Third Generation

1982: Car of the Year and the Iron Duke

Motor Trend named the new Camaro its 1982 Car of the Year, and it paced the Indianapolis 500; 6,360 Z28 pace-car replicas were sold. The pace car used the 305 V8, carbureted or with Cross-Fire Injection, the first electronically controlled fuel injection on a Camaro.

At the other end of the range sat the 2.5-liter "Iron Duke" four at 90 hp, there to meet fuel-economy targets. Chevrolet's January 1982 US brochure lists the Sport Coupe's four-speed manual as standard and three-speed automatic as optional with this engine. MotorWeek said plainly that it would not recommend it. At roughly 2,864 lb the car carried about 32 lb per horsepower, and 0–60 times near 20 seconds were commonly reported.

The Berlinetta's Digital Dashboard

Berlinetta carried over from the second generation as the luxury model, and for 1984 it became one of the most memorable Camaros of the decade. Its "Graphic Control Center" put a digital instrument cluster in front of the driver and two swiveling control pods beside the column, an interface openly borrowed from contemporary Japanese cars. The Z28 and Sport Coupe kept conventional gauges. Recorded Berlinetta production fell from 33,400 in 1984 to 4,479 in 1986, its final year, with production discontinued early.

IROC-Z and Tuned Port Injection

For 1985 Chevrolet licensed the name of the International Race of Champions, which had raced Camaros since 1975, for a $659 package on the Z28. It became the headline car for Tuned Port Injection, first on the 5.0-liter LB9 and later on the Corvette-derived 5.7-liter L98.

From 1988 to 1990 the Z28 name was set aside and IROC-Z became the performance model in its own right. 1990 was the last year. The license was not renewed as the race series moved to the Dodge Daytona, and the plain Z28 returned with a facelift for 1991.

1987: The Convertible Returns

Chevrolet shipped cars to ASC, the American Sunroof Company, for conversion, and offered the convertible on the Sport Coupe, LT and IROC-Z. 1,007 were built in the first year, and because 1987 was the Camaro's twentieth anniversary they carried a "20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition" dash badge. Some cars were converted by ASC after delivery, so a genuine ASC convertible can carry the coupe body code in its VIN. The convertible stayed through 1992.

1LE: factory heavy-duty brakes

The third-generation Camaro's stock brakes weren't up to road racing, and 1LE was the fix, aimed at SCCA Showroom Stock and IMSA racers. A team including Ray Canale and John Heinricy (better known for his Corvette work) combined Caprice front rotors with Corvette calipers, a baffled fuel tank, a close-ratio transmission, retuned suspension and the Corvette's aluminum driveshaft. Early ordering accounts need dated context. The December 4, 1987 guide page for the 1988 IROC-Z Coupe lists G92 and related options without a separate 1LE line. The January 30, 1989 G92 listing explicitly requires C60. Later factory evidence—the June 1989 MVMA sheet and August 29 dispatch—describes model year 1990. These snapshots do not establish a complete early revision history or an exact build cutoff for the retrospective no-A/C recipe.

Chevrolet's 1990 MVMA brake sheet explicitly names Heavy Duty (Optional RPO 1LE), with 301.25-mm front rotors against the ordinary 267.0-mm discs. Retrospective accounts describe early hardtop IROC-Z orders combining G92, G80 and C41 air-conditioning delete. Their account counts about four U.S. cars in 1988, followed by larger runs; the table below preserves those reported counts.

DeAtley Racing's Camaros won 10 of 12 Trans-Am rounds in 1983, bringing Chevrolet its first manufacturers' title in 14 years. David Hobbs took the drivers' title ahead of Willy T. Ribbs; team wins, a drivers' title and a manufacturers' title describe different results. See the racing history.

B4C: The Police Camaro

B4C, introduced for 1991, was a factory package for highway patrols, sheriff's departments and government fleets. Unlike 1LE it was built on the RS hardtop and could be ordered with air conditioning, and it shared the performance hardware without matching 1LE's specification. Cars occasionally reach private owners through police auctions.

1992: The 25th Anniversary

The final third-generation year added the 25th Anniversary Heritage Edition: $175 for double hood and decklid stripes in a nod to 1969, exterior badging, a body-color grille and black headlamp pockets. Van Nuys built the last third-generation cars before production moved to Quebec for 1993; see the fourth generation.