Fifth Generation

The Road Back

A retro concept designed under Bob Boniface at GM's Warren studio was unveiled at the Detroit show in January 2006 to a strong reception. Its long hood, short deck and muscular rear haunches deliberately recalled the 1967–69 cars, especially 1969, with tighter modern surfacing. GM approved a production version that stayed close to it, and the car went on sale in April 2009 as a 2010 model.

The Transformers Effect

Bumblebee's newer form in the 2007 Transformers film looked like Chevrolet's concept, but it was a movie prop. HOT ROD's November 2006 firsthand feature describes two cars built at Saleen in Troy, Michigan, using Pontiac GTO mechanicals and fiberglass bodies supplied by GM. The dashboard shell hid GTO instruments, and some apparent metal trim and wheel details were fiberglass. These were purpose-built filming cars, distinct from both the show concept and the production Camaro that reached buyers in 2009. The film also used an older Camaro, often identified as 1977; that identity is separate from the two props styled after the concept.

Chevrolet's 2009 Transformers-edition announcement quoted marketing director Karen Rafferty describing customer requests for Bumblebee and offered a Rally Yellow LT or SS appearance package. That documents a commercial response to interest, not a measured sales effect. Chevrolet sold 61,648 Camaros in calendar 2009 and 81,299 in 2010. An earlier account claimed yellow's share rose from under five percent by about ten percentage points, but no dated color figures or analysis of cause support it. The annual totals alone do not show how many purchases the films caused.

Launch and the Convertible

The 2010 car launched as a coupe only, with a 3.6-liter direct-injected V6 at 304 hp and a 6.2-liter V8 in the SS: the 426 hp LS3 with the manual, the 400 hp L99 with the automatic.

Convertible production started on January 31, 2011, at Oshawa, Ontario. Chevrolet built 106,987 Camaros for 2011, the generation's biggest year. GM's October 19, 2010 release said all 100 planned $75,000 Neiman Marcus convertibles were claimed by telephone reservation in three minutes, with delivery expected in spring 2011. The later reported build count is 75, as the 2011 year page explains. Reservations and completed builds are different measures; the sources do not explain the gap.

ZL1 and the Modern COPO

The ZL1 name returned for 2012 for the first time since the 69 COPO cars of 1969, this time on a regular-production model with a supercharged 6.2-liter LSA at 580 hp and 556 lb-ft. It was reportedly meant to be a Z/28 until GM decided a supercharged grand tourer did not fit that name; 1,971 were built for 2012.

The same year Chevrolet Performance revived COPO as a factory-built, race-only drag car for NHRA classes, and built 69 of them to echo 1969. The program has run every year since; see the rare and significant Camaros. 2012 also brought a 45th Anniversary package in Carbon Flash Metallic, of which 8,283 were built.

1LE Returns, and a Hot Wheels Camaro

For 2013 the 1LE package returned on the SS: a close-ratio six-speed with a 3.91 axle, 285-width tires on black 20-inch wheels, a strut-tower brace, monotube rear dampers and larger stabilizer bars, aimed like the original at SCCA racers. Chevrolet billed the Hot Wheels Edition in Kinetic Blue, 1,524 cars, as the first full-size production Hot Wheels car.

Z/28: Power Isn't the Point

The 2014 Z/28 used the Corvette Z06's naturally aspirated 7.0-liter LS7 at 505 hp, with Multimatic DSSV dampers, carbon-ceramic brakes and aggressive weight reduction. It was built to be the fastest Camaro around a track, not the most powerful, and in testing it lapped several seconds faster than the 580 hp ZL1. Chevrolet built 97,632 Camaros for 2014.