The Chevrolet Camaro first came into being in the USA in 1966. General Motors, Chevrolet’s owners, felt the need to develop a car to give much needed competition to the market dominating Ford Mustang. The 1967 Camaro shared a chassis and many main components with the Pontiac Firebird (one more General Motors off-shoot), and so the time required and cost required to make the car were massively reduced.

Often called a a muscle car, or ‘Pony’ car, a name which referred to small vehicles that were both affordable and had a sports car feel about their styling (a style initiated by the Ford Mustang in 1964), the car lined up next to an ever increasing selection of vehicles that were struggling for an ever increasing market. US owners loved the engine, the look and the great value of such vehicles and the growing sales guaranteed that lots of manufacturers made their own versions out as quickly they could.

The 1970’s and 80’s saw the car’s best days, when the Camaro was wanted by millions of car enthusiasts, not only in the USA but throughout the world. The balance of style, speed and popular TV shows romanticizing pony cars added to a strong market, and the desire for enthusiasts to own one never disappeared.

So far there have been five distinct generations of the car have been developed. Generations one to four were developed between 1966 and 2002 (when building of the Camaro ceased), and production of the fifth generation Camaro began once more in 2009 and against strong opposition to such polluting muscle vehicles from green campaigners, the car has proved itself to once again be a big success with the North American public.

The Camaro was at times available in a hardtop coupe and a soft top convertible, the convertible was hugely popular with owners from sea bordering states who loved the thought of driving along the beach side roads with the top down, the music up and the shades on. A number of Camaro’s have appeared on screen, most recently a Camaro was the vehicle mode car for the Bumblebee character from the 2007 feature film Transformers, using both a 1976 second generation model, and later a fifth generation variation. The Camaro has a large group of fans with many folks owing every variation of the car at one time or another and even more hanging on to original 1960’s models and maintaining them in pristine condition.

The Camaro was always a favourite car for improving during the years, with many owners spending weeks and months and lots of money adding high performance additions to improve their car’s style and power. The car’s have also been very strong in racing taking many Trans-Am series titles and any number of other races and titles through its years. Many racers still use older Camaro’s even now and remain successful, winning against much more modern competition.

The Camaro is still with us today, and with its history, performance and eye catching style from the fifth model, it’s bound to be with us for many years to come.

Find out all the latest news and info on the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and other Concept Cars.