Yesterday, Chevrolet released the pricing for the 2014 Camaro Z/28 and shortly after doing so, people all over the globe freaked out. What? It is $75k and there is no air conditioning? Yes, it is $75-large and air conditioning, as well as a six speaker stereo are optional (the car comes with one speaker standard). Lots of places then became critical of Chevrolet for pricing a Camaro so high and openly wondered who would pony up the money for such a car and how many they would sell. Here’s the simple fact, they never planned on selling a whole lot of them and the people who are going to buy them aren’t the ones who give a rat’s ass about the $75k price tag. The car is a max effort, minimal frill machine. It has lots of carbon fiber in it, the LS7 engines are going to be assembled by hand on a special line in the Bowling Green, Kentucky GM plant. It has massive tires and wheels on it. The thing was four seconds faster around the ‘Ring than the ZL1. If there was ever a “halo” Camaro, this is it and the point of the exercise was not to design and build a car that the typical Camaro buyer would walk into a showroom and inquire about. Are we saying that we’d pay $75,000 for it? Probably not but there are enough people who will that Chevy will sell every one that they make.

There are lots of unique touches on the car like the big front air splitter, the hand built LS7, the Torsen rear differential, gnarly “spool valve” suspension dampeners, 19lb forged aluminum wheels, Pirelli P-Zero Trofeo R tires that have masisve 305mm section width up front and rear, Brembo carbon brakes, and other special tricks like the use of carbon fiber to take about 300lbs off the total weight of the car. The car will pull 1.08g in cornering and 1.5g during all out braking. That will be something to experience and you better hope your belts are right when you throw the anchor out and feel 1.5 times your body weight up against them!

When we said that this was a max effort car, we weren’t kidding. Here’s more examples of weight saving measures, right from the GM Media site –

Additional examples of weight savings include: 

• Elimination of the tire-inflator kit, except for Rhode Island and New Hampshire, where it is required by law
• Removal of some interior sound deadener, as well as trunk carpet
• Use of a smaller, lighter battery
• Thinner  rear-window glass – 3.2 mm vs. the standard 3.5 mm
• Elimination of high-intensity discharge, or HID, headlamps and fog lights
• No air conditioning except as part of the single option package.

The Ford guys are going to say it is still to expensive and heavy. The Camaro haters are going to say that it is ugly. The old school only guys are going to say that it is completely insane to pay more for a car that has less options, amenities, etc. The bottom line to us is that if the car performs as capably as Chevrolet claims that it will, there’s not another pony car ever built that can hang with it. Ok, now commence freaking out about the price in the comment section.

SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE FULL RELEASE FROM CHEVROLET! 

DETROIT – Chevrolet today announced the 2014 Camaro Z/28 will go on sale this spring with a suggested retail price of $75,000, including a $995 destination charge, but excluding tax, title, license and dealer fees.

The new Z/28 is offered in five exterior colors – Red Hot, Black, Silver Ice Metallic, Ashen Gray Metallic and Summit White. Only a single option is available: A $1,150 package that adds air conditioning and a total of six audio speakers. The standard Z/28 package includes one speaker.

“The Camaro Z/28 is an uncompromising performer that’s bred for the track – and every one of its unique components supports the goal of faster lap times,” said Mark Reuss, president, General Motors North America. “It takes the Z/28 back to its racing roots and adds to the strong lineup of Chevrolet performance cars, including a revamped Camaro SS and supercharged ZL1, as well as the SS sedan, Corvette Stingray convertible and 2015 Corvette Z06, which we’ll introduce at the North American International Auto Show next week.”

The Z/28’s unique exterior is designed like a race car to produce downforce that presses the tires against the track for greater grip – up to 1.08 g in cornering acceleration – and faster lap times. The aerodynamically optimized design helped the Camaro Z/28 log a  lap on Germany’s legendaryNürburgring road course that was four seconds faster than the Camaro ZL1’s and beat published times for the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640.

Power comes from the 7.0L LS7 engine, with dry-sump oiling, rated at an SAE-certified 505 horsepower (376 kW) and 481 lb-ft of torque (652 Nm). The engine will be built by hand at the new Performance Build Center within GM’s Bowling Green assembly plant.

A close-ratio six-speed manual transmission is the only transmission offered and power is distributed to the rear wheels via a Torsen limited-slip differential featuring a helical gear set, rather than traditional clutch packs, for optimal traction. The differential works in unison with Chevrolet’s proprietary Performance Traction Management system, allowing drivers to adjust the level of throttle and braking intervention to match their capability and driving environment.

The Camaro Z/28 is also one of the first production cars fitted with race-proven, spool-valve dampers, which allow four-way damping control, enabling engineers to precisely tune both bump and rebound settings for high-speed and low-speed wheel motions. The wider tuning range also allows dramatically greater damper stiffness without a significant change in ride quality. Additional chassis changes include stiffer spring and bushing rates for improved cornering response.

Lightweight, 19-inch forged aluminum wheels and Pirelli PZero Trofeo R tires reduce unsprung weight by 49.6 pounds (22.5 kilograms) per car compared to the 20-inch wheels standard on Camaro SS and ZL1.

The massive 305/30ZR19 PZero Trofeo R tires represent the first production-car application in the industry and are believed to be the widest front tire on any production car. To fully exploit their grip, the Z/28 also features Brembo Carbon Ceramic Matrix™ rotors and fixed, monoblock calipers. The large 394 x 36 mm front rotors are paired with six-piston calipers, while the 390 x 32 mm rear rotors are paired four-piston calipers. Compared to similar-size, two-piece steel rotors, the lightweight carbon discs save 28 pounds (12.5 kg) per car.

The combination of tire grip and braking power enable the Camaro Z/28 to achieve at least 1.5 g in deceleration. With standard front brake cooling ducts, the Z/28 is also capable of continuous track use.

Interior details

On the interior, the Camaro Z/28 features trim in a distinctive, matte-metallic finish called Octane, a flat-bottom steering wheel and Recaro seats with microfiber inserts. The seats feature aggressive bolsters for high-performance driving, as well as seat cutouts inspired by the five-point harnesses found on racing seats. To save weight, both front seats incorporate manual adjustment.

The rear seats of the Z/28 have also been modified for weight reduction. Nine pounds, or four kilograms, were saved by eliminating the seat-back pass-through, as well as using high-density foam in place of the rigid structure of the seat back and steel mesh of the seat bottom.

Additional examples of weight savings include:

• Elimination of the tire-inflator kit, except for Rhode Island and New Hampshire, where it is required by law
• Removal of some interior sound deadener, as well as trunk carpet
• Use of a smaller, lighter battery
• Thinner  rear-window glass – 3.2 mm vs. the standard 3.5 mm
• Elimination of high-intensity discharge, or HID, headlamps and fog lights
• No air conditioning except as part of the single option package.

The Camaro Z/28 will be available to order in late January with the first cars delivered to customers in the spring. Rights to the first Camaro Z/28, VIN 0001, will be auctioned at Barrett Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz. on January 18.

The Z/28’s suggested retail price includes destination and freight charges, as well as the gas-guzzler tax.