Chevy Has Revived A Barely Street-Legal Version Of Its Iconic Camaro

Everyone on scene at the 2013 New York Auto Show, which kicked off this morning, knew Chevrolet was bringing its new version of the Camaro SS to the Jacob Javits Center.

More surprising was the car Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America, introduced after the SS.

At what was by far the show's loudest press conference so far (even about 100 yards from the stage, the floor was vibrating), the Z/28, perhaps the most iconic Camaro in history, made its return.

The original 1967 Z/28 didn't come with air conditioning or an automatic transmission, to make sure it performed at its very best on the track.

The new incarnation is similarly track-oriented. It's street-legal, but with no frills: Chevy engineers made the rear windows thinner, took out trunk carpeting and insulation, and made air conditioning optional, all in the name of weight savings and improved performance.

They took out all but one speaker. Reuss said he wanted to take all of them out, but at least one is required in street-legal cars, to play the chime that reminds passengers to put on their seat belts

The 2014 Z/28 is a muscular car, with impressive stats: estimated 500 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque.

The debut caused quite a bit of excitement. As the photo above shows, even about half an hour after the end of the press conference, dozens of journalists were still crowded around the reborn Camaro.