Chevrolet's “Panther” project reached showrooms in late September 1966 as a 1967 model. When a journalist asked general manager Pete Estes what a Camaro was, he answered that it was “a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs” — a line that became the car's unofficial motto.
The Z/28 was almost invisible in 1967: contemporary records are commonly summarized as 602 built, and Chevrolet did not initially advertise it as “Z/28.” Its 302 engine put the car inside SCCA Trans-Am's five-liter displacement limit.