Cars, SUVs, Trucks

Posts Tagged ‘history’

The Chevy Camaro was introduced to the public in September of 1966 for the 1967 model year. It is reported that GM had begun preliminary production design of the Camaro as early as 1958, but the project didn’t become a priority until after the release of the first Ford Mustang in 1964 which sold nearly half a million units. It was then that GM realized it wanted a piece of the four seat sports car pie.

While in the production stage, the Camaro was code-named “Panther”, the official GM project name for the car was XP-836 and there are a few archived photos that show the name “Chaparral” badged on the final Camaro body. Ultimately, the name “Camaro” stuck and the car was released to the public as such. When asked to define what a “Camaro” was, the product managers told the press it was “a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs”.

The first generation Camaro ran from 1967 to 1969. It utilized the front-engine, rear-drive configuration which was a big improvement over GM’s former rear-engine compact sporty car, the Corvair. It was available in four different models, including a convertible, and was designed to fit any one of 6 available power plants under the hood…. a rock-solid response to the Mustang.

The second generation was not released until February of 1970. Because of the late release, the sales of some 69′s extended into early 1970 and were titled as 70′s. This created some confusion and prompted Gen 2 to begin with the 1970 1/2. Inspired by Ferrari, the second generation Camaros were bigger and heavier. All of the options that were available in the first generation series were available in the second except for the convertible model. 1977 was a banner year for the Camaro, resulting in sales that trumped the Mustang by almost 40,000 units. Although emissions regulations and power rating changes in the industry zapped much of the power out of the engines, sales stayed strong through 1979. The gas crisis in the early 80′s killed the Camaro’s sales, and 1981 saw the end of the second generation along with the hope of revival with a total re-design for 1982.

The third generation Camaro hit the market in 1982 with all new offerings from the factory such as fuel injection, four speed automatics, five speed manuals, 16 inch wheels, and a hatchback. The engines still left a lot to be desired with a low-end 2.5 liter pumping out a sad 90hp and a high-end option of a carburated 165hp V8. In 1985 they pumped some life into the line-up with the introduction of the IROC-Z. It boasted a Tuned Port Injection powerhouse that could pump out 215 horsepower. In 1987 the big engines made a comeback along with the convertible model, and by 1991 the cars were hammering out 245hp from the factory. Very little was changed in 1992 as most of GM’s effort was put towards unveiling the new fourth generation for 1993.

The gen 4 model options were cut down to just two, the 160hp, V6 sport coupe and the Z-28 which had the honor of harboring Corvette’s 275 hp, 5.7L, LT1 V8 under it’s hood. The convertible was once again deleted from the production line. The Camaro continued to receive power upgrades and eventually cleared the 300hp mark in 1996 with it’s SS model that was engineered by SLP. The first all-aluminum engine since 1969 made it’s appearance in 1998 packing a punch with 305 factory hp that could be boosted to 320 via an available ram-air induction system. Chevy’s fourth generation Camaro ran for 11 years before it exhausted itself in 2002. It was then shelved for the next eight years.

The long-awaited return of the Camaro finally came in 2010. Based largely on the pleasing aesthetics of the classic 1969 model with enough new-age technology to satisfy today’s drivers, the fifth generation Camaro was a huge success. The LS and LT versions come well-equipped with a 300hp V6, and the beast of the line-up is the SS which is packed with a 6.2 liter V8 that smacks down some serious 426hp grunt.

There’s no doubt that 2010′s return of the Camaro marks it’s best design yet. With it’s above-average power and performance and Chevy’s history of continually improving their line-up, it looks like the Camaro will be here to stay (and welcomed) for a long time to come.

Protect your one-of-a-kind Camaro with a classic car insurance policy from Leland West.

Video review of Other Planet trucks by DKLB ( www.dklongboards.com )

The history of Chrysler working all the way up to become on of the “Big Three ” Us Automakers , all began years ago in 1908 when Walter P. Chrysler started his pursuit by participating in a Chicago auto show. He was thirty three years old and was hired to work in the then dominate transport industry of the time -”the railways”. Despite his job, he favored automobiles more. When he witnessed a white colored Loco mobile, he was inclined to it and became indebted just so that he could own it. Then succeeded many months of puttering about the car and grasped later on how to drive this car.

In the succeeding four years, Chrysler retracted his enthusiasm for automobiles into a career. As a production manager for Buick, he strived hard with blood and sweat and advanced to become the president as well as the General Manager of a GM division. This was his first serious association with automobiles. After quitting his previous work in 1920, he revitalized an unsuccessful company named Willys Overland and iterated this job with another firm called Maxwell Chalmers. In 1924, he was acknowledged for his hard work in initiating his first car to the public that have had his name.

It only took three more years for Chrysler to achieve success during which time he had bought out Maxwell which was to be the stepping stone to creating the successful car manufacturing company called Chrysler. He created the Desoto and Plymouth as well as Dodge and of course Chrysler. It required just five more years before Chrysler became a complete auto manufacturer and this in fact was a major milestone in the Chrysler history timeline. He was now big enough and confident enough to take on the big two auto giants: GM and Ford.

In his futuristic design, the 1934 Airflow, it did not sell as much profit as the others did, but the company persevered throughout the Great Depression of the 1930′s – The “Dirty Thirties”. In World War II, the company was tasked in manufacturing military vehicles. The next landmark in the Chrysler history was Hemi V8 engine which was launched in 1951. Since then, Chrysler has led the way in developing new technologies from scratch and has always helped the company in being able to create high quality cars.

The next major landmark in Chrysler history was the introduction of Hemi V8 engine which took place in 1951. Since then, Chrysler has led the way in developing new technologies from scratch and this has always helped the company in being able to mass produce high quality cars. Since then the company has seen its fair share of ups and downs; there is however no denying that whatever vicissitudes the company has faced, it has always managed to produce right cars and at the right times.

Fort McMurray Dodge Grand Caravans Online