We’ll admit we were excited when we saw a flurry of headlines recently suggesting Chevy’s departed muscle car might return in a couple of years.
Then we read further and our excitement dimmed somewhat. In short, if the Camaro returns, there’s a chance it won’t be the one you remember. The last Camaro, pictured here, known as the Gen Six, was a rear-wheel drive, V8-powered performance monster. Anyone remember the 650-horsepower ZL1 1LE, which Chevy sent to the Nürburgring to set new lap records? We do.
But that was a long time ago. June 2017, to be precise. Roughly two years later GM killed development for a direct Gen Six successor, relegating the Camaro to lame duck status. Its production quietly ended in late 2023. Since then, it’s been mostly quiet on the Camaro front. A few years ago, there was some online chatter about the car returning as an EV, but that talk died quickly and hasn’t returned.
In fact, there’s been no Camaro news. Until now.
The latest report, sourced from Automotive News, has received wide pick-up. According to AN, the Camaro would return for the 2028 model year, and is tied to two other new GM products, a new Cadillac CT5, and a new Buick sedan. All three cars will be built on a shared platform and assembled at GM’s Lansing, Michigan plant. The unnamed Buick is intriguing since the brand has sold nothing but SUVs in North America since the Regal sedan went out of production in 2020.
As for the new cars, they would likely share components, including powertrains. Various reports suggest the platform will be GM’s Alpha 2 with a rear-wheel drive configuration. A V8 engine for high-performance models is possible, but multiple engines appear likely based on reports we’ve seen. These cars also appear to be ICE only, with no electrification planned.
If these plans are true, then why are we feeling less than totally enthused?
Well, for starters, these reports are pure speculation. AN generally has excellent sources, and the one for this story – a major GM supplier – may have knowledge about future products that haven’t been announced. But, so far, GM has yet to confirm. It could all be a mirage.
Secondly, some reports, including one from GM Authority, an insider website that covers GM, says a new Camaro might not be the Camaro people remember. Reading between the lines, could this mean a new Camaro be sold as a coupe and sedan, like the Dodge Charger? Maybe. But given how slow-selling most coupes tend to be, our bet is sedan-only. Which would be a shame, in our view, given Camaro’s proud history as a two-door.
But nostalgia doesn’t sell cars, and the last Camaro was proof of that. Sales for the Gen Six dipped to just over 31,000 units in the U.S. in 2023, the last full year it was on sale.
But, according to AN, GM’s plans for the new Camaro and CT5 appear to be modest, with just 60,000 – 75,000 Camaros and CT5s to be built, combined, on an annual basis. Long gone are the heady days of the 1980s and 1990s when the Camaro regularly sold more than 100,000 units in the U.S.
Still, this is hopeful news, and we hope our fears of being underwhelmed by what might arrive are misplaced. Reports suggest production for the new Camaro will begin in Fall 2027, so we should know more about its return – including if it will return – in the next year.
Photos courtesy of Chevrolet
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