Fourth Generation

1993: A Late, All-New Start

Production moved to Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, in November 1992, and the new car went on sale in January 1993, well into the model year, which is why 1993's total was only 39,103. The Z28 launched with the LT1 5.7-liter V8 from the 1992 Corvette, rated at 275 hp and 325 lb-ft. The base car used a 3.4-liter V6 at 160 hp. A convertible followed for 1994, built on the same line, in modest numbers (see the 1994 split below).

LT1, Then LS1

Both of the generation's V8s came from the Corvette. The cast-iron LT1 ran from 1993 to 1997. The T56 six-speed manual was the Z28's standard transmission through 1997, with the 4L60 automatic an extra-cost option, and period Z28s ran 0–60 in the high five-second range.

For 1998 the all-aluminum LS1 replaced it. GM put it at 305 hp at 5,200 rpm and 335 lb-ft at 4,000, 20 hp and 10 lb-ft more than the LT1, and it rose to 310 hp and 340 lb-ft for 2001. It is widely regarded as underrated, and it is the reason late fourth-generation cars stay popular with tuners and drag racers.

The SS That Chevrolet Didn't Build

Every earlier SS had been a Chevrolet option. The fourth-generation SS was built by SLP Engineering of Troy, Michigan, Ed Hamburger's company, already known for the Firebird Firehawk. From 1996 Chevrolet supplied LT1 Z28s and SLP converted them before they reached dealers, with its own hood, wheels and suspension and, in some years, exhaust and engine work. It ended a 24-year gap in the SS name.

By 2001–02 the SS's ram-air hood and exhaust gave it 325 hp and 350 lb-ft against the Z28's 310, and SLP offered further catalog steps, including a 335 hp version and, for 2002, a 345 hp version with a Blackwing air lid. So a "2002 SS" can be any of several output levels, and the paperwork decides which.

The 30th Anniversary and the LT4 Cars

The 1997 30th Anniversary package dressed the Z28 or SS in Arctic White with Hugger Orange stripes, white wheels and a white interior with optional houndstooth inserts, a deliberate echo of the 1969 pace car. Among them SLP built 106 SS cars with the 330 hp LT4 from the 1996 Corvette Grand Sport, and they are among the most valuable fourth-generation Camaros.

1998 and the Long Goodbye

The 1998 refresh brought new front sheet metal and composite headlamps along with the LS1. From there production fell every year, to 29,009 in 2001, the lowest of the generation, as an aging platform ran out its time and GM began to signal the end of the F-body.

2002: The End of the F-Body

GM Canada's September 25, 2001 release announced that Camaro and Firebird production would cease in 2002 and that the plant would close that September. Read through The Auto Channel's reproduction, it attributes the decision to a shrinking sports-car segment, excess industry capacity and the lack of an economically viable alternative for the plant. The send-off was the 35th Anniversary package on SS coupes and convertibles: Bright Rally Red with silver stripes fading into a checkered flag.

Camaro production stopped on August 27, 2002. The last car was a red Z28 convertible, now in GM's Heritage Collection. The Sainte-Thérèse plant closed that fall and was demolished in 2004.

Fans campaigned for a revival through the mid-2000s, and a retro concept appeared at the Detroit show in January 2006; the car that followed is on the fifth-generation page.