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Originally Posted by Camaro68396
I agree, No G6 Camaro will look as good as the G1, G2, and G5 Camaros. I do hope the G6 Camaro will be inspired by the 2nd Generation Camaros.
Why doesn't GM (or Chevrolet) just make the Camaro like it used to be made. Stylish body (retro looking), big engine, and LOTS OF HORSEPOWER!! Heck, the 1969 ZL1 COPOs did the 1/4 mile in 11 seconds. Thats freckin fast, even in todays standards and that was with a naturally aspirated big block 427. Lots of old engines could be brought back and put in the newer Camaros of course with a little tuning here and there. 350s, 396s, 402s, 302s (Ford already beat Chevy to this one), 454s, 427s, etc.
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The ZL1 did not do 11s showroom stock. They did it in about 13 flat, which is still fast -especially for back in the day, don't get me wrong. But they weren't nearly as monstrous from the factory as the legend would have you believe. The 'under rated' ZL1 427 didn't make 500+ hp. Many of the stories of 'massively under rated' engines are based on running an engine without any accessories to rob power, without a full exhaust (though probably with headers), and without an air filter. Possibly done on a cold January morning in Detroit. Do all that, and I'm sure you could get 500+ out of a period 427. Of course, thats not how the engines run as delivered by the factory. And it was considered allowable because all those other things are just holding the engine back, robbing it of power, hiding what it
really makes. I think someone tested an aluminum ZL1 engine in the early 1970s with the original SAE net test and it came to about 375 hp, which would be fairly close to what it would make today if tested under current procedures. And when you figure the cars weighed about 3300 lbs, but had rather poor tires it makes a lot of sense that they'd run about the same as a modern Camaro SS does.
The very fast times that you see classic muscle cars (such as the original ZL1) make, while being claimed as 'stock' would be classified by most people today as being run with 'full bolt-ons'. Change out the factory rubber, give it a set of headers (and muffler delete), of course you tune it. Again, its all about removing restrictions to 'let the car do what it can'. As long as there weren't any major modifications going on it was fine.