The death of the Camaro and Firebird was a sad day for the people who loved them. This page is about the last cars made in 2002.

The Reasons the F-body Died

Announced September 25, 2001, GM had a press release stating:

Camaro and Firebird enthusiasts were angry and sad to hear this news. Coincidentally, it came only 14 days after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001.

Before I get too far into this story... or... to introduce the story... I want to reference an old post redzed from CamaroZ28.com wrote, titled "The Real Reasons Behind The Death of The F-Body - What I Learned From A GM Executive." He apparently had a conversation with a GM executive a long, long time ago who he never identified by name.

People like conspiracy theories and trying to find alternate answers. There was a LOT of that going on during this time period. Redzed was one of the few people who actually tried to find out why from someone who might know the actual answers, rather than just make assumptions off the top of their head like the rest of us. Redzed's claim about the death of the 4th gens being written in stone several years earlier than 2002 is true, but the rest...? Maybe some of it... but certainly not all.

The popularity of trucks and SUVs reduced demand for coupes, convertibles, sedans, and other smaller cars during this time in American history. In fact, most 2-door, 4-seater coupes had already died out before the end of the '90s (for example: the Mazda MX-6, Ford Probe, Toyota Supra, Mitsubishi 3000GT, Dodge Stealth, etc.). Camaros, Firebirds, Mustangs, and some luxury coupes and convertibles were some of the only ones to survive the '90s. Hatchbacks were starting to get popular as well. Some people assumed the Mustang beat the Camaro and Firebird (and it did sell better) and that GM killed them as an act of surrender, but the Mustang didn't kill the F-bodies, it was a change in buyer demand and government laws that killed the F-bodies. More on that below...

To bring us closer to present day: Domestic sedans, coupes, etc. still sold fairly well during the 2000s, so this was a time in history before Asian and European small cars caused American domestic manufacturers to kill many of the sedans and cars they had been selling, and focus on trucks and SUVs (which started happening at the end of the 2010s). In the early 2020s, American manufacturers hardly made any "regular cars" anymore, except for performance cars (the Camaro, Mustang, Charger, and Challenger still remained), and turned their primary attention toward trucks, SUVs, crossovers, hybrids, and electric vehicles.

Was there something significant about ending production at the end of August of 2002?

Via a response from Scott Settlemire in July 2021: "We stopped building Camaros on August 27, 2002 because the Camaro and Firebird would not meet federal head impact standards that were going into effect on September 1, 2002. In fact, any Camaro or Firebird that was still on plant property as of 12:01 AM on September 1 would not be saleable and would have to be scrapped. So regardless of what you hear, we stopped Camaro and Firebird production on August 27, 2002."

The Ste. Therese plant was shut down the very next day, further cementing the extinction of the F-body Chevrolet Camaro and it’s Pontiac Firebird cousin.

The last 2002 Camaros and Firebirds

With the demise of the Camaro and Firebird looming, GM gradually reduced the workforce at Ste. Therese, but the thinning process was a little more effective than GM had planned. When the 2002 Camaros and Firebirds were rolling down the assembly line, there weren't enough workers to build enough cars to fill all of the orders. The assembly line HAD TO shut down by September 1, 2002 due to the 4th gens not meeting the federal head-impact standards going into effect that day. Ultimately, the final Camaro and Firebird rolled off the line on August 27, 2002. [I don't know if orders were left unfulfilled, if all the orders were fulfilled, or what happened. If you do know FACTS that you can back up with DOCUMENTATION, please email me.]

Here's a photo of some of the last Camaros and Firebirds to be made. Note that they are mostly white and red. This photo was from the morning of the final day of production but is not necessarily of the final cars. However... it's possible that the red Camaro coupe with t-tops at the back of this line is the 3rd to last car off the line. If, and only if that is true, then... the 4th to last car was a white Firebird/Formula/Trans Am convertible... 5th to last a white Trans Am coupe with t-tops... 6th to last a red Camaro or Z28 coupe... etc.

Here's a photo of the last 3 cars on the production line. Keep in mind that the last Camaro is in the back of this photo, not the front. This is often a misunderstanding that people (myself included) have had over the years without thinking too much about it. Last = in the back.

The last Camaros and Firebirds to come off the line at St. Therese, Quebec didn't come off the line in numerical order. Scott Settlemire explained to me that the body shop at Saint Therese was an open body shop. The plant planning manager named Barry Oakley is who informed Scott about this concept. The concept of an open body shop meant that they could assign VIN numbers out of order. So the black Camaro I'll discuss below "technically" has the 3rd-to-last VIN, but that does NOT mean it was the 3rd-to-last F-body built. It came off the assembly line before the "last saleable" Camaro. By the VIN it is 3rd to last, yes, but in reality, it was built earlier, which is why it does not appear in photos of the last F-bodies.

Scott also went on to say that the last 2 weeks of production were only V6 and Z28 cars, no SSes (you can apply this information to Firebirds too, but I'm not going to talk about Firebirds here). SSes had to be shipped to SLP in nearby LaSalle and then come back to St. Therese for final inspection, so SS production stopped sooner. Scott was also the one who ordered the last Firebird and Camaro. They were ordered as non-saleable in order to remain in the GM Heritage Collection in perpetuity.

He ordered them in Bright Red because GM offered that color for all 4th gen years of production and he wanted them to have black (ebony) interiors. They were written off using Scott's auto show budget. Coincidentally (or... to be put another way... on purpose), the last Camaro built in Norwood Ohio was a bright red Z28 and the last Camaro built in Van Nuys California was a bright red Z28. GM built the last fourth gen cars on August 27 of 2002 and the last Norwood car was built August 26, and also the last Van Nuys car was built August 26. (Note: that sentence is beyond the scope of my knowledge and this website, but he was referring to 1st gen, 2nd gen, and/or 3rd gen Camaros being built in Norwood and Van Nuys, not 4th gens).

Another fun bit of trivia is that the "last saleable" Camaro that was sold at the KRUSE auction actually had a placeholder car on display! Scott Settlemire had to go all the way to West Hampton Long Island to find a bright red Z28 (at Pastor Chevrolet) that looked just like the last saleable Camaro. Scott took a turn table to Auburn, Indiana and put the visually identical Camaro on the turn table at the KRUSE auction for the event. Another fun detail is that the reason the auction benefited S.A.V.E (Students Against Violence Everywhere) was because that's where Scott requested the money go.

VINs for the last cars

If you have pictures/info on some of the other last dozen (or so) cars, I'm happy to add more information to this list.

2G1FP32G822172465 - the last Canadian Camaro to come off the assembly line. It's a black manual Z28 convertible with chrome wheels. Numerically, it's the last F-body sold to the public, but it actually came off the line earlier than a few other cars. I don't know how much earlier, but I don't think it appears in any pictures I've seen from the last day. Like all of the Canadian market Camaros, the speedometer and tachometer are in kilometers per hour. It has a Hurst shifter, which was a factory option starting in 2000 (RPO code BBS) so unless it was added by the owner, it should have BBS as an RPO code. Previously, a Hurst shifter had been an SLP option for SSes only. Mysteriously, this car has Camaro SS keychains & dash plaque (uninstalled, but included), SS car cover, and 35th Anniversary deck mat. I don't know why it has that stuff on it/with it.

According to Scott Settlemire: "Now.....you may ask...why wasn't the third from the last car VIN 22172465?....and the reason is this: only one in every 5 cars could be a convertible...because the convertible body would be diverted off the main line to have the convertible assembly installed.....then routed back onto the line.....so the last two cars were the only time that two convertibles came down the line next to each other. VIN 22172465 was a convertible...but as you can imagine, it came down the line sooner.....and was ordered by GM of Canada.......not sure whether they kept it or gave it away in an employee award........ "

It features these interesting RPO codes: DT2, SLL, R6P, Z31, E2C

3rd to last F-body: 2G1FP22G822172461 - the last saleable Camaro to come off the assembly line. Numerically, it is not the 2nd to last car (that's a Firebird that GM owns), but it did come off the line 3rd to last. It's a red automatic Z28 t-top coupe with chrome wheels. It was sold for $71,500 to Mark Gembinski (a 32 year old business manager from Mayville, Michigan at the time) at the September 2002 KRUSE auction in Auburn, Indiana. It was auctioned off with some sort of involvement with Ebay Motors as part of the Chevy R.O.C.K. program (Reaching Out to Community Kids) to raise funds for the S.A.V.E. foundation (Students Against Violence Everywhere), where they used the funds raised to create a video that was distributed to schools nation wide. The car was on display at the Gilmore Classic Car Museum in Michigan for many years. If the seats and carpeting were removed there are dozens of signatures from the workers who worked on this last line of F-bodies. There's one signature on the differential cover. I actually have a digital PDF copy of the original KRUSE auction ad/event info. I believe the photo below with the sign on the windshield is a photo of this car at Berger Chevrolet for some reason—I'm not 100% certain it's the same car or the location.

It features these interesting RPO codes: SLM, R6P, 1SZ

2nd to last F-body: 2G2FV32G822172466 - the last 2002 Firebird, made on August 27, 2002, it's a red automatic Trans Am Convertible in GM's collection.

It features these interesting RPO codes: B0G, SLM, R6P, R6F, NF7, PDC, R7V, R9Z, E2C

Last F-body: 2G1FP32G122172467 - the last 2002 Camaro, completed on August 27, 2002 at approximately 8:49 a.m., it's a red automatic Z28 convertible in GM's collection.

It features these interesting RPO codes: SLM, R6P, NF7

Cars that haven't been found, but existed/exist

2G2FV32G022172462 - a Canadian Trans Am convertible, black with black top, 6-speed.
It features these interesting RPO codes: DT2, SLM, R6P, Z31 (Note: this car has an identical build to #64)

2G1FP32G422172463 - a Canadian Camaro Z28 convertible, black with black top, 6-speed.
It features these interesting RPO codes: DT2, SLM, R6P, Z31

2G2FV32G422172464 - a Canadian Trans Am convertible, black with black top, 6-speed.
It features these interesting RPO codes: DT2, SLM, R6P, Z31 (Note: this car has an identical build to #62)

How did I come up with the VINs for the three above without finding the actual cars??

I discussed it in detail here. In short, however, I used the known VINs from the last few cars (listed above on this page) and modified their numbers. I used the NHTSA check digit calculator to fill in the variable check digit based on what constants I put in. For example, assuming that all of the last cars were V8 cars... all of the possible values for VIN #62 were:

2G2FV32G_22172462 a Trans Am convertible
2G2FV22G_22172462 a Trans Am coupe
2G1FP32G_22172462 a Camaro Z28 convertible
2G1FP22G_22172462 a Camaro Z28 coupe

If those weren't real, I'd have to swap the "G" with a "K" to see if they were V6 cars. I couldn't have done this (very easily at least) without the NHTSA tool, because to my knowledge, the check digit can be 0123456789X, and that's a LOT of variations to have to manually check myself.

Anyway, I ran all of them through Compnine's free VIN checker (after using the NHTSA tool to correct the check digit) to see if they existed or not. Then, I ran them through Free VIN Decoder to see if they happened to have the VIN in their system and the RPO codes. My friend Vance Chula then checked them for me to make sure Free VIN Decoder wasn't lying (2G2FV22G822172462 was not real). And sure enough, these three were legit.

An Easier to Digest Summary of the very last 7 VINs...

Note: I don't know the order these three newly identified VINs came off the line, as the cars did not come off the line in numerical order. I do know these are the very last 7 VINs of any 4th gens though.

2G2FV32G022172462 - a Canadian Trans Am convertible, black with black top, 6-speed.

2G1FP32G422172463 - a Canadian Camaro Z28 convertible, black with black top, 6-speed.

2G2FV32G422172464 - a Canadian Trans Am convertible, black with black top, 6-speed.

2G1FP32G822172465 - Credited as the last Canadian Camaro to come off the assembly line. It's a Canadian convertible Z28, black with black top, 6-speed. This car was not necessarily the 4th to last F-body to come off the line, it's just the very last Canadian Camaro to come off the line.

2G1FP22G822172461 - the last saleable Camaro to come off the assembly line. Even though it has a lower VIN number than those above, it was literally right in front of the final Firebird and final Camaro. It's a red US Z28 coupe with t-tops and an automatic transmission.

2G2FV32G822172466 - the last 2002 Firebird, made on August 27, 2002, it's a red US automatic Trans Am Convertible in GM's collection.

2G1FP32G122172467 - the last 2002 Camaro, completed on August 27, 2002 at approximately 8:49 a.m., it's a red US automatic Z28 convertible in GM's collection.

Here's a few more photos with captions.

Joe Roberts (the Camaro/Firebird Product Manager through 2000), Jim Mattison (of COPO fame in 1968-1969; owner of Pontiac Historic Services; and owner (at least during this time period) of a bunch of cool Firebirds), Scott Settlemire (the "Fbodfather"—Assistant Brand Manager – Camaro (and Camaro Product Manager in mid-2001 when Joe Roberts got moved)) with the last Firebird and Camaro.

the last 2002 Camaro with the workers from St. Therese

a look at the last Camaro as it proceeds through the assembly line.

Other fun "last" cars

2G1FP32P6V2153269 - The last 1997 30th Anniversary Edition SS was a manual convertible. Supposedly, because it was the last built, it was allowed to be built with the exhaust and shifter (a leather Hurst knob like we've mostly all seen) used on the '98 SSes. Supposedly SLP documentation exists with the car stating such. Visually, it looks like the exhaust on the LT4 SSes from that year, but I can confirm with 100% accuracy that this car did not have an LT4. It is, however, an extremely highly optioned car. Its SLP options are: performance exhaust, Torsen differential, Hurst shifter, SS floor mats, oil cooler package. The only other option SLP added to the Camaro SS was a performance suspension, which wasn’t available on convertibles. The only option missing from Chevrolet is the engine block heater. The last I knew of this car was May 2009 when it was being sold by Best of Show Automotive (bestofshowautomotive) on ebay and the car was located in Mentor, OH at the time. Update: this same car sold at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale in 2018.

2G1FP32G022159256 - The last 2002 35th Anniversary Edition SS was #3369, a manual convertible. Its owner sent it to GMMG for conversion into a Phase III 35th Anniversary SS Performance Edition with the C5R engine (a 427 LS6 with 600 hp). To my knowledge, the car is owned by Robert Donaldson still. It was GMMG PE #50.

There's something nice about this last 35th SS being converted to a PE. There were so many articles back in the day saying that the Camaro and Firebird were "going out with a bang" (referencing the 35th Anniversary Edition SS and Commemorative Edition Trans Am). It's very fitting that the very last 35th SS was converted to a 600 horsepower monster.

On a related note, though I don't know if this is still true... initially GM kept the 1st and last 2002 35th Anniversary Camaro SS convertibles in their collection. These might have disappeared from their collection over the years... I'll have to do some research.