1971 Camaro

What was new inside

The 1971 changes were mostly in the cabin. New high-back Strato-bucket seats with built-in head restraints replaced the separate headrests of 1970. A new standard steering wheel had a cushioned center, and buyers could choose a Custom wheel (RPO NK2) or a four-spoke Sport wheel (RPO NK4). Chevrolet's notes record that only 621 cars got the NK2 wheel, which could not be combined with the tilt column. Fewer than 7.5 percent of all 1971 Camaros had tilt steering at all.

A driver's seat-back adjuster (RPO AN6) was offered for the first time. It cost $19, fitted the driver's side only, and had just two positions. Twelve of the fifteen paint colors were new. A vinyl roof came in five colors, and 38,329 buyers ordered one. Evaporative emission controls became standard on every engine.

Six engines, two ratings

Chevrolet's catalog listed every engine with both its gross rating and its new SAE net figure. The standard 250 six made 145 hp gross and 110 net. The standard 307 V8 made 200 and 140. A two-barrel 350 made 245 and 165, and the four-barrel 350 included with the SS made 270 and 210. The SS could also be ordered with the 396, which had actually displaced 402 cubic inches since 1970, at 300 hp gross and 260 net. At the top was the Z28's 350, rated at 330 hp gross and 275 net.

The bigger engines brought hardware with them: heavier stabilizers, special shocks, dual exhausts and heavier clutches. The Z28 also got special F60 x 15 tires on 15 x 7 wheels. Transmissions ran from a three-speed manual through wide-ratio (M20), close-ratio (M21) and heavy-duty (M22) four-speeds to Powerglide and Turbo Hydra-Matic. Buyers overwhelmingly chose automatics, 90,987 of 114,630 cars. Only 1,721 got the close-ratio M21.

SS, Z28 and the two spoilers

The Camaro SS package cost $313.90 and found 8,377 buyers. Of those, 6,844 took the 270-hp 350 and 1,533 took the 396. The Z28 package cost $786.75 and included 3.73 Positraction, the special wheels and tires, and a rear spoiler. Its production was 4,862. Rally stripes were painted black or white depending on body color, and on Norwood cars the body plate records the Z28 and its stripe color.

There are two correct 1971 rear spoilers. The low one-piece spoiler came first. In April 1971 a taller three-piece spoiler, the one enthusiasts call the duck-tail, became available, at first under the temporary code COPO 9796. For 1972 the low spoiler was dropped and the taller one became the only choice.

Where and how they were built

A six-cylinder Sport Coupe listed at $2,921 and a V8 coupe at $3,016. Camaros came from two plants, Norwood, Ohio, and Los Angeles, and the seventh character of the serial number tells them apart: N for Norwood, L for Los Angeles. Front disc brakes were standard. The rear shocks were bias-mounted, with the curbside unit ahead of the axle and the other behind it. Springs were selected by computer from a family of rates to suit each car's equipment.