1970 Chevrolet Camaro Drag Races 1972 Pontiac GTO, Someone Gets Walked

1969 marked the end of the line for the first-generation Camaro. Chevrolet debuted a completely redesigned pony car for 1970, now with a more muscular design and upgraded engines. The Z/28 package remained in production, but Chevy made drastic changes. For starters, the old 302-cubic-inch (4.9-liter) V8 was replaced by a 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) LT-1.

The new mill brought more oomph under the Z/28s hood. Rated at 360 horsepower and 380 pound-feet (515 Nm) of torque, it generates a solid 70 horses and 90 pound-feet (122 Nm) more than its predecessor. The 1970 Z/28 was also much quicker than the first-gen car, but we will find out more about that in a drag race against a 1972 Pontiac GTO.

The GTO was one of the hottest muscle cars out there in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And like most American performance cars, it started to lose power in 1972. However, Pontiac continued to offer a 455-cubic-inch (7.4-liter) H.O. mill good for an impressive 300 horsepower and 415 pound-feet (563 Nm) of twist that year.

And we're talking about net figures here, which make the 1972 GTO about as powerful as the 1970 Camaro Z/28, which was marketed using gross output numbers. But while the GTO is no slouch when it comes to power, it's more than 200 pounds (91 kg) heavier and features a manual gearbox, which doesn't seem to be of much help in this drag race.

All told, the GTO doesn't stand a chance against the 1970 Camaro, which takes the by with a 13.59-second ET. That's a full second quicker than the GTO. The second race has a similar result, with the Camaro crossing the line after 13.62 clicks, 1.1 seconds faster than its GM sibling.

But it's an entertaining race to watch, especially if you're into muscle cars from the late golden era. What's more, the cars you'll be seeing below are quite rare too. Chevrolet sold only 873 Camaro Z/28s in 1970, while Pontiac build just 310 GTOs with the 455 H.O. V8 and manual transmission in 1972.