Camaro Heritage- A look at the 25th-Anniversary 1992 Camaro

About a decade ago, it seemed as though every 16-year-old kid who was into street performance had a Camaro. There were so many Camaros around that it almost made a hard-core Chevy enthusiast want to buy a Mopar, just to be different. But why do you think so many kids could afford Camaros that ultimately engaged in minor street races and received large rear tires and high-performance engines?

The real reason is that the Camaro is one of the most affordable performance cars that Chevrolet has ever put out for the American public. For 25 years now, the Camaro has delivered inexpensive performance and a lot of fun to car nuts. Now in its third generation, the new 1992, 25th Anniversary Camaro is upholding the tradition of its long and successful history. Although prices have gone up from 1967, the Camaro is still a good performance value, and older Camaros still seem to be handed down to young teenagers for their turns at street stardom.

The performance of the past is still evident in the ’92’s tuned-port injected V8 powerplant. Available with either a 305 or a 350 engine, the 25th-Anniversary Camaro is a potent contender on the street. For the most part, the ’92 Camaro is the same as last year’s, but the optional Heritage Appearance Package will definitely be the hot-selling item among Camaro buyers.

Although all the ’92 Camaros will have 25th anniversary badges on their instrument panels, only a Camaro with the Heritage Package will have another badge on the rear deck lid. The package is available on all models, including the RS and the convertibles. This package includes the old rally stripes on the hood, deck lid and rear spoiler, along with black headlamp pockets and a body colored grille. If you prefer different colors, be forewarned that the Heritage Package is only available for models in Arctic White, Bright Red, and Black.

If you can do without the Heritage Package, you can also choose from hot, new colors such as Polo Green, Purple Haze Metallic, Medium Quasar Blue Metallic, and Dark Green Gray Metallic These kinds of colors are reminiscent of the musclecars of the late ’60s and early ’70s – bright flashy colors that really catch your eye.

As you may have guessed, we were very anxious to try the new Camaro We received a bright red Z/28 that grabbed everyone’s attention at each stoplight. Many people asked us if we put the rally stripes on, and thought it was a nice touch to the late-model Camaro’s body lines. The ’92 Z/28 comes with a new performance handling package that has optional 36mm front and 23mm rear anti-sway bars, as opposed to the 34mm and 21mm standard bars. This performance package also has stiffer spring rates, and overall it makes for a much more aggressive car that is incredibly stable and feels as if it has an aftermarket suspension kit.

Although we didn’t have time to test the new suspension on the track, we do want to note that this optional suspension is far better than the standard Z/28 package; we could feel the difference. Our Camaro was equipped with the five-speed manual
transmission and the G92 performance axle with 3.42 gears. This resulted in good, smooth acceleration that would be the envy of any Mustang owner. The tuned-port injected 305 in our test vehicle produces 230 horsepower; the optional 350 V8 produces 240 horsepower and is available only in automatic form.

The interior of our Z/28 was the same as the ’91 model’s; it included the optional AM/FM stereo receiver with compact disc player, equipped with the Delco LocII theft-deterrent system, which locks up the system if it is taken from the vehicle.

Around town, the Z/28 was a pleasure to drive. The sound of the free flowing, dual catalytic converter exhaust is very pleasing and adds to the performance feel. When it comes to carrying on the Camaro’s tradition of performance, the ’92 is right on the mark. There were rumors among the Chevrolet engineering staff that, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Camaro, we would possibly see a limited run of the 602 Z/28 that might be fitted with the new LT-1, 300-horse Corvette engine. You may remember that the first Z/28s produced in ’67 totalled 602 orders. It’s quite obvious that if these rumors are correct, we may see a collector’s car sign flashing over every Camaro enthusiast’s head, and again, all eyes will be on and all desires will be for America’s favorite musclecar. AC