On occasion, Detroit comes up with a one-year wonder that strikes a chord with its audience. Chevy's first facelift of its pony car was one of those chords, and the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396 provided the rockin' muscle car backbeat.

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The unique styling of the 1969 Camaro was carried into the 1970 model year when the next-generation Camaro was delayed.
©2007 Publications International, Ltd.
All-new sheetmetal made for a strikingly different bow tie pony car. The 1969
Chevrolet Camaro SS 396 represented the muscle car bloodline. This is one
of the few convertibles fitted with the top-drawer version of the 396-cid V-8. See more muscle car pictures.

A deft revamp of the original 1967-68 body shell created unique styling used for just this season. Good thing the '69s were so interesting. As it turned out, they had to be carried into the '70 model year when production problems delayed introduction of the fully redesigned next-generation Camaro.

The most-popular enthusiast Camaro was again the Super Sport, which added about $300 to a coupe or convertible and included a 300-bhp 350-cid V-8, stiff suspension, and F70x14 tires. Power front disc brakes were now part of the package, as were the nonfunctional hood ports previously exclusive to SS 396s. An extra $79 landed the new cowl-induction hood with its functional rear-facing inlet. The hidden-headlamp Rally Sport option cost $132. The interior was updated, too, and a new $95 gauge pack put a round tach in the instrument pod and auxiliary dials on the center console.

The three engine offerings in the SS 396 increased horsepower by increments of 25 over the base Camaro.
©2007 Publications International, Ltd.
Top version of the 396 was tagged L78 and rated at 375 bhp. It had solid lifters,
big-port heads, and an 800-cfm Holly on a low-rise aluminum manifold.

Except for rare 427-cid specials, big-cube Camaro muscle was best expressed in the SS 396. The respected engine was back in three basic states of tune: 325 and 350 bhp, and the 375-bhp L78, which cost $316. For $711, Chevy would fit an L78 with aluminum heads. It called these L89s and rated them at 375 bhp; 311 went into Camaros.

The SS 396 was front-heavy, with nearly 60 percent of the car's weight over the front axle
©2007 Publications International, Ltd.
The optional Special Interior Group included a simulated woodgrain
steering wheel and a Sports console with exta gauges.

Chevy worked to improve the behavior of the big-block Camaro's rear suspension. But the 396 had so much torque and put so many pounds over the nose -- 59.3 percent of an SS 396's weight was on the front axle -- that the lightly loaded rear axle struggled to get the power down in hole shots. "At the mere suggestion of work, the axle leaps and hops, judders and bucks..." said Road Test. "The rear suspension is (the) weak linkage between axle and car, and it drags the 396 Camaro down to the level of just another Camaro."

Savvy street racers attacked the problem with aftermarket traction kits, which cut ETs significantly. And as time would prove, no '69 was "just another Camaro."

The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396
Specifications
Wheelbase, inches: 108.1
Weight, lbs: 3,790
Number built: 13,970
Base price: $3,100

Top Available Engine
Type: ohv V-8
Displacement, cid: 396
Fuel system: 1 x 4bbl.
Compression ratio: 11.0:1
Horsepower @ rpm: 375 @ 5600
Torque @ rpm: 415 @ 4600

Representative Performance
0-60 mph, sec: 6.8
1/4 mile, sec. @ mph: 14.7 @ 98.7

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