Bill Mitchell, the design vice president for Chevrolet, thought of a way for the Camaro keep its reputation at a high standard while changing the image of the car. Mitchell wanted it to resemble a European sports car and as a result the second generation of the Camaro looked like an expensive, sleek European sports car.
The new Camaro was released on Feb. 26, 1970. Many people were disappointed that the convertible was no longer an option, but Chevy offered an abundance of package options to please the majority of the people.
The second generation Camaros had four models: the basic style ($2,749), the split bumper Rally Sport ($3,008), the Super Sport Camaro ($3,724), and the automatic transmission Camaro Z28 ($3,878). Not only could they choose from these models, but buyers had the choice of which engine went into their pony car. From the 250-cubic-inch six cylinder engine to the 450-horsepower 454-cubic-inch LS6, there were several engines to choose from. The 1970 Camaro Z28 had the 350-cubic-inch Corvette LT1 engine under the hood.
Not only were the engines and exterior different in the second generation Camaro, but the interior had major changes as well. With a newly designed dash and bucket seats, the interior looked more elegant and more attractive than that of the previous model.
This generation and design lasted for the next 11 years, from 1970 until 1982.
There were only minor changes with the body style and interior design within these years, some of which were:
· High-backed bucket seats (1971)
· Steering wheel modifications (1971)
· Lowering of compression ratios in engines due to government regulations in order to lower emissions. Lowered horsepower in the three big engines. The Z28 now only pushed 330 horsepower as it used to give out 360 earlier. (1971)
· Another regulation was pushed to lower emissions, which brought the Super Sport’s horsepower down to 300. (1972)
· Steel bumper was removed. (1973)
During this time period the government was pushing for cars to be more environmentally friendly. Chevrolet was facing some difficulties with this, and sales decreased because certain engines had to be taken off the production line. In 1973 the Super Sport was eliminated from the option list for the Camaro and was replaced by the Luxury Touring, or LT, edition. This edition had much less horsepower and was a designed mainly for the female driver.