I’ve been guilty of dismissing first-gen Camaros as boring and overrated just because there are so many of them out there. I’ve been sucked into an attitude problem by the mass of letters that I’d get at every magazine I’ve edited (including 4-Wheel & Off-Road!) griping that Camaros are just totally played out.

Then again, I own two of them, and there was a I time when I’d driven a Camaro faster than any other guy on the planet. So I’m conflicted.

But in this photo gallery I think you can see why the cars remain such hot commodities: versatility. You can build a Camaro into any form of hot rod you want, from handler to street/strip to Pro Street to Bonneville racer. They are all represented here in a gallery of 41 shots of first-gens.