2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS

The Camaro name is legendary among fans of American muscle cars. It ranks right up there with Ford’s Mustang and Dodge’s Challenger in the A-list of US street cars – performance vehicles aimed at the common man.

Indeed, the Camaro was originally conceived in response to the Mustang. The first generation was unleashed by Chevrolet in 1966 and 43 years later, it’s back, in its fifth generation and after a seven year absence. Perhaps spurred to revive the Camaro name by the success of the Mustang, Chevrolet has ensured that the two old adversaries are squaring up again.

We’ve yet to drive the Mustang – we’ll be doing so very soon – but Ford will need something very impressive to compete against the Camaro. It’s already got an image boost from its appearance in the new Transformers movies, but this is no toy. It’s a proper performance car, and we like it a lot.

The looks of the car strike a great balance between retro and futuristic. The classic muscle car shape remains – high shoulders, low roof and a big, open face housing the grille and frowning headlights. But the Camaro still manages to look defiantly 21st century, with slick looking dual exhausts, a muscular stance and 20-inch alloy wheels as standard. Shame about the fake vents in the bonnet of the SS and the filled-in vents in the rear arches, though.

Inside, the quality is of a pleasantly high calibre – not up to that of Toyota or Volkswagen, but much better than Chevrolets of recent years. Although there are a few areas of hard plastic, they all feel like they’ve been screwed together well. Despite the size of the car, it feels somewhat cramped inside, especially if, like me, you’re fairly tall. Even with the seat at its lowest setting, my head was brushing the roof and I had to recline more than I’d like. Thankfully the steering wheel adjusts for both rake and reach, offsetting the discomfort a little.

The design inside is again a mix of old and new. The bold, square instrument gauges and the cluster of four square gauges in the centre console are the most obvious hark back to Camaros of old, but there’s plenty of modern kit too. There’s a six-CD changer, cruise control and optional Bluetooth phone connectivity and USB support for iPods. The seats are supportive and comfy, with leather upholstery and electric adjustment as standard.  Don’t try and use the rear seats for anything other than luggage or very small children though – it’s severely cramped back there.

Officially, there are two version of the 2010 Camaro in the Middle East, but in reality there are three. The entry-level model is the V6-powered LT, sporting a 304bhp 3.6-litre engine under the bonnet and available with either a six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic.

The same options are available for the V8-sporting SS, but the engines for the manual and automatic versions are different. The six-speed manual is attached to a 6.2-litre engine that develops 422 bhp. It’s a treat, classically V8 in character with a lovely boom from the exhaust and plenty of grunt low in the rev range. The gearbox is decent too, with a short-ish throw and a nice clunky action. It feels hefty, as everything in a muscle car should, without being so industrial that you need both hands to move it.