car a wider, lower appearance. A redesigned dash and more comfortable seats made it more livable, too. But it was the staggering array of available performance equipment that marks 1969 as the greatest model year for Camaros.
On the yawn side, a new low-performance 200-horsepower 307-cubic-inch small-block (a 327 crank in a 283 block) supplemented the low-performance 327 and a new 255-horsepower 350 replaced the better-performing 327. On the yeow side, Chevy produced its second Camaro Indianapolis 500 pace car and offered replicas of the white RS/SS convertible with orange stripes and orange houndstooth upholstery to the public (the actual pace car was powered by a 396, but most of the replicas had 350s). In addition, two radical Camaros were produced in extremely limited numbers under special Central Office Production Orders (COPO) 9560 and 9561.
The COPO 9561 was a basic Camaro sport coupe stuffed with 427 cubic inches of all-iron big-block making 425 horsepower. Most of the 1,015 COPO 9561s were delivered to Pennsylvania's Yenko Chevrolet for conversion into that dealership's signature Camaro. Even rarer was the COPO 9560 featuring the legendary all-aluminum ZL-1 427 also rated at 425 horsepower. Only 69 of the ZL-1s were built, and because of their rarity, tremendous output and relatively low weight, they are today considered the quickest and most valuable Camaros ever built.
Sales of the 1969 models extended into the winter of 1969 and early 1970; some of these lingering '69s may have been titled as 1970 models, leading to some confusion
Most of the Chevy Camaros were ordered using the Regular Production Option (or RPO) method. This provided a wide variety of performance and styling upgrades, but the Central Office Purchase Order (COPO) is legendary for creating rare, super secret, high performance Camaros.
The 1993 ZL1 was, in truth, built on a dare. When the 1993 Camaro first came out, a person from the media stated to an important employee in Chevrolet that "I bet we will never see another big-block Camaro built". The ZL1 was a one of a kind not sold to the public, boasting a 572ci Donovan Aluminum Block Big Block Engine with over 700 hp (520 kW). Custom body styling, hood, black paint, and custom magnesium alloy wheels were also featured.
GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced today that GM will build an all-new version of the Chevrolet Camaro sport coupe based on the award-winning concept that stole the spotlight at the North American International Auto Show and has ignited the passion of car enthusiasts around the world ever since - even spurring consumers to start petition drives and send in certified checks in hopes of placing early deposits. 
