#2 (Excellent) condition average value: $50,100
The fourth-generation Camaro can be best summed up with the word “evolution”—it changed more throughout its run than during any other era. This is most evident in the engine room. The motor it debuted with, the 5.7-liter LT1, represented serious performance in 1993, but is these days often maligned for its finicky Opti spark ignition. This likely has quite a bit to do with the fact that later fourth-gens got the completely redesigned, LS1 small-block V-8. This engine brought the performance to a whole new level and allowed sub $25k Z-28s to run with some of the hottest sports cars of the day.
With the LS1 being such a solid performer, it is a bit curious that the most expensive fourth gen Camaro is not a LS1 based car. To be fair, it isn’t an LT1 car either. For 1996, the legendary Camaro SS badge returned with the help of Street Legal Performance (SLP), the same people responsible for the Pontiac Firehawk. Like with the Firehawk, a Camaro SS could be ordered directly through your Chevrolet dealer, technically making this a regular production Camaro. In 1997, like with the Firehawk, SLP offered a small number of cars with the LT4 engines plucked from the Corvette program.
These cars came only as 30th Anniversary edition Super Sports and were limited to 100 cars. These cars come up for sale infrequently and often fly under the radar, but they can bring strong prices, making them the most valuable Camaro you could’ve ordered from your Chevy dealer (GMMG built a run of tuned-up ZL1 Super Car Camaros, which can bring up to six figures). Compared to Firebird prices, the Camaro and Firebird run neck-and-neck in value, with a slight edge to the Firebird, but it’s hard to argue with pop up headlights and nostril hood scoops.