While GM has been on the cutting edge of numerous technological feats, including building the first engine to make 1 horsepower per cubic-inch, by the mid-60s GM had fallen far behind Ford in the pony car war. The Ford Mustang forced GM to respond, though GM brought out the big guns with the introduction of the 1967 Camaro. Today the Camaro continues to dominate the Mustang on the sales chart, and both cars feed into a legacy of Chevy performance.

In this special edition of GM’s YouTube series Then & Now – Faces of GM, VP of Chevy marketing in the U.S. Chris Perry talks both original and contemporary Camaros, and why these cars remain iconic.

As most muscle car history buffs already know, the 1967 Camaro debuted with the soon-to-be-legendary small-block 350 V8 engine. This engine has since come to underpin nearly every classic in the Chevy lineup, and in the Camaro it was a performance powerhouse. GM rated the 350 engine in the SS model at 295 horsepower and 380 ft-lbs of torque.

Now those are some impressive numbers, but the 2013 Camaro SS absolutely blows the ‘67 model out of the water. The 6.2 liter V8 engine packs up to 426 horsepower and 410 ft-lbs of torque, and stepping up to the supercharged ZL1 model unleashes 580 tire-melting horsepower. Then there’s the 500 horsepower Z28 model, a nod to the original Z28 package that debuted alongside the ‘67 Camaro.

Classic or contemporary, you can’t go wrong with a Camaro. But if you had to choose, which would you rather drive?