1978 Camaro

Five Camaros to choose from

Rally Sport stopped being an option and became two models of its own: a Rally Sport Coupe and a Type LT Rally Sport Coupe. With the Sport Coupe, the Type LT and the Z28, that made five Camaros. It also meant a Rally Sport and a Z28 could no longer be combined on one car.

By May 1978 the list prices, before destination, were $4,445 for the Sport Coupe, $4,823 for the Rally Sport, $4,855 for the Type LT, $5,106 for the LT Rally Sport and $5,700 for the Z28. The options table shows the suggested retail prices from the same May 1 schedule, which add a $13.25 factory charge for the tire weight tax ($13.85 on the Z28), so the Sport Coupe reads $4,458.25 and the Z28 $5,713.85. Chevrolet built 134,491 Sport Coupes, 11,902 Rally Sports, 65,635 Type LTs, 5,696 LT Rally Sports and 54,907 Z28s.

What made a Z28

The Z28 came with the four-barrel 350 (RPO LM1), rated at 185 hp, or 175 hp in California. It also had a four-speed with an Inland shifter, power brakes, sport suspension, a high-performance dual exhaust and body-color 15 x 7 wheels on GR70-15 white-letter tires. Outside, the grille, bezels, rear panel and rocker area were blacked out. The bumpers were body color, and the car wore a hood scoop, front-fender louvers, front and rear spoilers and its own stripes and decals. Inside it had full instrumentation and a thicker-rimmed steering wheel with a Z28 hub.

An automatic added only $56 on a Z28. A Custom Interior brought Type LT seats and trim to the Z28 for $294 in vinyl or $315 in cloth. Z28 buyers chose from ten body colors.

Under the skin, and a glass roof

Chevrolet listed a series of engineering improvements for 1978. The six-cylinder cars got a better-isolated exhaust. There were added front frame reinforcements and redesigned rear spring shackles for stability. A nylon brake pressure switch replaced the old steel one so it would not corrode, and a charcoal filter protected the power brake booster from fuel fumes. Every V8 got a lower, more economical rear axle ratio. Manual transmissions were not sold in California.

The engines were the 110-hp 250 six (90 hp in California), the 145-hp 305 (135 hp) and the 170-hp 350 (160 hp), with the Z28's own 185-hp tune above them.

Two million, and what buyers ordered

Chevrolet built the two-millionth Camaro at the Van Nuys plant in Los Angeles on May 11, 1978. Most buyers equipped their cars generously. Of the year's cars, 239,559 had an automatic, 194,584 had air conditioning and 233,115 had tinted glass. Another 123,794 had the $270 aluminum wheels ($197 on a Z28), which were offered in colors keyed to the paint.

Interior trim and the separate Big Four module

Chevrolet's October 1977 interior chart lists seat-trim combinations separately from the Big Four module: the instrument panel, carpet, cowl kick panels and package shelf. A white standard vinyl interior is 11R, but it can be paired with black 19X, saffron 67X, carmine 74X, blue 24X or green 44X modules. The chart's example 11R + 19X means white seats with a black module. These module codes are not exterior paint codes.

Both chart rows use A51 bucket seats. The standard row is for 1FQ87; the Type LT row is for 1FS87. The footnote also allows the Type LT interior as RPO ZJ1 on a 1FQ87 when Z28 is specified. That is an ordering condition, not a claim that every Z28 had the custom interior. The table retains this October chart's three-character trim-combination codes. The dealer guide revised January 20, 1978 uses a different four-character ordering-code format and additional seat categories; no automatic crosswalk or complete model-year availability is inferred here.

In the October chart's material key, B denotes Bayonne sport cloth (816 WC), C Edinburgh sport cloth (739 WC), and D Winfield woven cloth (614 WC), each with Winfield bolsters. R denotes Oxen vinyl with Oxen bolsters; N denotes Rattan vinyl with Wallaby bolsters. The white entries keep the same seat-trim code across their five listed module colors.