1984 Chevrolet Camaro

The 1984 Chevrolet Camaro was promoted by the company as 'the best-selling 2+2 on the road.' They promoted their Z28 Camaro as 'more beauty' and 'more beast'. The third generation body style was introduced two years earlier, and Chevrolet was attempting to shift its muscle car focus back to performance. Their Z28 Camaro, with the optional high output 5-liter engine, offered nearly 200 horsepower. The Z28 had 5.0-liter H.O. badges on the back bumper, rocker panels, and air cleaner. In the back were dual tailpipes. The Crossfire fuel injection system was dropped, and the 5-liter PRO code L69 engine was mated to either a five-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission. The 5.0-liter H.O. V8 engine had a Rochester Quadra-Jet carburetor, dual-snorkel cold-air intake, large-diameter exhaust and tailpipes, and wide-mouth catalytic converter.

The Z28 Camaro came with standard GM safety features, occupant protection, accident avoidance, and anti-theft features. Other standard items included dual body-color sports outside rear mirrors, ground effects rocker molding in silver or gold, quad headlamps, a rear decklid spoiler, a front air dam, a carpeted cargo floor with a storage well, a hinged stowage compartment in the front center console, reclining front bucket seats, power front disc/rear drum braking system with audible front wear sensors, and a fast-ratio power steering system.

The Camaro Sport Coupe came with a choice of four-, six- or eight-cylinder engines. The four-cylinder 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine had an electronic fuel injection system. The prior years three-speed automatic with overdrive was no longer offered. A hydraulic clutch was now used with all manual gearboxes.

The standard equipment and body colors were similar to the 1983 models, but Dark Gold was a new addition to the color palette. A new low-back seating option with adjustable head restraints could be ordered as optional equipment. The Sport Coupe came with GM safety, occupant production quad headlamps, accident avoidance, a power ventilation system, reclining front bucket seats, side window defoggers, fast-ratio power steering, and 14x6 inch body-color wheels with hubcaps.

The Camaro Berlinetta models had gold-colored body trim. Inside, there was new, Corvette-inspired instrumentation that included digital readouts, a pivoting pedestal-mounted radio and dual adjustable fingertip control pods. There were adjustable low-back bucket seats, a digital display ahead of the driver showing speed, plus odometer or engine speed. They had an electronically tuned AM/FM stereo radio with digital clock, push-button controls in the floor console, with an overhead console containing a swivel map light and small storage pouch. Options include a tap player and a graphic equalizer. Other items included a sport aluminum hood, a lockable fuel filler door, hood and sail panel decals, a digital clock, a five-speed manual gearbox, a smooth-ride suspension, dual horns, intermittent windshield wipers and color-keyed sport mirrors.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2014