David C. Atkin asked: Since I have never done an article on first generation camaro engine specs, I’ll cover what the specs are on the SS Camaro; Z/28 Camaro; RS Camaro; RS/SS Camaro; Yenko Camaro; ZL1 Camaro; Baldwin Motion Camaro, and last but not lease the Berger Camaro.
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This is something that I have never seen done in an article, who knows maybe I’ll be the first one to attempt such an undertaking, there is a lot of information to cover here, so I’ll dive in head first, first off we’ll tackle the SS Camaro, and we’ll run it down by year.
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In 1967 the SS Camaro had a few different engine options that were available, and we’ll cover those options, and the rear end gearing options that were available with those engine options, first and most common was the RPO L48 350 V8 with 295 HP, at a cost of $211.00.
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The gearing options that were available we’re available for pretty much every engine option, and they were as follows, 2.73:1, 3.07:1, 3.31:1, 3.55:1, 3.73:1, 4.10:1, and 4.56:1, although the most common gear set used was the 3.71:1, and it was a good all around gear set, not to low, or to high.
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The SS 350 tested at 0-60 MPH in 7.8 seconds according to Car and Driver magazine, with a 16.1 second 1/4 mile trap time, while Motor Trend tested the SS 350 at an 8 second 0-60, with e 15.4 second 1/4 mile elapsed time.
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On November, 26 of 1966 Chevrolet released two new big block engine options, the first was the RPO L34 396 CID priced at $225.00 with the SS package it produced 325 HP, with the RPO L78 396 CID, priced at $550 including the SS package produced 375 HP.
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Motor Trend tested an L35 version of the SS 396, with a four speed gear box at 6 seconds from 0-60, and a 14.5 1/4 mile elapsed time at 95 MPH, while Car Life magazine tested a similar version with a powerglide automatic transmission, and got a 6.8 0-60 time, with a 15.1 second 1/4 mile time.
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Then of course we had the COPO L72 427 powered camaros, which were the king of the mountain, un till dealers like Yenko Chevrolet got to them, the L72 Camaro was capable of a 13.5 second 1/4 mile time from the factory, which was impressive.
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The L72 engine had begun it’s life in the Corvette, and then was transplanted into the camaro, when the specialty dealers got their hands on the car, they were able to push the L72 Camaro down to a 12.7 1/4 mile elapsed time, and it was an awesome feat for that time.
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Then came the Z/28 camaro in 1967, which only a modest 609 were ever built, the Z/28 had another purpose though, it was meant to race on the SCCA circuit, which meant that the engine size could not exceed 305 cubic inches.
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Enter the 302 cubic inch Z/28 engine, this engine was never used in any other car form the factory, it was a designated engine for the Z/28 camaro, it was rated at 290 HP, but actually closer to 420 HP, it dominated the SCCA road race circuit.
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The 1967 Z/28 camaro had a 0-60 time in the range of 6.7 seconds, and a 1/4 mile time of 14.9 seconds at 67 MPH, it claimed a top speed of 124 MPH, impressive numbers for the third from the smallest V8 that Chevrolet ever built. The gear sets we’re the same as above, and you had a choice of a standard transmission, or an automatic, the Z/28 camaro was more about handling then 1/4 mile times, pulling a .96 G rating on the skid pad, most cars today don’t do better then that.
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There was also an SS/RS version of the 1967 camaro, which basically took an SS camaro, and added the hideaway headlights from the RS model, not a huge upgrade, but a really cool one, it just made the camaro look more intimidating then it already did.
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Now let’s move on to the year 1968, there were a few changes in that year, one of the most notable changes was the appearance of the car, Chevrolet decided to add some graphics known as hockey stripes, because the looked like hockey sticks on each side of the car.
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The hockey stripes also wrapped up over the nose of the car, and were only available on the SS models of the camaro, they were obviously designed to catch the eye of the buyer of the car, and make it look faster to the eye, and it did both things.
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In 1968 the SS camaro came with two engine options from the factory, and they were either a 350 CID engine in a few different configurations, or a 396 big block is a few different configurations, either way the 1968 camaro meant business.
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There were obviously the dealers that did the custom engine packager, under he COPO, or central office production order, these dealers shoehorned in a 427 big block, which turned out to be the king of the hill during this year also.
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Those dealers were Yenko Chevrolet, Berger Chevrolet, Baldwin Chevrolet, and a few others, these dealers made the camaro do things that it still hasn’t repeated to this day, those cars were true street warriors, cars that we’ll never see again.
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For this article I will talk about the 1968 Yenko camaro COPO 9561, which in my opinion was the best idea out of all of them, Yenko installed a 427 CID V8 engine, Don Yenko visited Chevrolet to ask them to install a factory 427 under the COPO idea since his mechanics couldn’t keep up with the orders.
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The sYc, or Super Yenko Camaro came with a factory 140 MPH speedometer installed, they also had the Z/28 suspension installed in them, making them a bit more nimble then the average big block camaro, not to mention the extra HP they had.
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The engine was rated at 425 HP, but closer to 600 HP, the Yenko camaro do snot have it’s heyday until 1969, when it broke a huge number of track records, and continued to do so a through the 1969 year, but would have it’s best year in 1969.
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We of course had the Z/28 camaro in 1968 also, and it’s claim to fame remained the same, dominating the SCCA road race tracks, the one big change for the Z/28 in 1968 was the addition of a four bolt main engine block in late 1968.
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There was also an option available on the 1967, 68, and 69 camaro known as the cross-ram manifold, this added an extra four barrel carburettor to the mix, and set them under the hood, and across from each other, which added some mid range, and high end power.
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These were two 590 CFM Holley four barrel bubble pumper carburettors, and this is a very rare option that makes the cars that have them worth in the $100,000 range, it’s very rare, and extremely hard to fain on a car.
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The SS 396 camaro boasted the same power numbers as the previous year did, with the addition of the L89 option which added aluminium heads to the 375 HP 396 engine, which didn’t add any HP, but the car dropped about 75 pounds in weight.
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In 1969 the COPO would add a special camaro, known only as the ZL1, this engine was rated at 425 HP, but was an all aluminium engine, therefore making it weigh about the same as a small block engine, giving it a huge advantage, this car was known as the COPO 9560 camaro.
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In 1969 Fred Gibb Chevrolet would order a 1969 ZL1 camaro to race, and promote his dealership, he would recruit tricky Dick Harrell to drive the car, who would make it do things that no other car would ever do again in factory clothing.
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Dick Harrell would push the car to regular 10.40 second 1/4 mile time, and would set a track record of 10.06 at 139 MPH in his ZL1 camaro, making this one of the quickest factory cars ever built, it mad the race team of Fred Gibb, and Dick Harrell one of the most famous of all times.
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A step below the Zl1 camaro would come the Super Yenko Camaro, which could hold it’s own with almost any car, the sYc, or Super Yenko Camaro, cam with a factory installed COPO 9561 option, which was an L72 427 CID rated at 425 HP.
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Available with only 4.10:1 gear sets in the rear end, it was a bit less setreet friendly, but it was manageable on the street, you also had the option of an automatic, or a standard transmission, depending on how you ordered the car.
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The available transmissions were M21, or M22 four speed gearboxes, or the turbohydromatic automatic transmission, depending on your order, because this was a step below the ZL1 camaro, you should not think any less of it.
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The engines were exactly the same, except that the ZL1 was an all aluminium engine, and the L72 was a cast iron engine, the major difference was the weight of the engines, neither of them were wimpy engines, they were both heart attack makers.
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In 1969 the body of the camaro was re-designed, which made it the best selling camaro of all times, Chevrolet needed an idea to make them sell more, and they had the right idea with the 1969 re-design of the camaro body.
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The sYc camaro was clocked at 11.45 in the 1/4 mile, which meant that it could stand with any car on the strip at that time, minus the ZL1 camaro, but the Yenko camaro was a wonderful car, that likes of which were never built again.
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