The inauspicious roots of the Chevy Camaro, among the venerated muscle cars of the 1960's, might seem surprising to a lot of people. The Camaro began as not much more than a patchwork of run-of-the-mill Chevy II cars.
Product development and design decisions pointed in one direction. The Chevy 'Mustang fighter' was to be a close cousin of the Chevy II car model line. Curiously enough, the Chevy II was not initially a big-seller when compared with Ford Mustang's new sibling, the Falcon. Nonetheless, following a major revamping and retooling in '68, this began to change.
The Camaro model's design and debut wasn't the brainchild of one person. It was a sort of glimpse into a future where development is shared across the board. The downside of this situation was that the earliest model launched as the Camaro bore the flaws of design by committee. Too many minds had been at work causing a limitation in styling. This was because of the car's inception as a model that borrowed parts from different Chevy and GM models. What resulted eventually from the work of the Camaro design team was the first generation 'F' automobile.
GM's design focus in the middle of the 1960s was eventually referred to as fluidity - sleek lines that had flow. Still, many engineering innovations and style choices distinguished Camaro. Initially, a crucial design determination was arrived at right off the bat. A front sub-frame would be employed along with the 'unit' engineering of the Camaro model. In the end this concept was considered good enough to use on the '69 Chevy Nova as well. Employing this layout was a relatively novel conception. The sub-frame was separated from the auto body by rubber components that were eventually referred to as 'biscuits' by Chevy's design team. This method had been fine-tuned on more expensive European uni-body vehicles. Among them was an array of Mercedes-Benz editions and the bigger GM European Opals. But the Camaro was the earliest implementation of this design for an affordable American automobile.
What was the significance of this innovation to the automobile? Initially, it can be noted that the compromise was quite successful. Unit design methods permitted for additional passenger and cargo room, in comparison to auto bodies constructed for a separate chassis. The rubber mounts, comparatively innovative for their time, resulted in a far stabler, more noiseless ride than vehicles with sub-frames mounted right on the main frame. An instance of this kind of design and automobile manufacturing method was the early 1960s Chrysler models.
An additional fascinating engineering feat utilized in the Camaro project was the use of what GM termed 'cocktail shakers'. These shock absorbers working in harmony were situated at both ends of Chevy topless models. Their function was to regulate torsional vibration. GM automobile testers had discovered and diagnosed this condition in the initial prototypes of operating models.
Although the majority of the model creation for Camaro was effective, there were a few bumps in the road that were unavoidable. This was due to the need to utilize off-the-shelf components designed and intended for different GM car components. Primary among these was the selection of the mono-leaf, rear suspension, derived from the Chevy II and Olds Toronado models. This caused the problem of quite a bit of "axle tramp" during hard acceleration with the powerful V-8 engines.
In addition to these concerns was the marketing team's insistence on more minimally sized 14" wheels in order to 'lower the car'. The final result of this decision was just what you would expect. When Camaro owners went on vacation they experienced a great deal of "rear-end bottoming under heavy loads"!
Yet for a model that at its inception was merely a patchwork 'volume family car', the Chevy II still held promise. The Camaro furnished a sound, effectively conceptualized and engineered platform, from which to launch the model. The original 60's muscle car still lives in the hearts and minds of countless car enthusiasts and those who love to drive.
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