After slamming together the first-generation Camaro, GM knew that a quick update was going to be needed if the Camaro had a prayer against the Ford Mustang. For 1970, that prayer was answered. The Camaro, in it’s second generation, would last eleven years, go through three facelifts (1974, 1975 and 1978), suffer through two OPEC crisis and a major GM strike, and miss the ax a couple of times as high performers fell out of fashion according to the marketing teams. It looked sleek, with a shape that somewhat hinted at the Ferrari Daytona, and it handled great. Even by today’s standards, the second-gen Camaro is a pretty decent corner-carver and when properly built up, they become surgical.

Car and Track tested out this 1971 Rally Sport 350, a bit of a strange duck options-wise. It’s one of the more base-level Camaros…the Rally Sport package was a handling package instead of just an appearance deal, and the 350 under the hood is a two-barrel variety. Pay attention to the in-car shots…this is a column-shifted automatic Camaro, a pretty rare sight. Power was starting to come down and host Bud Lindemann knew it, but unlike his absolute roasting of a 1974 Camaro, here he still holds plenty of praise for the “Hugger”. He doesn’t hold back about the tiny trunk, though…