Introduced in September 1966 for the 1967 model year, the first Camaro shared its F-body platform with the Pontiac Firebird and its subframe design with the contemporary Chevy II Nova.[1] Twelve different engines were available by 1969, from the standard 230-cubic-inch straight-six up to a 427-cubic-inch COPO big-block Chevrolet never officially listed in sales literature; the RS, SS and Z/28 option packages did the work of turning the same basic car into anything from a boulevard cruiser to a Trans-Am homologation special.
The Z/28’s advertised 290 hp was, by Chevrolet’s own later admission, deliberately understated to keep the car under an informal one-horsepower- per-cubic-inch limit insurers and racing bodies used for classification. This is a case where the “official” figure is known to undersell the engine, recorded here as the manufacturer’s published rating rather than corrected upward.