American Car World ? April 2002
Camaro Capers: As somebody who once (a long time ago) owned a 1967 Camaro with a straight six engine and automatic transmission, Pail Zazarine's book Camaro Exposed 19567-69: Designs, Decisions, and the Inside View was always going to have a special appeal. Recounting the way Detroit did business four decades ago, it reveals how the most powerful car manufacturer in the world completely underestimated the potential of the market tapped by the Ford Mustang, and then came roaring back with a model that could compete with the best of them. Using first-hand reminiscences of the GM designers and engineers involved, plus some previously unpublished photos, Zazarine documents the development of the Chevrolet Camaro into a high-performance muscle car. There's also a look at proposed variants such as the Camaro station wagon and fastback that came under consideration in an effort to combat the runaway sales success of the Mustang. Chapters devoted to Z/28 and the ultimate special order COPO 427 model, together with the dealer option cars offered by Yenko, Nickey, Baldwin-Motion and Dana Chevrolet all adds to the fascinating facts included. However the eight pages of color illustrations only serve to emphasize the marginal quality of the black and white pics used throughout the rest of the book. Despite that shortcoming, and the somewhat ?bitty' layouts in places, I enjoyed this book.