Life, the cliché goes, is what happens while you’re making other plans. History has revealed that even mighty GM’s plans were altered: In 1975, a new Camaro started development for 1980; in 1977, the program was put on hold while the engineers turned their attention toward front-wheel-drive cars. That year, a Pete Estes-led group of worldwide product planners decided the new F-body should be front-wheel-drive and the release of this new platform was postponed until 1982. While the launch date stuck, GM management decided it didn’t have the purse strings to make the then-hot-selling F-body a front-driver, and with Irv Rybicki replacing Bill Mitchell as GM’s Design VP, the third-gen F-body got underway again.
That meant that the car featured here, the late second-gen Camaro, was originally destined to end in 1979. Instead, it was built clear through 1981. Sales of all models were at 152,000 in 1980 (respectable for such a big car during a fuel crisis) and just over 126,000 in 1981. That’s 275,000 second-gen Camaros that weren’t supposed to be built, if GM had its way. But those numbers pale in comparison to 1978’s 272,000 and 1979’s 282,000 built. That’s 829,000 Camaros over its last four years
