Split Bumpers On Second-Gen Camaros Can Drive You Bananas

Split bumper Camaros had a solid following in the early 1970s. Photos from Classic Industries

The second-generation Camaro brought a whole new design to the popular personal coupe with sharper lines and a pointy nose. There was something distinctly Vette-like about the front of the early 1970s Camaros, including the very retro looking bumperettes. If you harken back to the 1963 Corvette with a split bumper on the back and front of the vehicle, you get a true indication where the Chevrolet designers got the idea for split bumpers on the Camaro.

Our friends at Classic Industries have done a great deal of research to track what Camaros actually came with the RS special-order split bumper, and what models did not. Not only can they tell you which models featured these iconic bumpers, but they manufacture the replacement parts for enthusiasts that want to clone the look as referenced in their latest news article.

Classic Industries makes it their business to know all the differences between the Camaro models. For example, the crew at Classic Industries published a short article explaining the differences in split bumper Camaros. “Originally, split bumpers, also known as bumperettes, were found on 1970-1973 Camaro models with the RS package RPO Z22,” they explain.

Many of the standard Camaro front end cars, those with the “banana” parking lamps beneath the bumper, are different than the RS model cars which had round parking lamps. “Other differences between the RS and non-RS front end include the header panel, nose, valance panel, grill surround, grill, and grill divider.” The spilt bumpers can be installed on either front end without a problem, but experts can spot the differences right away. Classic Industries has the parts available for a simple bolt on swap of the bumpers or all the parts you need to copy the original look completely.