Rest of the Web Says We've gathered reviews from Edmunds.com, Cars.com plus live Tweets on this car. See What We Found »
Back for its third model year since introduction in 2009, the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro retains its retro-themed yet modern take on the Camaro's heritage, with the addition of a hyper-powerful ZL1 variant in addition to the standard V-6 and SS models. Whether you choose the coupe or the convertible, the 2012 Camaro makes a strong style statement.
When the muscle car revival first struck with the return of the Camaro and Challenger, sales lit up like a wildfire--and haven't slowed much since. This year, the 3.6-liter V-6 variant once again gets a power increase from 312 to 323 horsepower, while the V-8 SS model holds steady at 426 horsepower. All new for 2012 is the Camaro ZL1, which adds a supercharger, more dramatic styling, more aggressive handling, and a total of 580 horsepower.
The aggressive, pure muscle-car look of the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro doesn't come without its downsides, however. The low, sleek roofline means a shortage of headroom for taller drivers, and the high beltline makes it hard to see out of the car for shorter ones. The back seat is suitable only for children, and the trunk, despite the car's overall size, is diminutive. Ride quality, however, is very good overall despite the sporting overtones, and the cabin is quiet.
Beyond the look and the shortfalls in functionality and comfort, however, the 2012 Camaro is great at its main focus: performance. The base model, powered by the up-rated V-6, is pretty peppy, but the 6.2-liter V-8-powered SS model really brings the chassis to life, particularly when paired with the six-speed manual transmission. The automatic is no slouch, however, offering slick shifts and solid acceleration as well--all models of the 2012 Camaro SS hit 60 mph in about 4.5 seconds. The real star performer for 2012 is the ZL1, with 580 horsepower from a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8, magnetic ride suspension, and even more fearsome looks. Steering is direct, and the handling is crisp for a car of this weight class.
Even though performance is clearly given top billing with the 2012 Chevy Camaro, the common threads of all modern cars are still strong here: safety and convenience features abound. Six standard airbags, including side-curtain airbags that extend to the back seat, anti-lock brakes, dynamic stability control, and traction control are found in every new Camaro. Crash test ratings are solid, though perhaps not segment-leading: the NHTSA rates the Camaro at five stars for rollover protection, but due to changes in the way it tests front and side impact ratings, hasn't yet scored the 2012 model on other measures. The IIHS hasn't tested the Camaro.
Features are also ample, with OnStar navigation available; Bluetooth, USB, and iPod connectivity as options, and a new head-up display like the one found in the Corvette that debuted last year.
Newsletter Stay up to date on car reviews, buying guides, articles and more 
It's abundantly clear from the hard evidence presented in these pages over the past months that these are the best of times for car guys, if vehicle performance is your measure of such things. And yet, yank a geezer's chain at a car show, and he'll jabber on about how the new ponycars just can't compare with those of the late 1960s and early '70s. Is there anything to these lunatic ravings? To find out, we've gathered three modern high-spec ponycars and matched them with their glory days ancestors. We're pitting a 2011 Camaro SS against the '69 Camaro SS396 that inspired its design; a 2011 Challenger SRT8 meets the '70 Challenger it so faithfully resembles (ours is an R/T SE 440 Six Pack); and a freshly minted Shelby Mustang GT500 convertible meets its '69 forebear. We'll turn them all loose on a closed section of road in L.A.'s Griffith Park and see what happens, but first, let's have a look at those good old days. 
The late 1960s was a golden era for American automakers. Those pesky imports were nibbling away at the margins, but at the dawn of 1970, they accounted for a little over 11 percent of sales. Design reigned supreme, and designers had yet to be reined in to any great extent by buzz-kill pedestrian safety regs, crash-survivability standards, bumper strength laws, aerodynamics, etc. Gasoline was plentiful and cheap, and engineers were finding better ways to burn as much of it as possible in halo performance models that earned the brands big headlines and drove sales up. Vehicular variety was on the upswing, too, with new automotive platforms of different sizes and configurations making their debut throughout the 1960s. All those babies conceived by randy veterans returning home from World War II were now grownups ready to buy their first new cars, and they accounted for 20 percent of the market. They didn't want what Dad was driving. They wanted a car to lure a backseat mate-something with a long phallic hood, two doors, and a pert, short trunk. They wanted ponycars. To keep the cars affordable, OEMs shared compact-car underpinnings, and prices started just a bit higher (Dodge and Plymouth moved their ponies up to midsize architecture for 1970). The formula worked. By 1970, the pony market topped a half-million annual sales.Motor Trend Rating: 
A lime green Camaro SS with a supercharged whine, aggressive bodykit, writing on the windshield, and the number 13 on its side would draw stares even in downtown Detroit. We're not in Detroit, though, or even the United States. This is downtown Munich, Germany, BMW's backyard, and half of the people staring at the Geiger Cars Camaro SS think we're the coolest guys on Earth, while the other half think we're epic tools. Europe is used to laughing at American cars. But the groundbreaking performance of the Corvette made a whole continent look again, and now the Mustang and Camaro SS have won a healthy following on the other side of the pond. Karl Geiger's outfit used to make most of its money selling Hummers and Dodge Rams to the cowboy-boots-and-line-dancing brigade. But now the younger crowd, footballers, and others are snapping up the latest-generation pony cars as fast as they're imported.
Geiger doesn't just import U.S. muscle. It tunes it, too. This Camaro SS comes with an Edelbrock E-Force Supercharger strapped to the LS3, pumping out some 560 horsepower through a new exhaust system that sounds like God is mad. The 6.2-liter V-8 finally has the bite to match its bark, and if the numbers quoted by Edelbrock are even close to accurate, this is a serious machine that could easily mix it up with the best the Germans have to offer - in a straight line, anyway. Of course suburban Munich isn't really the place for us to test such theories, but we follow Geiger's man to a predetermined location, and he doesn't worry about such things. So we get a firsthand look of the Camaro SS spiking violently sideways off each stoplight as massive 22-inch rear Pirelli P Zero Corsas try and fail to contain the 488 pound-feet of torque. That's more than the Mercedes and way more than the BMW, if you're counting.Body Style: Convertible, CoupeMotor Trend Rating: