Chevrolet Camaro 1968 images

The 1968 Camaro looks like a carryover at first glance, but small changes, new marker lights, vent-less door glass, a 396 big block for SS buyers, reveal how fast Chevrolet was reacting to the pony car wars. With 235,147 built that year, it was not just surviving its second season, it was gaining ground.

Rumours are running wild through-out automotive media that Chevrolet was about to begin production of a vehicle to compete against Ford’s MustangÂ starting in early 1965. Smoke and mirrors is the name of the game; but a new model code named “Panther” is indeed on the Chevy Divisions agenda. John L. Cutter, Chevyâ€™s public relations secretary puts out a confusing memo on June 21/66., to all including the media, that there will be a first (and last) meeting of SEPAW (Society for the Eradication of Panthers from the Automotive World) on June 28, 1966; included in the note is: â€œwe hope you will be on hand to help scratch a catâ€. .At this meeting/live press conference in Detroit, Chevrolet G.M., Pete Estes reveals the Camaro, defined as a small vicious animal that eats Mustangs,

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A second model year should have been the boring one – the year GM just kept the assembly line running without much to prove. But hidden in small trim changes to the 1968 Camaro is a story about how quickly Chevy was already reacting to what buyers, and Fords Mustang, were doing to the pony car market. Look closely at the greenhouse and the fenders and you will spot the changes that quietly moved the Camaro forward. The bigger question is what Chevy was really responding to, and how close the numbers came to catching the class leader.

Small Changes, Big Signal

The 1968 Camaro carried over the same basic shape from its 1967 debut, but Chevrolet made two visible updates: new front and rear side marker lights, a change driven partly by incoming federal safety rules, and vent-less door glass, which gave the side windows a cleaner, more modern look. Underneath, engine choices ranged from a base inline-six up through V8s spanning 327 to 396 cubic inches, with the 396 CID big block rated at 350 horsepower becoming a headline option for SS buyers. The Z28 continued in its second year too, already building the reputation that would make it one of the most collected trims of the era.

A Strong Second Act

Chevrolet built 235,147 Camaros for the 1968 model year – 214,711 coupes and 20,440 convertibles – proof the car was not just holding steady but genuinely competing for pony-car buyers. Pricing ran from roughly $2,600 for a base coupe up to $3,797 for well-optioned models, a wide enough spread that the Camaro could be ordered as an economical commuter or a genuine muscle car depending on what boxes got checked on the order sheet.

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