The automotive world is full of stillborn projects, some of which would be quite appealing to car enthusiasts. And yet, for one reason or another, automakers eventually decide not to push forward with them.
That appears to be what has happened with Chevrolet as Motor Trend‘s Jonny Liebermann reports that an unnamed company insider informed him of a stillborn Camaro Z/28 project. Per his source, it sounds like it would have been quite the car.
The Z/28 would have allegedly made use of a 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V8, the same engine that will find its way under the hood of the upcoming C8 Corvette Z06. That would have meant more than 600 hp from a high revving naturally aspirated V8 if reports are to be believed.
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Worse still, the Camaro would have apparently been able to use a manual transmission. Although the Z06 won’t get a similar transmission because Chevy didn’t feel the need to develop a manual transaxle for the mid-engine Corvette, the Camaro still has plenty of room for it.
Such a car might sound a little too good to be true, but we have actually heard rumors of a Z/28 before. Back in 2019, a similar story appeared on Muscle Cars & Trucks, albeit with a little less detail. The broad strokes, including the high-revving engine part, are mostly there, though.
According to the source, the Z/28 was canceled because of the botched Camaro update, which saw the sixth-gen Camaro court controversy with its new look. Whatever the cause, it’s clear that Camaro sales aren’t great and it trails both the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Challenger.
Camaro production continues to be affected by the chip shortage and GM apparently seems only too happy to put the car’s assembly on hold to free up valuable microchips for its other factories.
