The modern Camaro shares its “Alpha” platform with Cadillac’s top sports sedans, including GM’s innovative magnetic suspensions, a technology now adopted by Ferrari, Audi and others. For the best Camaros and Shelby Mustangs, the old term “muscle car” barely applies: these are four-seat sports cars that can match or beat any big-name European rival, even the curves
The rise of electric vehicles
- Lithium prices: A drop in the price of essential battery material, along with other commodities, makes electric cars more affordable. But experts disagree on how long that will last.
- Volkswagen: The German carmaker said it would spend $193 billion on software, battery factories and other investments as it aims to make one in five vehicles it sells electric by 2025.
- Volume up: Electric vehicles are usually a more climate-friendly option. But as they get older, their emissions savings and other environmental and safety benefits begin to diminish.
- Tesla: The company will open some of its fast chargers, which had been exclusive to its customers, to all electric vehicles by the end of next year, the Biden administration said.
In 2017, the Camaro ZL1 1LE killed more giants. The 650-horsepower showroom Camaro lapped Germany’s benchmark 12.9-mile Nürburgring in 7 minutes and 16 seconds. That beat several supercars costing three or four times its $69,995 price tag, including a Ferrari 488 GTB. In 2021, Elon Musk sent his top-of-the-line 1,020-horsepower Tesla Model S Plaid to the ‘ring and tweeted an unverified lap time: 14 seconds slower than the humble Chevy, an eternity on the track, despite the Tesla’s huge advantage in electric power.
The Camaro name is not destined for the junkyard, with GM executives generally hinting that it will return. But with the automaker promising to phase out internal combustion models by 2035, analysts say, any reconstituted Camaro will almost certainly be an EV or hybrid.
Mr. Alterman believes automakers can find a small but significant niche for distinctive, high-personality cars. “Everything else is a potato-shaped minivan substitute or a pick-up truck,” he said.
If the Mustang was a playful ray of sunshine, the 1967 Camaro had a mean streak, especially in the sprung V-8 editions. Pressed on the origin of the Camaro name, Pete Estes, Chevy’s CEO at the time, said it meant “a vicious animal that eats Mustangs.” A media blitz included a traveling play (“Camaro!”) and a women’s clothing line.
