The Beginning of the Chevrolet Camaro
It's a common fact that GM didn't approve production of what would eventually become the Camaro until six months after the Mustang was released. It's also well-known that back in 1962, as soon as Chevrolet design chief Irvin W. Rybicki and GM design boss Bill Mitchell approached Chevrolet General Manager Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen while using the idea for a personal, four seat sports vehicle, Knudsen quickly and confidently vetoed the idea. He was sure that will Chevy's existing models, particularly the Corvair, would be more than a match for any brand-new small car from Ford. Knudsen would, incidentally, afterwards be named president involving Ford Motor Company with February 1968, temporarily stalling the ambition of a then up-and-coming vice leader named Lee Iacocca.However, when Mustang shocked that automotive world with record-breaking gross sales of 26, 000 devices on its first day and 100, 000 in the first four months, Knudsen knew he had made a mistake. Chevy quickly swallowed it's pride and green-lighted the development on the conventional front-engine, rear drive sports vehicle. Engineers and designers were given a simple mandate: Make it longer, lower, wider, faster and better than Mustang in every process.To most quickly and economically bring the new Mustang killer to market, the engineering team pulled ahead development with the 1968 Chevy II/Super Nova platform which featured a unibody structure from the windshield and firewall back. A unique feature, nevertheless, was a rubber-isolated entry sub-frame. Isolated sub-frames had been used before but only within a few European designs, especially some Mercedes-Benz models. One advantage was that it allowed a larger interior with increased luggage space. Another advantage was that it provided a smoother, quieter ride.The most important, nevertheless, is that it would accommodate a multitude of performance suspensions and electrical power plants. Other off-the-shelf mechanical components included four drum-type brakes, usual manual steering and Chevy's rugged 230 cubic inch, 140-horsepower straight six engine mated to your three-speed manual transmission.The design team that produced that Corvette, Corvair, and Nova ingested the challenge of producing Chevy's answer to the Mustang. Preliminary design drawings and mock-ups incorporated a two-seat roadster, a fastback and a station wagon. But in the long run, Chevy management insisted on the four-seat sport coupe, also available being a convertible. The final design had a protracted hood and a short-term deck, but didn't otherwise replicate Mustang's boxy doing your hair. A wide satin silver grille with inset headlights and parking lamps, a low roof, large wheel cut-outs and then a bold horizontal crease midway over the sides gave it some sort of surprisingly fluid, road-ready look. To some GM insiders, it looked remarkably like a more muscular evolution in the Corvair.Two trim packages were also created: an appearance-oriented Rally Sport in addition to a performance-oriented Super Sport. An RS/SS combination may be ordered. Automobile Blog, Automobile Website