Generation 2 · F-body · 1970–1981
Second Generation
Twelve years on one body — through the fuel crises, and out the other side a sales record.
An unusually long twelve-model-year run on one basic body, longer and lower with European-influenced styling. It absorbed the full brunt of 1970s America: the fuel crises, unleaded gas and catalytic converters, the SAE gross-to-net rating switch, 5-mph bumper laws, and a UAW strike that nearly killed the model in 1972.
No convertible was offered this generation. The decade closed with 1979 — the best-selling model year in the nameplate's history.
Highlights
- 1970½ late launch (Fisher Body tooling, not a strike)
- 1972 near-cancellation and the last factory big block
- Z28 dropped 1975–76, brought back 1977 by Firebird pressure — first year Camaro outsold Mustang
- Split-bumper RS (1970–73)
- 1979: record 282,571 built; Berlinetta debuts
Model years
1970 · 1970½ — a new car under a continuing name
An all-new body, four to five months late — the longest single body run in the nameplate's history begins.
1971 · Compression falls for unleaded
Compression drops across the range to prepare for the coming unleaded-fuel mandate.
1972 · The darkest hour
A 174-day strike, the lowest production in 24 years, and the last factory big block.
1973
SS gone, Type LT arrives — the last of the pre-big-bumper cars.
1974 · The big-bumper year
Federal 5-mph bumper law reshapes the Camaro's face — the split bumper is gone.
1975 · Catalytic converters arrive; the Z28 is gone
Unleaded fuel and catalytic converters become mandatory — and the high-compression Z28 can't survive them.
1976 · Still no Z28, while Pontiac cleans up
Camaro sells strongly, but has no answer to Pontiac's Trans Am — the pressure that brings the Z28 back.
1977 · The comeback
The Z28 returns mid-year — pushed by the Firebird — and Camaro outsells Mustang for the first time.
1978 · T-tops arrive; Type LT bows out on top
T-tops offered on a Camaro for the first time, and the plush Type LT outsells the Z28 in its final year.
1979 · The record year
282,571 built — the best-selling Camaro model year ever — and the Berlinetta debuts.
1980
The second generation winds down as the fuel-economy era bites.
1981 · The last of the long generation
The twelfth and final year of the second generation, before the all-new 1982 F-body.
These are the pivotal years with their own record. Every model year of the generation is covered on this page.