Spied: 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spy photo (Credit: YouTube)

After giving its legendary muscle car a tremendous makeover for a sixth generation, Chevrolet has been hard at work creating a hotter version. We now have spy video of what appears to be the 2017 Camaro ZL1 covered in camo, testing on the Nurburgring.

YouTube user cvdzijden, who likes to post videos of supercars in action, caught the Chevy in action on the ‘Ring. You can watch the video below and draw your own conclusions about the car, which sounds great and seems to take the track in stride.

2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spy photo (Credit: YouTube)

In the past, the Camaro ZL1 was known as a drag strip monster, but it appears Chevrolet is going in a different direction this time. The vehicle attacks the turns adeptly, which is impressive. We can see that that car has a new front end, complete with massive air intakes and a lip spoiler. The side sills are pretty substantial. At the rear are four large exhaust outlets.

Some think that the car in the video is in fact the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, but they’re well in the minority. All signs point to it being the much-rumored upcoming ZL1. If you crank the volume in the video below, about halfway through you can catch a hint of a supercharger whine, which would indicate it’s the ZL1 using a force-fed LT4, which is also used quite effectively in the Corvette ZO6 and Cadillac CTS-V. If so, output should be well over 600 horsepower, blowing away the most recent ZL1. The heat extractor on the hood reinforces suspicions that this is what’s crammed underneath. Admittedly it’s not absolutely clear there’s a supercharger, because the whine in the video is faint (thanks to the aggressive exhaust and tires squealing) so there’s an outside chance it could be a naturally-aspirated LT4.

2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spy photo (Credit: YouTube)

This new, albeit scant, information on the upcoming Camaro ZL1 is of course generating plenty of trash talk from the Mustang crowd. Expect Challenger fans to pile on as well, because that’s how the American muscle car wars go. The good news is enthusiasts benefit from this back-and-forth, so in the end it’s a good thing.