The Chevrolet Camaro is one of the poster boys of American muscle car heritage, alongside its rivals like the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger. The Camaro offers the most badass muscle car experience for its price point, thanks to its sensational track-oriented handling and straight-line performance.
The Camaro’s distinctively aggressive styling is a classic American trait that has helped it build a cult following over the years. The Camaro has had a total of six generations over the years, but only the first three generations fall under the category of ‘Classic Camaro’. Fans of vintage Camaros will certainly consider the below rankings for their reference.
- 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
- 1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS
- 1973 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 RS
- 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
- 1977 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
- 1984 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z
- 1970 Chevrolet Camaro SS
- 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396
- 1969 Chevrolet COPO Camaro
- 1969 Yenko Super Camaro
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10. 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
The 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 is the most badass and sportiest version of the 2nd-gen Camaro. Its loud 70s graphics, low hood-line, and trunk lip gave the Camaro a muscular appearance that appealed to its fans.
This also made the 1979 Camaro the best-selling model in its history. Despite its badass appearance, the 1979 Camaro Z/28 only boasted modest performance with its 175-horsepower 350 V8, which was coupled to a 4-speed manual transmission. With this powertrain equipped, the Camaro propelled to 0-60 MPH in 8.6 seconds. In the aesthetic department, this is one of the top Camaro models produced.
9. 1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS
The 1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS brought the perks of V-8 power to the common man at a much more affordable price, compared to the pricey SS, Z28, ZL1, and COPO performance variants. With its 5.0-liter V-8, the Camaro RS pumped out 195 hp and posted a respectable 0-60 MPH of 8.7 seconds. Compared to the other base-model muscle cars in the ’90s, the Camaro RS was a pretty solid pick in terms of power and affordability.
8. 1973 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 RS
The 1973 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 RS was the perfect representation of a muscle car in the 70s, with its trunk lip, wide grille, and flared-out arches. Under the car’s beautiful silhouette, a 325-horsepower small-block Chevy V8 powered the muscle car to a 0-60 MPH time of just 6.5 seconds. The 1973 Camaro even inspired the making of the quirky F-Bomb Camaro, which was a drool-worthy car in its own right.
7. 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
The year 1982 marked the beginning of Camaro’s 3rd generation. This was a major turning point in Chevy’s history, as new fuel injection technologies and better-tuned engines were brought to the table.
The 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 brought a refreshing design that would last for the entirety of the 1980s. Under the hood, a 165-horsepower V8 paired with a 4-speed manual served as the 1982 Camaro’s powertrain, helping it to achieve a 060 MPH run of 8.3 seconds. The 1982 Camaro dominated the Trans-Am series, emerging as the winner on 4 occasions.
6. 1977 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
The 1977 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 is a popular car in cinematic history, especially because of the Transformers franchise. Yes, you are looking right at the well-loved Bumblebee, who featured a 1977 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 with a custom yellow and black paint job in the movie. The 1977 model had identical performance to its 1979 sibling, equipped with the same 175-hp small-block V-8 engine. The 1977 Camaro Z28 had a 0-60 MPH run of 8.7 seconds.
5. 1984 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z
The 1984 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z was the coolest Camaro of the 80s, thanks to its sporty styling cues and sporty handling. With a 245-horsepower 5.7L V8 under its hood, the Camaro IROC-Z sped to 60 MPH in just 6.1 seconds. The Camaro IROC-Z boasted the juiciest styling elements of its time, like five-spoke wheels, T-tops, and a trunk lid spoiler.
4. 1970 Chevrolet Camaro SS
The 1970 Chevrolet Camaro SS was the star-boy of the second-generation Camaro lineup. The second-generation Camaro brought better handling, sporty styling, and bigger V8 engines to the equation. This Camaro was also a great candidate for resto mods, thanks to its large engine bay and sharing of several common parts with other GM siblings. Even in its stock variant, the 396-cubic-inch V8 pumped out a juicy 375 hp, which propelled the Camaro SS to 60 MPH in just 5.5 seconds.
3. 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396
The 1967 Chevrolet Camaro was Chevy’s answer to counter the dominance of the first-generation Mustang. The Ford was already the best-selling Mustang at the time; hence, Chevy re-tuned the Camaro’s suspension and handling.
The 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396 had a big-block V8 generating 375 horsepower. With this monstrous engine, the Camaro hit the 0-60 MPH run in 5.4 seconds. With its hideaway headlights and coke-bottling styling, the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396 is a force to be reckoned with, even for modern muscle cars.
2. 1969 Chevrolet COPO Camaro
The 1969 Chevrolet COPO Camaro is the poster boy of drag racing, thanks to its bare-bones interior and simple styling. A massive 427 V8 under the hood pumps out a robust 425 horsepower, which rockets the COPO Camaro to 0-60 MPH in just 5.4 seconds. With its badass racing elements, the COPO Camaro breathes fire down the neck of its fiercest rival, the 1969 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
1. 1969 Yenko Super Camaro
Don Yenko was the most popular Chevy driver for all of their races at the time, just like Ford’s Carroll Shelby. Yenko worked on many Chevrolet cars in his dealership in Pennsylvania, where he tuned and modified the cars. He worked on Chevy cars like the Nova and Corvair, but his most eye-catching work was definitely the Yenko Super Camaro.
This was essentially a custom COPO Camaro, which boasted a 427 V8 under its hood with 450 horsepower. The Yenko Super Camaro blitzed past the 0-60 MPH run in 5.4 seconds and blazed past the quarter mile in 11.2 seconds. When the Yenko Camaro arrives with its custom paint job at any race, you can expect things to get really spicy.
