Camaro, Corvette Being Killed Off in Europe by New Regulations

New emission laws set to take effect on August 31 will make it illegal for dealers to sell the Chevrolet Camaro or Corvette.

If you live in Europe and you are planning to buy a new Chevrolet Camaro or Corvette from your local dealership, you need to do so before August 31, 2019. According to the crew at Motoring Research, that is the day on which the new European Union emission regulations go into effect and with the 6.2-liter LT1 V8 failing to meet the new requirements, Chevy’s legendary muscle car and sports car will no longer be available in the new car market.

Just to be clear, the cars are not banned from road use, so Chevy lovers in the United Kingdom or anywhere else in the E.U. can buy a used Camaro or Corvette, but dealerships will no longer be permitted to sell these two performance cars fresh off of the boat.

No 6.2 for You

Unfortunately, the original source didn’t offer any detail as to why the LT1 fails to meet the new European emission requirements, so we are not sure if it is engine size issue or if the powerful V8 creates too many harmful gases for Europe’s fragile environment, but start at the end of August, new car dealerships will not be allowed to sell either car.

For those unsure, the Camaro is not offered with the four-cylinder or V6 engine overseas, so with the LT1 being the standard engine in the muscle car, it will no longer be legal in the new car market. Of course, with the Corvette coming with a 6.2-liter V8 in every trim, it isn’t legal either.

Worse yet, with the new C8 Corvette expected to be powered by some variation of the LT1, there is a chance that it also will not meet European emission requirements, so the mid-engine Chevy sports car may not be exported to Europe at all by General Motors.

Minor Impact for Most

This is a bummer for the European Chevy fans who were hoping to get into a new American performance car later this year, but it won’t have much of an impact on sales numbers in Europe. Only one dealership in the United Kingdom sells both the Camaro and the Corvette, with Ian Allan Motors of Virginia Water currently handling the final batch of Chevy performance cars shipped to that area.

As you might expect, both of these cars are fairly pricey overseas, with the Camaro starting at £39,995 and the Corvette starting at £67,000. Those numbers convert to roughly $51,000 and $85,000, so while they offer solid bang-for-the-buck, these aren’t high volume cars in Europe.

In addition to the big price tags, neither of these cars are built with the right-hand-drive configuration that is used in some parts of Europe, including the U.K. The Ford Mustang saw sales boom with the introduction of a factory-built right-drive layout and a fuel-friend turbocharged four-cylinder engine, but Chevrolet has not shown any interest in building right-drive Camaros and Corvettes. As a result, folks in areas where they drive on the “other side of the road” are less likely to buy a car that requires drivers to effectively sit on the wrong side of the car.

With any luck, the next generation Camaro will be offered in right-hand-drive with smaller engines that fit within European emission laws, but as of the end of August, the Camaro and Corvette will no longer be available in Chevy dealerships across Europe, so if you want one, you had better act quickly.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com