01.01.16 - 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

A Look Back at the Mustang vs. Camaro War of 1982

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The year 1982 marked a time for both of these cars that made a huge difference in the automotive world.  The Camaro had been around as the second generation model for eleven years and was now ready to enter its third generation.  During the time of the C2 Camaro the Mustang had made two major changes that made it smaller and more fuel efficient, but caused it to also be a car that was made to be more downtrodden.  The changes and dull times of the 1970s was caused by the restrictions of emissions and the fact that gas prices at the pump had more than quadrupled during that decade.

For 1982 Chevrolet was poised to take an even bigger leap forward as the Camaro had retained much of its shape and size throughout the C2 years while the Mustang took cues from the Europeans to have smaller and more adaptable offerings.  Because the new Camaro was coming, Ford decided to bring in the GT 5.0 that we have admired for many years to be a great competitor with the Camaro and to give Mustang lovers something they hadn’t had in several year, excitement.

When you look at what the two sports cars offered in 1982 compared to today’s models it’s amazing to consider the low numbers in many ways.  First of all the Z28 offered a build with a four-speed manual transmission and had either a 145 horsepower number from the V8 or an upgraded fuel injected 5.0-liter V8 that made 165 horsepower.  The Mustang on the other hand offers 157 horsepower from its 4.9-liter (tagged as the 5.0) V8 engine.  We see four-cylinder family sedans puttering along making more horsepower than these today, which certainly tells you how far we have come with engine technology.

Another interesting fact at the time was you could buy a fully loaded Z28 at the time for as little as $13,635 and the Mustang offered a price of $12,722.  Of course these numbers are in 1982 money and could be converted to today’s dollars but give you an idea of how much less these performance cars cost when sold new over thirty years ago.  Both of the models also came fully equipped with all the features you wanted at the time with no real interest in weight savings, which could have been a huge benefit considering the low power of the engines.

When it came to the drive, even though the Mustang did not have the benefit of the awesome aerodynamics of the Camaro the Mustang won out easily on the speed test.  The 1982 version of the GT 5.0 was able to reach sixty mph in only 8.0 seconds and 100 mph in 25 seconds while production a quarter mile time of 16.3 seconds.  The Camaro Z28 by comparison needed 9.7 seconds to reach sixty mph and 30 to make it to 100 mph.  the quarter-mile run took 17.5 seconds at the time and the gearing was certainly a factor.  The Camaro has a 5,000 rpm redline at 115 mph and the Mustang was made without a redline and was able to handle 6,000 rpm in every gear, making it to 118 mph in either third or fourth gear.

Where the Camaro of the time did win out was in handling.  The car was newly developed and engineered to be the first of the Camaros to take on the track and win in the corners.  This made it a complete package over the Mustang or any other high performance car of the time.  This certainly marked the time when the Camaro turned the corner from just being a muscle car to one that was able to handle well and take on the competition.  Both the Mustang and Camaro of 1982 brought in some new excitement and a great deal of performance, albeit from much lower numbers than we see today, to give us a pair of vehicles that have continued to battle head to head for many years.

01.01.16 - 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

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