Al Oppenheiser
Modern Camaro chief engineer, “Mr. Camaro”
Al Oppenheiser was Camaro chief engineer from roughly 2007 to 2018. He oversaw the fifth-generation revival and the sixth-generation Alpha car, including the ZL1, 1LE and Z/28 programs, and the Camaro led its segment in sales every year from 2010 through 2014 on his watch.
In December 2018 GM reassigned him to lead its new EV engineering group, and he retired from GM in April 2026 after 42 years.
One account puts Oppenheiser's involvement with the Camaro back to 2005. The cars he oversaw are covered in the fifth generation and the sixth generation, and the enthusiast press came to call him "Mr. Camaro."
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He was one of several people who brought the car back. Bob Boniface led design of the 2006 concept at GM's Warren advanced studio. Tom Peters (chief designer of the C6 and C7 Corvettes, and design director of GM's performance division until 2019) contributed significantly to the revival design. And by Peters' own account, design vice president Ed Welburn told a European GM meeting not long after the 2002 cancellation that it was time to bring the Camaro back, so the push came from inside GM as well as from fans.
John Heinricy, co-developer of the original 1988 1LE and a Corvette engineer and SCCA champion, was among the GM performance executives who argued for building the sixth-generation Camaro on the Cadillac ATS's Alpha platform before he retired in 2008.
Did you know
- On his first day, Oppenheiser told Lloyd Reuss, later GM's president, that he wanted to be chief engineer of the Camaro or the Corvette, and in his job interview he got to drive a prototype LT5 ZR-1. He got the Camaro.
- Before the Camaro he led vehicle teams on the Geo Metro, the Geo Storm, the first Colorado and Canyon pickups, and the Pontiac G8.
- When the 2012 ZL1 lapped the Nurburgring in 7:41.27, Oppenheiser said breaking an eight-minute lap in a 2+2 production car was "a tremendous accomplishment." The car was 40 seconds faster than an SS and 18 seconds quicker than the Cadillac CTS-V.
- Six years later, the 2018 Camaro ZL1 1LE lapped the Nurburgring in 7:16.04 on June 22, 2017, 13.56 seconds quicker than the 10-speed ZL1 and ahead of the 2012 Corvette ZR1's 7:19.63. Oppenheiser said the car "challenges supercars from around the world."
- As chief engineer of the 2014 Z/28, he described a naturally aspirated Camaro built around a hand-assembled LS7 (Wixom Performance Build Center), carbon-ceramic brakes, Multimatic four-way adjustable dampers and a target of shedding more than 100 pounds from an SS. The team said it had already beaten that goal.
- He announced his retirement, effective immediately, in a LinkedIn post on April 15, 2026. His electric-vehicle work at GM had included the Hummer EV (15,788 units in 2025) and Escalade IQ.
Sources for these details
- CorvetteBlogger - Odd Timing: Camaro Chief Engineer Suddenly Retires from GM after 42 Years (2026-04-15) Period reporting
- CorvetteBlogger - 2012 Camaro ZL1 runs the Nurburgring in 7:41.27 (2011-10-06) Period reporting
- CorvetteBlogger - Camaro ZL1 1LE rocks Nurburgring 7:16.04 (2017-06-22) Period reporting
- Chevy Hardcore - Five Questions: Al Oppenheiser Gives Us the Scoop On The New Z/28 (2013-04-10) Period reporting
Key beats
- Led the 2010 revival and the sixth-gen car
- ZL1, 1LE and Z/28 programs
- Reassigned to EV engineering (2018); retired 2026