GM’s Early Departure from Muscle Cars

Wild imagination of the 2024 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 shows what the future of this iconic muscle car would be if GM hadn’t decided to put the plug.

Chevrolet is going to wrap up the Camaro’s production next year. This sixth generation will mark the end of Chevy’s last-surviving muscle car as we know it.

The situation is grim at Dodge too, where the Challenger will bow out at the end of the current model year. But the folks at Dodge are sending off its muscle car with a set of brilliant last-call models and promising to keep muscle cars alive with an electric powertrain.

Chevy says that it’s not the end of the road for the Camaro ‘nameplate.’ But there is no word if it’ll return as a muscle car like the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT or an all-electric SUV like the Ford Mustang Mach E.

We think a car as epic as the Camaro doesn’t deserve to die so soon. That’s why Hotcars’ in-house digital artist Rostislav Prokop has come up with this stunning 2024 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 concept.

This render showcases the future of the beloved Chevy and suggests that GM may have abandoned muscle cars too soon.

Dodge gave the Challenger a new lease on life by adding the mighty Hellcat engine to its line-up in 2015. The engineers at SRT pulled a rabbit out of their hat and developed the fantastic 6.2-liter Supercharged V8 engine.

This ultra-powerful motor could put out 707 hp with 650 lb-ft of torque. With an eight-speed automatic that served up lightening fast shifts, the muscle car could reach 60 mph quickly.

The SRT Hellcat was a shot in the arm for the drying sales of the Challenger. It allowed this muscle car to continue for several years beyond its production lifecycle. By moving the Challenger to an electric powertrain, Dodge is doing a similar deed as in 2015. This switch will allow its muscle car to slingshot into the modern era and continue in its high-performance avatar into the future.

Over at GM, Chevrolet did a similar thing with the 2024 Corvette E-Ray. It came up with an all-new hybrid powertrain for its mid-engined supercar, allowing it to move into the age of electrification rather than killing it off. The setup includes the 6.2-liter V8 out of the Corvette Stingray and a 160-hp electric motor that drives the front axle.

The result is a combined power output of 655 hp. The Corvette E-Ray could sprint to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, faster than the Stingray!

Chevy could have used a version of the E-Ray’s setup for the Camaro to keep it relevant rather than putting this iconic muscle car in the ground. If it were up to us, we’d pick the 655 hp hybrid powertrain of the Corvette E-Ray, slap on a pair of turbochargers, and drop it under the hood of this Camaro Z/28 concept.

With a power output of close to 1000 hp, it’ll be the perfect resurrection for this beloved muscle car into the modern era.

It’ll also allow it to butt heads with the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 that packs in 1025 hp while it runs on a greener E85. If GM takes notice and puts this Z/28 into production, watching these two muscle cars battle it out on the drag strip would be epic.

GM might have already given up on muscle cars. But Prokop’s stunning render shows a bright future for the Camaro. The last that we saw of the Z/28 was in 2015.

Then, it came with a 7.0-liter V8 engine, producing 505 hp and 481 lb-ft of torque. The 2015 Camaro Z/28 was fast. It could sprint from 0 to 60 mph in a claimed 4.4 seconds and clock out at a top speed of 185 mph.

Besides the high-output engine, it came with a bunch of track-focused upgrades that essentially made it a race car for the road. This Z/28 concept is an entirely different beast compared to the 2015 model.

Its shape is similar to the current-gen Camaro ZL1. But there are loads of aggressive aero on it that puts it in a league of its own. It sits lower to the ground, hinting at a track-tuned suspension. The widebody kit tells us that this Z/28 is running a wider track with bigger wheels and low-profile tires.

The face is also slightly different from the standard Camaro and the ZL1, with sleeker headlamps and the low-hung splitter on the front bumper.

GM’s Premature Abandonment of Muscle Cars is Evidenced by the 2024 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 ConceptThe massive hood scoop would allow the twin-turbocharged hybrid powertrain of this Z/28 concept to feed on tons of fresh air.

The aggressive diffuser at the back and the large wing will help it channel air, helping it stick to the track on fast corners. The quad exhausts would make up for a stunning sound from the high-revving 6.2-liter V8.

When you hear the word Z/28, the image of a Camaro going sideways around a corner automatically pops up. In fact, it is GM’s Regular Production Option (RPO) sales code for a ‘Special Performance Package’ that came up in 1966 with the first-gen Camaro.

But for gearheads, it has become synonymous with white-knuckle performance. Prokop’s rendering of a modern Camaro Z/28 perfectly captures this passion through its wild design and brings back an icon.

The Camaro Z/28 has always been a pretty rare car. Since it was a special performance package, Chevy always made it in limited numbers. The added track-focused bits meant you had to pay extra for it over the standard Camaro.

Since only 1801 examples were produced, today, a 2015 Camaro Z/28 costs an average of $62,429 in the collector market according to Classic.com.

The highest that this muscle car has ever gone for was $104,500. If GM takes notice and brings back the Camaro for 2024 with a Z/28 performance package, it’ll be a great hit and allow the treasured muscle car to live on!