Tag: camaro

When Chevrolet general manager Pete Estes held a live press conference at Detroit’s Statler-Hilton Hotel in June of 1966, he opened by informing everyone in attendance that they were charter members of the Society for the Elimination of Panthers from the Automotive World. He then promptly assured them this was the first and last meeting of SEPAW. With that speculation that Chevrolet’s new pony car would be named Panther was immediately put to rest. Estes then shared some basic info on a new car from Chevy that would compete with the Ford Mustang. Internally designated XP-836, Chevrolet had chosen the name he was about to reveal to keep with the letter C theme of their other vehicles, such as the Corvair, Chevelle, Chevy II, and Corvette. Then he echoed the new car’s name: Camaro. Ask...

Depending on who you ask, Camaro could be a French word for friendship, or an animal that eats Mustangs. The most likely meaning behind the name? A typo, or possibly French slang. Keeping in line with other C-names of the era, such as Chevelle, Corvette and Corvair, Chevrolet suits were on the hunt for the perfect name for their Mustang compeitor. The story goes that Chevrolet merchandising manager Bob Lund and General Motors vice president Ed Rollett discovered the word Camaro in Heath's French and English Dictionary by James Boïelle and by de V. Payen-Payne, which was printed in 1936. The French-English dictionary supposedly listed the word as a slang term that meant friend, pal, or comrade. In contemporary French, the term doesn't exist. In any regard, the name was chosen and the Camar...