It’s time to pour one out for one more basic muscle automobile title, you probably have any left to pour. Chevrolet has introduced that the present sixth-generation Camaro shall be retired on the finish of mannequin yr 2024.
“The ultimate sixth technology Camaros will come off the meeting line on the Lansing Grand River Meeting Plant in Michigan in January 2024,” a spokesperson tells us.
“This Is Not The Finish”
That won’t, nonetheless, be the top of the road. “Whereas we’re not asserting a right away successor right now,” we’re instructed, “relaxation assured, this isn’t the top of Camaro’s story.”
The Camaro title has been retired as soon as earlier than.
The primary-generation Camaro appeared for the 1967 mannequin yr. The automobile went by means of 4 iterations, evolving from a basic muscle automobile to a curvy sports activities automobile earlier than retiring after 2002.
Chevrolet introduced the Camaro title again for mannequin yr 2010, with an enormous bruiser modeled on the strains of the unique muscle automobile. The present mannequin dates to a redesign for 2016. It’s identified for a stellar engine lineup, starting from a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder that punches above its weight (placing out a V6-like 275 horsepower) to a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 making 650 horsepower and a noise that can redefine your priorities.
It’s additionally identified, nonetheless, for poor visibility and flagging gross sales.
Rumors of a A lot Bigger Revival
What might be the following chapter of the Camaro’s story? Final December, reviews emerged that Normal Motors was contemplating launching a whole Camaro sub-brand. Automobile and Driver reported that the model may embrace three fashions — a successor to the muscle automobile basic, a crossover with related styling, and a sports activities automobile based mostly on the Corvette platform however with extra linear Camaro styling. All three could be electrical.
Fuel-Powered Muscle Automobiles Driving Into the Sundown One by One
We’ve heard nothing else on the rumor since December. Nevertheless it’s not laborious to think about Chevrolet following Dodge’s lead into the electrical muscle automobile enterprise.
Talking of Dodge, the corporate that calls its patrons the “brotherhood of muscle” has introduced the retirement of its personal gas-powered muscle automobile. The final Challenger will roll out manufacturing unit doorways on the finish of the 2023 mannequin yr.
And what a final automobile it’s — Dodge is sending the Challenger off with a sequence of particular editions, together with one with 1,025 horsepower.
Chevrolet says a goodbye version of the Camaro is on the best way, too. “The 2024 Camaro Collector’s Version is a limited-edition bundle that pays homage to Camaro historical past, resurfacing the Panther title used throughout the growth of the primary technology of Camaro,” a spokesperson tells us.
Chevrolet dropped the Panther title earlier than manufacturing as a result of — legend has it — it was too near the Mercury Cougar title. The phrase “Camaro” had no that means Chevy was conscious of. However then-Chevrolet Normal Supervisor Pete Estes instructed the press it was the title of “a small vicious animal that eats Mustangs.”
We’ll convey particulars on the Camaro Panther mannequin when we’ve got them.
With Chevrolet and Dodge bowing out, the gas-powered muscle automobile isn’t fairly lifeless. Ford plans a seventh-generation Mustang for 2024. However that automobile, it seems, would be the final of its sort. The checklist of mainstream V8-equipped, rear-wheel-drive muscle automobiles nonetheless on the market will fall to 1 someday subsequent yr.