Built by an American company with a knack for excellence, Chevrolet, a division of General Motors, the Camaro brand has been designed and produced in some of the most beautiful pony and muscle car specs ever seen. The Chevrolet Camaro, which was intended as a strategic tool to gain market share against the domineering and increasingly popular Ford Mustang, hasn’t done badly in that regard. Since its production started in 1966, over 5 million Camaros have been sold to date.

Over the years, the Camaro brand has been produced in different awesome models. Some of these models have left many with dropped jaws in admiration. To emphasize this claim, here is a ranked list of the 10 most badass Camaro models.

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10 1985 CAMARO IROC-Z

The 1985 Camaro IROC-Z was an option package on the Z28 model. It was fitted with an upgraded suspension and tuning. Race fanatics have always loved the IROC-Z because it was easy to control despite it being relatively heavier than other muscle cars.

The IROC-Z could get to a top speed of 138 mph and a 7.5 seconds sprint time. Optional 190 or 155 hp engines were made for the IROC-Z, and earlier models have a maximum power output of 215 hp. The IROC-Z pushed the boundary of other supercars in its era and deserves a mention on this list.

9 2014 CAMARO Z/28

This is the most track-capable Camaro model ever. The Chevrolet team focused so much on the aerodynamic component of this car, thereby optimizing its design so much it recorded an impressive 7:37 lap on the Nurburgring road course—faster than the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, Camaro Zl1 and Porsche 911 Carrera S.

The 2014 Camaro Z/28 is among the pioneering production cars to have the racing spool-valve dampers. This allows a four-way damping control which helps in the accurate tuning of the bump and rebound setting of the wheel motion for both low and high speed.

8 2013 CAMARO SS 1LE

Built with the specifications of a track car but made for the road, the 2013 Camaro 1LE is an affordable luxury. The 1LE is adorned with a specially built Tremec TR-6060/MM6 6-speed manual transmission fortified with a standard air-to-liquid cooling system. For balance, Chevrolet threw in a 28-mm solid rear stabilizer bar, a 27-mm solid front stabilizer bar, and monotube rear dampers.

ZL1 made a cameo in this brand with its 20 x 10-inch front and 20 x 11-inch aluminum wheels getting the preference nod. Its high capacity fuel pump and 10-spoke wheels were also taken from ZL1.

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7 2019 CAMARO ZL1

The ZL1 is the most powerful Camaro ever built. The ZL1 comes fitted with a 6.2L V8 engine that is amplified further using superchargers to produce 650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. With an optional 10-speed automatic transmission, the ZL1 does 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds, a quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds and has a top speed of 127 mph.

This car greets you with a roar when you start the engine; this is to confirm it is an apparent road monster. Some enthusiasts will argue it not being on this list’s top spot.

6 2010 CAMARO SS

The 2010 Camaro SS was released after an eight-year hiatus away from the automobile market by Camaro. Now, you’d expect the company to want to make a big come back just to regain the respect they had and to also force-open a slot for the brand in the competitive automobile market, and that was exactly what the Camaro SS did.

The 2010 Camaro came with a 6.2-liter V8 engine producing a massive 426 hp. It features a manual gearbox making it suitable for high-speed racing. 2010 Camaro SS was among the most powerful Camaro brand of that era, and its sleek design also earned it the World Car Design of the Year for 2010.

5 1993 CAMARO Z/28

The 1993 Camaro Z28 came, saw, and conquered. Though the production team must have worked towards achieving a great result, the feat they got with this car is something to be studied. The year 1993 will forever be a memorable one for the Chevrolet team that this will be largely due to the production of the Camaro Z28.

Built majorly to rival the Mustang GT, the bragging rights as always being one-sided with GT having the upper hand, but all that changed in 1993 when the Camaro Z28 finally toppled the GT in performance.

4 2013 CAMARO Z/28

In 2013 when the Camaro Z/28 greeted the audience at New York Auto Show, nobody suspected that they were witnessing the birth of an epic car. The 2013 Camaro Z/28 is built in both the coupe and convertible forms. Its 7.0 L LS7 V8 engine was developed in partnership with Corvette Racing, which is a further indication that the engine is optimized for racing.

The Z/28 also didn’t lag in performance as its acceleration from 0-60mph in 4 seconds and a top speed of 172 mph ranks it among the fastest Camaro.

3 1969 CAMARO ZL1

This brand is as rare as it can get. Only 69 were built. Not only was it rare in production, but it was also rare in performance. Chevrolet fitted this car with the cowl-induction hood, put some disc brakes in the front, a Turbo Hydra-Matic, and finished it off with a 4:10.1 Posi on a durable axle.

The ZL1 has the honor of being the first production Chevrolet to be fitted with an aluminum block. It is known for its high ratings, with over 500 bhp thereby arguably becoming the most powerful Chevy engine ever offered to the public.

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2 YENKO CAMARO

Donald Frank Yenko, popularly known as Don Yenko, was an American racecar driver. His love for high-performance vehicles made him set up a performance shop for Chevy cars. The Camaro had a limiting clause which prevented it from fitting engines larger than 400 in3, Don Yenko knew this was a big setback as other competing brands didn’t have such a limiting clause.

Putting his performance shop to full use, Yenko ordered some L78 equipped SS Camaros for a start and swapped it for the Chevrolet Corvette’s L72 427 in3 V8. Going by the huge demand for Yenko Camaros, his idea was a success.

1 1967 CAMARO

The first Camaro ever made was the 1967 Camaro and deservedly, it’s the first Camaro model on our list. It was also Chevrolet's first response to the growing influence and popularity of the Ford Mustang Model. About 220,906 units, in total, of this model were sold, thereby leading to the birth of real rivalry that saw Chevrolet produce subsequent successful models.

Now a collector's dream asset, the 1967 model was beautifully crafted and made available as a coupe or convertible with a wide array of V8 engine options to choose from. The first, the best!

NEXT: Chevrolet's 10 Most Badass Muscle Cars, Ranked