1970 Chevrolet Camaro

Is it really possible that not a single Camaro has appeared in Car Lust up to this point? That's hard to believe since I've lusted after virtually every Camaro made since the model's debut in 1967. Yes, I briefly had a mullet in the early 1990s. I wore it proudly, thank you.

The 1970 Camaro, though, in my mind is not a mullet car. At least it doesn't have to be a mullet car; to me, the 1970 Camaro is desirable because of its graceful, understated, almost European lines that stood in stark contrast to the aggressively blocky and testosterone-filled styling and graphics that characterized its Detroit stablemates at the time.

My first exposure to the 1970 Camaro came in the form of a 1988 retrospective that pictured the 1970 Camaro in RS trim in tasteful metal-flake charcoal gray. It was stunningly clean and purposeful, like a subtle gray shark stalking quietly and menacingly through the muscle car waters--the kind of car that wouldn't be laughed at in Stuttgart.

People might laugh today at such a statement, but I think the popular tendency to disparage 1970s automobilia has whitewashed a strong start to that decade by GM's styling department. Both the Camaro and Vega, in particular, were stylish, clean, sleek designs that wouldn't have been out-of-place as European sports coupes.

With the full range of high-performance engines all the way up to the hero 375-horsepower 396 V-8, and including the new LT-1 360-horsepower 350, the Camaro could still bring just as much muscle to the table as its predecessor. But as with the styling, the flavor of the car became subtler and more European. While the car shared a platform and many components with the 1969 Camaro, both handling and ride had been dramatically improved. The interior was also given an upgrade.

The 1970 Camaro lives in my heart as one of the most gorgeous muscle cars made, and a brief moment of glory for the breed. It married the best of the first-generation Camaro's thick, muscular styling and burly, brawling V-8s with a new style and sophistication, making it equally as comfortable on long, fast blasts along twisty highways as it was at the local drive-in.

Of course, the picture quickly soured. As with its sister Chevelle, 1970 was the apex, followed by a rapid collapse. The Camaro was not immune to the unholy trinity of rising gas prices, ever more restrictive pollution regulations, and skyrocketing insurance premiums that killed off muscle cars en masse. In 1971, the Camaro's line of V-8's began their inexorable power drain, and the first of several crippling worker strikes presaged the Camaro's further decline in the 1970s.

It is astonishingly difficult to find photos of the 1970 Camaro as I remember it; most '70 Camaros have now been painted stupid colors and had tacky, garish bodywork added, spoiling the delicate touch of the original styling. The Camaro looked great in full muscle-car regalia, to be sure, but in this generation I think the innocuous cars almost look nicer.

I wish I could show off the gorgeous charcoal Camaro that I fell in love with, but unfortunately I don't have those photos. The top photo is of a plain-Jane brown Camaro from Flickr user mediumpimpin4rnr; the two pictures of the striped silver Camaro come from Patriot Racing USA, which just finished restoring and rebuilding it.

The two commercials? Well, I won't give them the full Car Lust commercial treatment, but the first commercial deserves these bullet points:

• You know how you sometimes instinctively hate somebody and want to punch them without reason? It's the kind of hatred that taps directly into the id. I'm far from a violent guy, but two seconds into my first viewing of this commercial I knew I was already tired of this guy's smug little act and wanted to punch him in the gut. Don't worry, I'll take my medication.
• "What is it? It's the new Camaro, that's what it is." With his weird enunciation, it's like he's trying to be a noir detective. "The new Camaro? Well, it accelerates like it's being chased by the hounds of hell; hey, I can relate. But enough about my love life." <lights cigarette>
• I think we should search for the guy who invented "hugger" as a hip piece of lexicon the late 1960s and force him to watch this commercial to realize just how dumb it sounds. All of my vintage car magazines of the time use "hugger" as a bit of lingo, and it doesn't read any better than it sounds here. The Camaro is the "Super Hugger?" So it's really affectionate, or what?
• "It's a whole new kind of car for a whole new kind of people ... who really dig driving." Yeah, far out--because people only started to like driving in 1970.
• "More glass, less chrome, more class." This is true, but it's entertaining that the guy in the polyester suit and the really wide multi-hued brown tie is pointing out the Camaro's new class.
• "The new Camaro; that's what it is." I'd thought we already got that out of the way, but okay.
• Yes, he called it the Super Hugger again. My skin is crawling.
• "It's not how young you are; it's how old you aren't." What?

The second commercial is a little more traditional, though I was hoping the comedic interplay between the daughter and father at the end would turn into an all-out confrontation ending in bitter incrimination. "The New Camaro--worth fighting with your family over." Of course, that's probably my post-Seinfeld sensibility talking.

--Chris H.

Comments

[davis,br on August 18, 2008 at 04:47 PM]

The girl in the second shot? - She was sixteen at the time (well, she was eight in 1962, so I'm guessing that she we eight years older eight years later).

Anyways, she's Lloyd Bridges' daughter, Cindy Bridges.

I found a pix of her at a bookstore signing in 2005 (you can scroll through about five pix forward). Umm, no bikini. But she aged well.

http://tinyurl.com/672gxn

[davis,br on August 18, 2008 at 04:50 PM]

...sorry anon'; I must've been looking for this at the same as y'all were posting. Great minds, and all that ....

[Mark on August 18, 2008 at 06:00 PM]

I had a 1970 light green Camaro I bought it used in 1973 for $1500 dollars when I was going to college in Nashville with money my grandmother left me. It only had a 307 cu in engine, but I loved that car!

Then while going to grad school at Penn State I had a SERIOUS lapse in judgment and traded it in on a new 1976 Vega station wagon when they invented rebates for the first time. Oh, well.

[JeM on August 18, 2008 at 06:19 PM]

I first saw a 1970 Camaro while delivering morning papers in the fall of '69...at 4:AM
...It was in a customers drive way and it absolutly blew me away...

There was no way that Chevy could have possibly made such a dramatic styling change overnight as it was...

But truth is I liked it and three years later I had one...Sure it wasn't the most dependable or best built car I ever had but it is the only one I wish I had back...

And that is what car lust is eh?

[bullfrog on August 18, 2008 at 07:34 PM]

I still think that 1970 is an ugly Camaro. It Brings back memories of teen car lust though, and man, I wish I could have afforded to have stored it in a garage for those years since I had to sell it when I was going to college. I would have rather my friend's brother owned a '68, but it was that '70 that I bought from the guy in 1979...He worked at a Chevy dealership, and at that time, you could buy a crated engine (can you still?) that was a brand new LT-1 - He put an L82 hydraulic cam in it, and also put those - never street legal? - Turbo heads on it, and sold it to me before he had a chance to blow that particular motor up like the previous motors he went through. He did the aftermarket transmission, a reworked Turbo400 with a 4:56 rear, and another friend I let drive it once threw it in reverse while accelerating - total hammer down - He was probably doing like 55 mph or so by the time he accidentally hit reverse, and it still never missed a lick after that. That was what I drove my last year in high school. I guess this is more about the motor and drivetrain and our ages than the car itself, but if I ever see that car around again, I will repurchase it, ugly '70 or not.

[Dan_P from AZ on August 18, 2008 at 08:39 PM]

I worked at the GM Proving Ground in 1970 1/2.
The 2nd Gen Camaro was a "bit late" in getting to production. Thus "1/2".

I ordered a 1970 Z28 Rally Sport, Daytona Yellow with Black Stripes (real paint), got it in June, 1970.
Two COPO (Central Office Production Order) options.
1. The "tall three piece" spoiler (code D70) which was to be put on '71's as RPO D70.
2. The Muncie "Rock-Crusher" close ratio 4spd (code M22).
And, a "production overide" to install the dark green interior (it was not an RPO, Regular Production Option).
I sure wish I had that car today. Loved that solid lifter LT1.

The best I could do to replace it is in my garage right now:
1971 Z28 non Rally Sport (full width bumper), Placer Gold (ick) with Black Stripes.
Base Production "low" one-piece spoiler. "Standard" M20 4-spd.
It is one of 4228 '71 Z28's built. Only 9:1 comp, but otherwise a real production LT1.
A matching numbers car, all original (and shows it) paint and interior.
36,000 real miles.
I think I want to be buried in this car. {:^)

It sits in my three car garage with a "Racedeck" floor and custom stainless cabinets and workbenchs.
Alongside a 2004 Corvette Z06 Z16 (Lemans Commemorative)
and a 1999 Jeep Cherokee with all the "off-road mods".
I am a lucky guy. Especially to keep "this stuff" after "getting single".

P.S.
The 70 1/2 WAS an all new car.
One of the best changes was to the "variable-ratio" (and quick) power steering.
A real asset in low-speed "kick-ass" driving like gymkhanas. Or Woodward drive-in "showing off". {:^)

[Brian on August 19, 2008 at 10:47 PM]

For what it is it isn't all that bad. I'd take one without the spoiler, with the 327 if available, with ginormous graphics along the side in big bold letters:
S U P E R H U G G E R
(makes you want to love it?)

[habeas on August 20, 2008 at 08:15 AM]

I owned and rebuilt a 1970 1/2 Z-28 and drove it for five years in the 90's. It was a great car. Such a good car I bought a 1994 Z-28 a few years ago. Looks similar, runs stronger, handles better. However, the high fan setting on the 1994 burned out (stupid resistor set-up nobody else uses.)Coincidentally the high fan switch on my 1970 model had exactly the same problem. You'd think in 24 years they'd fix the problem. In addition they put the distributor of the 1994 car on the end of the camshaft under the water pump. The hottest, wettest most inaccessible place on the car. It is currently in the shop for it's fourth new distributor. I've also replaced three electric window motors. (There are only two windows) My wife drives a nice Toyota Prius. I don't know what my next one will be but it won't be American.

Toyota, Honda, and Nissan build their cars in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississipi, and Alabama using the same people who build the American brands. It isn't the workers folks, it's the design and managment. Unless Detroit catches on quick, they're history.

[habeas on August 20, 2008 at 08:15 AM]

I owned and rebuilt a 1970 1/2 Z-28 and drove it for five years in the 90's. It was a great car. Such a good car I bought a 1994 Z-28 a few years ago. Looks similar, runs stronger, handles better. However, the high fan setting on the 1994 burned out (stupid resistor set-up nobody else uses.)Coincidentally the high fan switch on my 1970 model had exactly the same problem. You'd think in 24 years they'd fix the problem. In addition they put the distributor of the 1994 car on the end of the camshaft under the water pump. The hottest, wettest most inaccessible place on the car. It is currently in the shop for it's fourth new distributor. I've also replaced three electric window motors. (There are only two windows) My wife drives a nice Toyota Prius. I don't know what my next one will be but it won't be American.

Toyota, Honda, and Nissan build their cars in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississipi, and Alabama using the same people who build the American brands. It isn't the workers folks, it's the design and managment. Unless Detroit catches on quick, they're history.

[BELLCORD on September 15, 2008 at 09:48 AM]

SERIOUS CREEP FACTOR ON THAT SECOND COMMERCIAL..GUY LOADING SURFBOARD, GUY DRIVING ALONG BEACH, GUY RUNNING TO BEACH BUNNY, THEY'RE READY TO EMBRACE AND IT'S..IT'S HER DAD !....VOICE OVER INTONES " IT'S HOW OLD YOU AREN'T"...IMPLYED MESSAGE ' BUY THIS SHITBOX AND THERE'S A DECENT CHANCE OF LAYING YOUR DAUGHTER'S FRIENDS' GUESS THE CAMARO LX STOOD FOR "LEACHER EXTREME"...

[Justin on December 08, 2008 at 10:12 AM]

Hey that's a nice picture of Cindy you have there!
http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112607

[mike jackson on December 24, 2008 at 12:28 PM]

I am amazed the Brown then silver car in the pics on this page is now in my yard inChristchurch New Zealand ,but onthe way from the states the container was dropped and the car was wrecked ..mike

[Dude on July 27, 2009 at 07:51 AM]

Nice ride. Here is a Sweet Camaro video review. Watch: http://tinyurl.com/lm89lk

[Ames Tiedeman on October 27, 2010 at 12:16 PM]

Bring back the 1970's! When I was a kid riding my bike around town every other girl had a Camaro! Now they all drive Honda Civics! Boring. Bring back the 1970's!