There’s a Stripped-Down V8 Camaro on the Way, For All You Lovers of Cheap Raw Power

Get eight cylinders for the price of six!

The Detroit insiders at Automotive News say that Chevrolet appears to be considering a cheaper version of the Camaro V8 to help us get small block power on a budget.

General Motors product boss Mark Reuss told AN, “I think we’ve got opportunities at the very low end of the Camaro range and some remix of some of the V-8 options on it so we don’t force people to buy all the options with a V-8, just to get a V-8.”

“The Mustang and some of the cars in the segment will have a lower base price and that’s an opportunity for us probably,” Reuss continued.

Sure enough, a Camaro SS V8 costs $38,000, or about $4,000 more than a Mustang GT or Challenger R/T V8, so this may be one of the reasons Mustang has been beating Camaro in the sales race lately.

Of course, if you do have the money, Chevy will be happy to satisfy your need for speed with the scorching fast $69,995 Camaro ZL1 1LE, which set a new track record at the Nurburgring in June.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4zSIVpVMaw

Chevy has other plans to shore up fan interest in Camaro, as the company announced it will race Camaros in NASCAR’s top-level Monster Energy Cup series next season. This year, Chevrolet races with bodywork emulating the SS sport sedan, but that car is being discontinued. 

The idea of a budget muscle has been successful in the past. The Plymouth Road Runner was that company’s stripped-bare, vinyl bench seat, steel wheel, back-to-basics muscle car that earned legendary status for its performance although it was sometimes derided as  a taxi cab at the time.