The History of the Great Battle
The Chevrolet Camaro. The Ford Mustang. Two great "pony" cars from the golden era of automobiles. These warriors fought for domination of the road from the late 1960's well into the early 21st century. During this time, both went through numerous evolutions. I will explain the Camaro and its sister car, the Firebird, in this first of a two part series.
2001 Camaro Z28 and 2001 Mustang GT
2001 Camaro Z28 and 2001 Mustang GTF-Body
Chapter 1: The Beginning
To explain the history of the Camaro, we must go back to the Chevrolet Corvair. This short-lived sports car was radical in its design; like the Porshe 911 (which would appear several years later) it had a rear mounted, air-cooled engine. It was a good selling automobile in the early 60's. People liked it's nifty, innovative engine layout and its sporty performance; despite being powered by a straight-6, its performance was comparable to many V8 cars of the day thanks to its low weight and the fact that its engine was tuned for speed. All seemed good for Chevy and GM as a whole.
Until 1964, that is. That year, Ford introduced the Mustang. Based on the popular Ford Falcon body, the new Mustang was a hit. It had all the right features; it featured a long hood, short deck body style, a variety of engines (ranging from paltry straight-sixes as well as medium performance small block V8s), a style that screamed "Freedom!" and most importantly, it was affordable for almost any person, including graduating High School students.
A 1966 Ford Mustang
GM was caught completely off-guard. Chrysler had released the Barracuda earlier, and although it wasn't technically a pony car, it stole some of the Mustang's thunder. GM, however, had no car that could compete with the hot Mustang. GM's divisions immediately began work on a new car that could compete... And hopefully crush Ford's miracle pony.
Chapter 1: The Beginning
To explain the history of the Camaro, we must go back to the Chevrolet Corvair. This short-lived sports car was radical in its design; like the Porshe 911 (which would appear several years later) it had a rear mounted, air-cooled engine. It was a good selling automobile in the early 60's. People liked it's nifty, innovative engine layout and its sporty performance; despite being powered by a straight-6, its performance was comparable to many V8 cars of the day thanks to its low weight and the fact that its engine was tuned for speed. All seemed good for Chevy and GM as a whole.
Until 1964, that is. That year, Ford introduced the Mustang. Based on the popular Ford Falcon body, the new Mustang was a hit. It had all the right features; it featured a long hood, short deck body style, a variety of engines (ranging from paltry straight-sixes as well as medium performance small block V8s), a style that screamed "Freedom!" and most importantly, it was affordable for almost any person, including graduating High School students.
A 1966 Ford MustangGM was caught completely off-guard. Chrysler had released the Barracuda earlier, and although it wasn't technically a pony car, it stole some of the Mustang's thunder. GM, however, had no car that could compete with the hot Mustang. GM's divisions immediately began work on a new car that could compete... And hopefully crush Ford's miracle pony.
Chapter 2: The F-Body is born
GM's plans were rushed, and they weren't universal among the divisions. Chevrolet and Pontiac, GM's two primary divisions from a sales standpoint, came up with radically different designs. Pontiac believed that the Banshee prototype could be converted into a full production two-seat car to compete with the Mustang; it was light and could be powered by a straight-6 for the base model with V8s as an option. However, GM did not want a car to compete with its current flagship sports car, the Corvette. While Chevrolet could have probably made a "low-end" Corvette to compete with the Mustang, they realized that it would be cheaper for GM to simply design a new body.
The Pontiac Banshee I
Thus, came the F-Body. It was very similar to the Mustang; it featured the long hood, short deck style. Unlike the Pontiac car, it had a rear-row seat plus a traditional trunk. It was larger than the Mustang, however it was still a compact by the standards of the 1960's. Chevrolet named the car "Camaro" which roughly means "comrade" in French. Pontiac, who was denied their Banshee, did get their own version of the F-Body called the Firebird. Both were very similar, although they were very different at the same time. However, as the years passed on, both would get more and more similar until 2002, when both cars were virtually the same.
The Pontiac Banshee IThus, came the F-Body. It was very similar to the Mustang; it featured the long hood, short deck style. Unlike the Pontiac car, it had a rear-row seat plus a traditional trunk. It was larger than the Mustang, however it was still a compact by the standards of the 1960's. Chevrolet named the car "Camaro" which roughly means "comrade" in French. Pontiac, who was denied their Banshee, did get their own version of the F-Body called the Firebird. Both were very similar, although they were very different at the same time. However, as the years passed on, both would get more and more similar until 2002, when both cars were virtually the same.
The 1st Generation
The first generation Camaro/Firebird were released in 1967. The Camaro debuted a few months earlier in the summer, while the F-Bird took flight later that year in the fall. Despite being brand new cars, there were dozens of options for the prospective buyer of a F-Body.
1969 Camaro Z28
In the engine department, the base engine of the F-Body cars was the 3.8L (230ci) inline-6. A 250ci version was also available. However, most buyers opted for the V8 powerplant. Choices started with the 327ci, the defacto small block 350ci (which became one of the most popular engines of all time), and the 396ci.
There were two special engine choices in the first generation, however they were only available for the Camaro. The first was the 302ci which was available only with the Z28 package. Surprisingly, despite being the smallest V8 available, it was one of the most powerful, bested only by the big-block 427ci, which only found its way into a handful of Camaros anyway.
While the Firebird had Pontiac versions of the normal engine sizes, it did not have the 302ci or the 427ci. Instead, it received Ram-AIR Engine choices, most taken directly from the Pontiac GTO muscle car. While none of these engines provided the pure horsepower of the 302ci or the ultra-rare 427ci, they were more powerful than the base V8s in the Camaro, leading to most F-Birds outrunning most Camaros in the early days.
1967-68 Firebird on the left, the face-lifted 69 on the right
Styling was similar, with the main difference being the front facia, where the Camaro had a more muscular, simple appearance with two headlamps and the Firebird a softer facia with Pontaic's default four headlamp design.
Both cars received a face-life in 1969. The Camaro received a much deeper V grill with inset headlamps along with a more square shape with sharper lines. The Firebird, however, was modeled loosely after the current GTO of the time. While the Camaro revamp was praised by most, the Firebird revamp wasn't as well liked. Many felt Pontiac was giving up the Firebird's uniqueness purely for GTO looks, which wasn't a good thing to many. Engine choices remained the same for 1969.
The 1969 model F-Bodies had an extremely long model year. Many people believe that many of them were actually 1970 models due to the long production year. This was not the case. The new second generation was having production problems, thus the model year was extended. However, all were 1969s, not 1970s as many believe.
In the end, the 1st generation was a huge success. Despite only being on the market for 3 years, and the fact that it didn't even come close to the Mustang, it sold extremely well and led GM management to realize that these two new cars had potential. Thus, development on the all-new second generation F-Bodies began. The history of these cars will be covered in Part 2 of this series.
1969 Camaro Z28In the engine department, the base engine of the F-Body cars was the 3.8L (230ci) inline-6. A 250ci version was also available. However, most buyers opted for the V8 powerplant. Choices started with the 327ci, the defacto small block 350ci (which became one of the most popular engines of all time), and the 396ci.
There were two special engine choices in the first generation, however they were only available for the Camaro. The first was the 302ci which was available only with the Z28 package. Surprisingly, despite being the smallest V8 available, it was one of the most powerful, bested only by the big-block 427ci, which only found its way into a handful of Camaros anyway.
While the Firebird had Pontiac versions of the normal engine sizes, it did not have the 302ci or the 427ci. Instead, it received Ram-AIR Engine choices, most taken directly from the Pontiac GTO muscle car. While none of these engines provided the pure horsepower of the 302ci or the ultra-rare 427ci, they were more powerful than the base V8s in the Camaro, leading to most F-Birds outrunning most Camaros in the early days.
1967-68 Firebird on the left, the face-lifted 69 on the rightStyling was similar, with the main difference being the front facia, where the Camaro had a more muscular, simple appearance with two headlamps and the Firebird a softer facia with Pontaic's default four headlamp design.
Both cars received a face-life in 1969. The Camaro received a much deeper V grill with inset headlamps along with a more square shape with sharper lines. The Firebird, however, was modeled loosely after the current GTO of the time. While the Camaro revamp was praised by most, the Firebird revamp wasn't as well liked. Many felt Pontiac was giving up the Firebird's uniqueness purely for GTO looks, which wasn't a good thing to many. Engine choices remained the same for 1969.
The 1969 model F-Bodies had an extremely long model year. Many people believe that many of them were actually 1970 models due to the long production year. This was not the case. The new second generation was having production problems, thus the model year was extended. However, all were 1969s, not 1970s as many believe.
Chapter 3: Conclusion
In the end, the 1st generation was a huge success. Despite only being on the market for 3 years, and the fact that it didn't even come close to the Mustang, it sold extremely well and led GM management to realize that these two new cars had potential. Thus, development on the all-new second generation F-Bodies began. The history of these cars will be covered in Part 2 of this series.
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