1982 Chevrolet Camaro Berlinetta | Retro Review 

i seriously hope that the kid, john, now a full grown man, sees this video and is reminded of his letter. thats awesome

I was 10 in 82 and watched this show religiously. I had to watch this, The Computer Chronicles, & This Old House. My parents thought it weird but I’m the child they call when the car, the computer, or something in the house breaks.

When John said he would like to see a Camaro, I think he meant a Z28. 😁

Kid: Man that car is awesome! Grown up kid: I was such an idiot, that thing had no balls.

So much torque the chasis twisted coming off the line.

The way that hood bends when he opens it lol cars of the 80s lol 😅😅😅😅😅

I just lost it watching that braking test in the intro. 🤣

My grandfather had an 83 Berlinetta with the 305 v8 and 5 speed. I learned to drive in that car at 13 years old on the backroads in my small town. My grandpa had got the car new because his GF at the time loved them, they broke up a year later and my dad and I were the only ones who ever drove the car. When he sold the car in the mid 2000's it still had under 20k original miles on it. They are a blast to drive, especially as a young teenager, great memories in a Berlinetta.

"Only engine power held our speeds back in the slalom" thats hilarious. I've never heard that one before

1:41 John: THE LONG WIDE FLAT DASH IS DEVOID OF EVEN THE SMALLEST GLOVEBOX! LOL

I had a 4 cylinder 2.5 iron duke which produced 90 horsepower with a 4 speed stick. It was pathetic and when you turned on the AC it got worse. As a teenager in my senior year 1985 the kids called me night rider lol, it was actually dark blue but at least it looked good with the after market rims. 😂

They called it heavy at 3100 lbs 😂. Wow Things have changed

Keep in mind this replaced the previous gen Berlinetta or Type-LT, which often was ordered with a 305 with ~130 hp in a car several hundred pounds heavier than this, meaning they had similar (slow) performance. These were sportier alternatives to a Cutlass or Monte Carlo; performance enthusiasts ordered the Z-28 or optioned up a sport coupe with the V8, manual and F-41 suspension.

Was Italian for slug. Love it

This brings me back so many memories. I had a new red 1983 Camaro base model and my friends and I had some really good times in that car. Traded it in after two years of nothing but problems… still I have some fond memories with my Camaro

Now I understand why old dudes called it "the secretary car"

I love the 80s Camaro. I had the 86 Z28, brown and beige with gold rims. Loved that V8 beast!

Wow, this makes me appreciate my 1982 Corvette quite a bit more.

Finally a proper retro review

Remember these as a teen when they came out. Love the 80's retro reviews. 😄

I remember seeing the weird gauges as a kid. Even then, I didn't understand why GM would make such a thing.

Best looking production car ever????? Did they forget about the 50s, 60s?

I had a friend with this car, I was shocked how slow it was compared to an early 70s one

I love 3rd Gen F bodies, but this a great reminder of it's underdeveloped and extremely humble beginnings. The only thing sporty about this one was the shape.

I love the gold trim and wheels on the Berlinetta. Regardless of the color, the gold accents looked good on these.

I never understood how gm thought the 2.8 was sufficient. The 4.3 would have been great but wasn’t available yet but the 3.8 was.

Drop in an aftermarket 5.7L 350 V8 and watch the horsepower numbers rapidly increase. Man, that's a beautiful 3rd gen Camaro though! My favorite's still the 2nd gen '78-'81.

The Chevrolet Camaro 1982 was expensive. Most people could not afford it. You were looking back then over $12,000.

And people said the Mustang braking was awful. It may nose dive, but at least it stopped straight!

The only kid who had ever wanted to be car salesman 🤣🤣🤣

John is now 53 years old. 😯

My dad owned a 1983 Camaro Berlinetta back in the early 90s. It was a salvaged title car and was rebuilt from a minor accident. Repainted in a later model bright red color. He said it was a slow car, but enjoyable nonetheless.

My son has the ‘84 Camaro with 5 speed manual and a blown 2.8 V6. It currently sits in the garage.

0:09...............John Tracey is in his early 50's by now, & I am sure he has had MANY of these over the years!!! I actually wrote to MotorWeek, myself in 1990, asking who sang "Rusty Old American Dream", which was played during one of Craig Singhaus' "Taking The High Road" segments about restomods. I thought it was James Taylor, but it turned out to be David Wilcox.

Times have changed for real.

That steering wheel... what in the world were they thinking 😂

My brother had one of these brand new...I beat him in a drag race with my 79 olds wagon....he wasn't happy....I beat him easily! 😀👍

These are awesome time machine pieces

That is one radical thumbnail

I hope John had a long and successful career in care sales or wherever else he wound up! Wouldn’t it be neat if he saw this video?

2:04 WOW! 55 to 85 MPH in RED! definitely those were much slower times... I remember my Grandfather 1985 Jeep Wagoneer limited with the GM 2.8L OMG! that XJ was sloooooooooooooooooooooow!

I had a 83 firebird with the 2.8 - 4 speed auto ! Really reliable and felt pretty spirited !

I was 22 years old in 82 and my boss at the time got his wife an 82 Berlinetta with a V-6 and it was a turd!! I had a 72 Mercury Monterey at the time and it would run circles around the thing. 😆 A few months later I bought a 82 Mustang GT and it was way faster than any 82 Camaro including a Z/28!! The 6 cylinder Camaro didn’t stand a chance!! He had way more problems with the Camaro during the few years he had it. The only problem I had with the Mustang was keeping rear tires on it. It had the stupid TRX tires from Michelin and they weren’t cheap either. First brand new car I bought.

Very cute letter from the kid. I watched MotorWeek religiously back then. For those born later, this was the height of the malaise era and new American cars were just not very good back then.

I had one a 1983 Berlinetta model Silver with T-Tops and V8, really enjoyed that car.

I'm 62, and remember tons of these on road in good old days. 80's were the Best. What happened to my America?? It's so Sad. Vehicles were affordable. Even blue collar workers like me could afford a nice vehicle. Today they cost as much as house of the 80's. My 1st single house cost 66k in 1985. Yup, America is Dead.

Always a nice looking model that I would totally rock

Slug or non, my kingdom for an unlimited supply of old cars like this.

What a thumbnail 😂 and what a car!

Nice ride

19.4 quarter mile at 70mph?! Ahh, the Detroit 'Malaise Era'... BTW - my '86 S10 Blazer had the 2.8 V6 with TBI...😮😅

That back hatch sounded like the Munster's dungeon door.

Imagine saying you have a camaro and it does the 1/4 mile in 20 seconds 😅

No 4 speed automatic was available in 1982. They had a 3 speed automatic and 4 speed manual that year. In 1983, they were updated to a 4 speed auto and 5 speed manual.

The 1982 Camaro Berlinetta was chevy’s version of the Delorian - looos fast but completely GUTLESS. Now if it had the 4.3 V6 (which didn’t exist then, I know- I’m talking later) which has huge displacement because it’s a 350 with 2 cylinders chopped off, and even dared to super or turbo charge it - then holy shit they would have had something. Something really really good

Even back in the day, the 2.8 V6 in the one my parents bought as a “third car” with its 135 horsepower (and automatic transmission) was both slow and there was absolutely no joy in reving the low power pushrod engine. It was competent enough to accelerate and keep up with traffic, but the engine never inspired any antics. I guess that might have been the point. In this featured car, 102 horsepower would have been even more depressing. Pretty and beautiful cars, though. As with this test car, or the one I drive- it’s the worst of both possible options- neither this engine, nor its slush box transmission were inspiring to drive. At least the manual transmission would have at least made the car more engaging to drive, if not any bit discernibly faster. Oh well, it was a nice car and I took very good care of it, until my brother got a hold of it and also needed something to drive in high school…

That berlinetta Camaro in the 80s should have a digital dashboard instead of the needles! Especially the very confusing speedometer!

That brake test looked pretty fun, honestly. 😂

Those 80 interior were Soo utilitarian but we didn't seem to mind😅

You’re never too young to dream.

The double needle speedometer shown at the 1:57 mark is a quirky, yet interesting feature on the Camaro Berlinetta.

It's coming right for us!

My mom is 82. She laughed at how slow the car took off when floored.

2:35 Now thats neck snapping acceleration from a true muscle car. Only thing that’ll push you more is that braking performance

Children of the 80s were probably the best in history.

To me-a stark reminder of what went wrong with the American car industry after the late 60s-seeming to embrace the motto-"let's just make it good enough to get people to buy it-but not-great"-because they took the American consumer for granted-& I feel like they-still-haven't entirely shaken that thinking.

That lag between first and second gear was funny as hell

At 2:08 I remember as a Kid 70s, Always Wrap Dust off the Top Pot

2:36 oh my god look at thing crawl

My coworker back like 10 years ago had a silver 82 Berlinetta he called MJ, stinkbugged out with two huge racing slicks in the back and funny car dragsters in the front, that thing was GUTLESS lol. My Geo Metro would smoke that thing, today it sits under a tarp on the side of his house rotting away...

2:00 lol

“But just as we were wondering if Berlinetta was Italian for slug…” 😂😂😂

Nice Thumbnail Motorweek 😂😂😂

When they came out I thought it was named after Eddie VH's wife.

I had a 1984 couple, similar car. It was drop dead gorgeous. Unfortunately it had the build quality of high school shop project and most of the car dropped dead too 😂

3100 lbs.? My 2004 Golf weight 3200 lbs. 102 hp from a 2.8 v6. My Golf has 115 hp from a 2.0 4 cylinder.

And yet I would still like to have one today lol

I didn’t get to ride in the earlier years. But by 1986 (the 1985 model year 2.8 got a modest boost in hp to 135) it certainly didn’t feel slow anymore.

It's really sad that i remember this episode and that letter... i was 7 and wanted to write in too but mom wouldn't let me. Lol

Sou aqui do Brasil e fã do Mustang e Camaro

That V6 was not General Motors at its finest. American Motors sourced that engine it was the “big” engine in my Mom’s 1984 Jeep Cherokee.

my friend had one of these

I actually had always wondered what the 1/4 mile was on those. Now I wish I hadn't asked, haha. I wonder what the Iron Duke did in the quarter? Wait, wait... even they wouldn't recommend it, lol.

I met a lady who had an RS. She thought it must have stood for “really slow”.

A 1982 Toyota Celica Supra tested by motorweek made 145hp out of a 2.8 inline 6 NA. 😅😅😅 Still a lovely car. I'd have one with a 305 or a 350.

John Tracey from Ellicott City, Maryland. Born in 1971 - WHERE ARE YOU?

please I need information about 1997 Pontiac grand prix GTP 3.8 SUPERCHARGER

my dad had a 4cyl firebird.....that thing couldn't get out of its own way. Had like what 90 hp 😂

That hopeful kid, as an adult, most likely discovered the True Reputation of Car Salesmen and became an Car Designer instead!!

Boy have times changed! Did you people noticed when he lifted the hood looked like a cardboard with that huge gap when opened!😂

LOL it doesn't have rack-and-pinion steering. Same exact part number recirculating ball steering box as mid sized A/G body and 2wd S10 pickup. Z28 got tighter ratio

Hideous interior!

Woah!

Best styling out of Detroit ever? EVER????? I didn't know Ronnie Milsap was allowed to test drive cars.....

also about 2012 Camara ZL1 1LE

If the 6-cyl spewed out 102 horses then I shudder to think what the 4-Cyl did 😮. On the positive side… would probably make for a good engine on a lawn mower nowadays 😅.

I hope they did their brake tests absolutely last before returning the cars back then. Their brake testing simply must flat spot the tires. *Would have loved to see them test handling and braking on cars back then in the wet. That's when cars would just become spinning tops on the wet highway in a panic braking stop.

What sporty things were there in that Camaro? Its body?

My first car was a 1995 Civic. Half the displacement, 2 less cylinders and the exact same horsepower as this lunk 😂

I thought the 2.8 MPFI was weak at 130 horses.But 102?That's just sad.But,better days are coming (1985 5.0 TPI)...