General Motors introduced the Chevy Camaro in 1966 to compete with the likes of the Ford Mustang. The origin of the name is nebulous. It may have simply been another C-word in a line of them (Corvette, Corvair, Chevelle) but one GM executive defined it as “a small, vicious animal that eats mustangs.”
The name wasn’t the only unusual aspect of the car’s marketing. General Motors produced a musical called Camaro performed by four troupes in 25 cities. It starred two Camaros, a coupe and a convertible, along with a chorus, dancers and an orchestra.
Cold Spring resident Phil D’Amato has a thing for Camaros. His first car was a 1967 hardtop that he bought in Chicago in 1974 and later sold. “I loved that coupe, but I had always wanted a convertible,” he said. He bought his 1967 convertible in 1978 for $1,425 (about $7,000 today). He also owns a 1968 convertible and bought and sold a 1969 coupe.
The ’67 Camaro was available with engine sizes from a 230-cubic-inch six cylinder to a 396-cubic-inch V8. D’Amato’s 327-cubic-inch V8 was a $93 option when the car was built.
D’Amato likes the car’s size and that it gets 20 miles to the gallon. The odometer reads around 130,000 miles, which he believes is accurate.
“It’s a real cruiser,” he said. “As old as it is, it keeps up with everybody on the highway,” although he hasn’t taken it over 80 mph.
He loves driving with the top down but admits that isn’t ideal when temperatures soar into the 90s; the car has no air conditioning.
The Specs
Model: Rally Sport
Assembly: Norwood, Ohio; Van Nuys, California
Class: Pony, muscle car
Body: 2-door, convertible or hardtop
Total production: 220,906
V8 convertible: 19,856
Engine: 327 cubic-inch V8 (plus seven others)
Horsepower: 210
Transmission: 2-speed, power glide automatic; 3-speed automatic; 3- and 4-speed manual
Fuel economy: 20 mpg highway
Price: $3,100 ($29,218 today)
What it does have is distinctive hideaway headlights and a deluxe interior with molded door panels and swivel vent windows not available in ’68 models. Camaros typically had a console shifter, not a two-speed automatic on the column. Three and four-speed manual transmissions were available, as well as a three-speed automatic.
The interior includes bucket seats, lap belts, crank windows, a cigarette lighter and a reproduction AM-FM radio.
D’Amato added an electric ignition and, in the late 1990s, replaced the floorboards. He had the car repainted in the original Granada Gold, one of 15 colors Camaro offered in 1966, embellished with a black bumblebee stripe and pinstripes. His convertible features rally wheels, rally caps and reproduction Coker redline tires.
He has not taken the Camaro to car shows. “That’s not something I’m interested in,” he said. “What I enjoyed when my kids were growing up was putting them in the back seat with a blanket and going for ice cream!”
