Seven days later, production for the 2024 Chevrolet Camaro ended, and none of us were ready for it. Just last week, General Motors was believed to give its pony car a few more sunsets, with production pushed to continue until January 2024. However, the reports weren’t correct, as recent posts to the Camaro 6th Generation group on Facebook have revealed that the last 2024 Chevrolet Camaro has rolled off the assembly line. Our four-year-old prophecy has been fulfilled.
This sparks the beginning of the end of an epic muscle car era, as the Chevrolet Camaro was the first of the muscle cars to end production and do away with the beloved V8 engine under the hood. It’s unclear what’s next for the Camaro, though Chevy stated back in March that “this is not the end of Camaro’s story.” Whatever that means. Let’s look at that story as our little send-off for the beloved Chevrolet Camaro.
Image via Chevrolet## Chevrolet Camaro: Origin Story
The Camaro first entered the market as a desperate attempt by General Motors to meet the challenge presented by the epic Ford Mustang. Once the Mustang was proven a hit in August of 1964, the go-ahead was given to put together a car that would be competitive against the now iconic pony car. Within just two years, a fully developed car, the Camaro, was added to Chevrolet showrooms. To create the vehicle that would take the hearts of muscle car enthusiasts in years to come, Chevrolet started with the compact Chevy II Nova.
In September 1966, the first Camaro went on sale as a 1967 year model with a base price of $2,466 USD, and according to Car and Driver, just over 220,000 were sold that first year compared to more than 480,000 Mustangs during the same period. The base engine was a 3.8-liter straight-six rated at 140 horsepower. The car had many options and included four small-block V8s and two big blocks. However, the top choice was the 375 horsepower 6.5-liter L78 big-block. Tradition also started with the 1967 model year, as the 1967 Indianapolis 500 was paced by a Camaro convertible with a 325-hp version of the 396 big-block V8 under its hood. A tradition that would continue for decades to come.
The competition between the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang remained strong throughout the decades. Unfortunately, with decreasing sales and federal emission regulations, General Motors has decided to pull the plug on the beloved muscle car. What started to grab the hearts of people worldwide in 1967 dies today. But even so, the Chevrolet Camaro will always have a place in our hearts and, for some, in our garages. If the Camaro returns to the stage in the future, hopefully it will be with a glorious internal combustion engine under the hood, not batteries.
2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Collector’s Edition in Panther Black Matte.
