The Chevrolet Camaro first came into being in the USA during 1966. General Motors, Chevrolet’s owners, had to produce a car to give essential competition to the sector controlling Ford Mustang. The 1967 Camaro used a body and lots of large components from the Pontiac Firebird (another General Motors off-shoot), and so the speed and cost required to make the Camaro were greatly reduced.

Called a a muscle car, or ‘Pony’ car, a term that at the time referred to compact cars that were both within reach financially and had a stylish feel about their styling (a look started by the Ford Mustang in 1964), the Camaro joined an ever growing selection of cars that were struggling for an ever increasing demand. North American buyers loved the power, the styling and the great value of these cars and the multiplying sales ensured that many car builders put out their own variations out as quickly possible.

The 1970’s and 80’s were the car’s heyday, when the Camaro was wanted by millions of car enthusiasts, not only in the USA but across the globe. The balance of sports styling, performance and numerous TV shows romanticizing pony cars added to a massive demand, and the desire for people to own one never went away.

So far there have been five individual generations of the Camaro have been sold. Generations one to four were sold between 1966 and 2002 (when development of the Camaro and Firebird both ceased), and development of the fifth generation Camaro began once more in 2009 and even with opposition to such environmentally unfriendly big engined cars from green campaigners, the Camaro has proved itself to once again be a big success with the American public.

The Camaro was at times available in a hardtop and a convertible, the convertible was extremely popular with buyers from coastal states who enjoyed the thought of cruising the beach side roads with the roof down, the music up and the sunglasses on. The Camaro has a huge following with some folks having owned every version of the Camaro at one time or another and even more hanging on to 1960’s models and maintaining them in pristine condition.

The Camaro has been a very popular car for improving during the cars lifetime, with buyers spending weeks and months and money adding aftermarket additions to improve their Camaro’s looks and power. Camaro’s have been very successful in autosport winning many Trans-Am series wins and any number of other races and titles through its lifetime. Plenty of motor racing enthusiasts still use older Camaro’s even now and remain very successful, winning against much more modern cars.

The Camaro is still going strong today, and with its legendary status, performance and great looks from the latest model, the car is 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.