The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro stakes its claim as the safest car in the US

The new Chevrolet Camaro is impressive on a variety of levels focusing mostly on performance but it looks as though General Motors can now market the Camaro as one of the safest cars sold in the US after becoming the first car to receive a perfect score in every section of the NHTSA crash testing procedures.

That’s right – in addition to being one of the most powerful and best performing cars sold in America, the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro has become the first car to successfully receive a 5-star rating in all six crash test categories. This includes driver and passenger frontal impact, drive and passenger side impacts, rollover rating and overall safety rating and while plenty of other cars receive a 5-star safety rating; the high powered Camaro is the first vehicle to receive a perfect score. For comparison, the 2012 Ford Mustang Coupe received just 4 stars in the frontal crash tests, 4 stars for the side impact crash test and 5 stars for the rollover rating en route to receiving an overall rating of just 4 stars. The Dodge Challenger has not yet gone through the testing procedures.

This is one more feather in the cap for the Chevrolet Camaro as it looks to claim the top spot in muscle car sales for the second year in a row after the bowtie-clad performance car trailed the Ford Mustang for 24 straight years. In addition to offering more power in both the V6 and V8 variations than the Ford Mustang, the upcoming Camaro ZL1 will likely unseat the Ford Shelby GT500 as the overall best performing and most powerful muscle car on the market. Even though the Mustang offers a pretty substantial discount in pricing for very comparable performance, it looks as though the battle could be getting ever tougher for the legendary Ford pony car.

The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible has not yet been put through the rigorous new NHTSA testing procedures so the entire model has not yet received the 5-star rating and this good news only applies to the hardtopped coupe for now. However, the drop top Camaro aside, the Chevrolet muscle car has the incredible claim of being the first car to receive 5-star ratings in every category with the Honda Accord and Kia Optima being the two closest vehicles – both of which received lower marks in the driver’s side impact rating. Click here for a closer look at the Camaro’s results on the NHTSA website.

TorqueNews will bring you more news as it becomes available on the new NHTSA crash testing results!

Other GM News:
GM introduces the Chevrolet Camaro COPO Concept ahead of SEMA
GM pride beams as SEMA Show awards Chevrolet Camaro hottest car status
GM rolls out a life sized Camaro Hot Wheels model at the 2011 SEMA Show
Full information on the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is here
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