FIRST CAMARO EVER BUILT: Reunited with 1967 Norwood Plant Manager Herb Leitz at the Barrett-Jackson Collection Showroom

May 4, 2015
Posted by Barrett-Jackson

The very first Camaro pilot car, VIN #N100001, sits on display with other historic items from the Chevrolet Norwood Plant.

In the mid-1960s, General Motors developed a platform in response to Ford’s Mustang — the car that created the ground breaking long-nose, short tail “Pony Car” category. Of course, Ford’s sporty little four-seat Mustang was a resounding success. To level the playing field, GM’s design and engineering departments kicked their efforts into high gear. Two legendary models, the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, emerged in short order. Camaros were produced, in part, at the Norwood, Ohio plant under the F-body platform moniker.

Last week, the very first of 49 hand-built pilot cars, VIN #N10001, set up temporary residence at the **Barrett-Jackson Collection Showroom **in Scottsdale, where it was reunited with a man who played a key role in that first Camaro’s birth. Scottsdale resident Herb Leitz, 89, was the Norwood Plant Manager when the history-making car rolled off the line. “I wanted Norwood to build the best quality car for the market,” he said. “The need to head off Mustang sales made a high-production quota a priority, and the DeLorean engineers were all over the plant, helping create the same excitement given to the 1964 GTO.”

The success of the Camaro is now in the history books, and that first-generation car eventually went on to inspire the design of the today’s retro-looking fifth-generation Camaro. Leitz has a right to be proud.

Retired Norwood Plant Manager Herb Leitz, a driving force behind the Camaro’s legacy, sits in the driver’s seat as he’s reunited with this very special car.

Leitz autographs the very first Camaro pilot car, VIN #N100001.

Automotive enthusiasts of all ages joined in on the celebration.

Herb Leitz and Craig Jackson discuss the history of the Chevrolet Camaro.

Camaro fans and media surround Leitz as he shares stories of the Camaro’s legacy.