Flashback Friday: What is a Camaro?

What is the origin of the Camaro name?

The Chevy Camaro, from its very first incarnation in 1966 to the soon-to-arrive and better than ever 2016 model, has been the ideal pony car – a stylish and compact coupe (or convertible) with an eye to sporty performance in an affordable package. But what is the origin of the Camaro name?

People don’t know exactly where the Camaro name came from. When the plans to create the Chevy Camaro as an opponent to the Ford Mustang were first announced at a General Motors press conference, GM leaders said that the name started with a “C” to fall in line with other sporty Chevy vehicles at that time like the versatile Corvair and the Corvette sports car.

When asked what the name meant, Chevrolet representatives told reporters at the press conference that a Camaro was a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs.

Pictured: Various  1967 and 1969 model year Chevy Camaros.

Later explanations for the name included a French meaning related to companionship, friendship and reliability, all virtues that the Camaro was intended to convey. While no such word like “camaro” exists in any French dictionary we could find, the Camaro certainly has stood by those ideals through six generations of automotive excellence.

While the horsepower output of the Chevy Camaro took a sharp dip (along with most of the rest of the automotive world) when more stringent fuel economy and emissions standards were implemented in the ’70s, performance on this great vehicle has been steadily climbing since. Today, car enthusiasts everywhere are able to get the speed and endurance that they are looking for in the iconic, well-equipped, and extremely fun to drive Camaro pony car.

Want to be a part of the movement? Schedule your test drive today and see what kind of speed and automotive excellent are available with the modern Camaro.

Pictured: A chart showing Chevy Camaro horsepower through the years and a yellow 2016 Chevy Camaro.