Found in the Yard: The Fastest Slowest Camaro Ever Made

Nobody will say that the third-generation Camaro was the best Camaro ever. The third-gen Camaro has neither modern speed or classic style and because of this, they can be found in junkyards across the continent on any given day. But I've never seen one with this engine before.

Under the hood of today's 1984 Chevrolet Camaro lies the infamous 'Iron Duke' 2.5 litre pushrod four-cylinder. It makes a flaccid 92 horsepower when new with all the refinement of a tractor running on three cylinders. And believe it or not, this isn't even the slowest Camaro ever made!

That's because this one has a floor shifted four-speed! Nevermind that Toyota and Fiat had been making five-speed transmissions since the 70's. While four speeds was slightly embarrassing in 1984, the optional three-speed automatic would have made this thing even slower. Iron Duke Camaros with the three-speed auto had 0-60 times of around 20 seconds. This one is probably good for 15-16 second 0-60 runs. 

What's even more embarrassing was that the earlier 2.5 litre Camaros from 1982 and '83 were even slower! Those years had just 90 horsepower to move the rather large Camaro. So in a way, what we have here is the fastest version of the slowest Camaro ever made. And let's hope that a Camaro this slow never happens again!