Chevrolet begins deliveries of 2016 Camaro

The race is back on.

After getting trounced all year in sales by the redesigned 2015 Ford Mustang, Chevrolet began delivering the next-generation Camaro on Saturday.

Race car driver Danica Patrick personally handed the keys to the first 2016 Camaro sold at retail at a dealership in Texas -- Huffines Chevrolet in Dallas. The first Camaro sale, a red SS model, went to Wichita, Kansas, resident Alican “Turk” Boyacioglu.

Though the basic shape of the redesigned Camaro is the same as before, the new car lost more than 200 pounds and adds a number of new powertrains and technologies.

For the first time since the 1980s, the Camaro will be available with a four-cylinder engine, a turbo 2.0-liter rated at 275-horsepower. A 335- 3.6-liter V-6 is optional as is a 455 horsepower V-8 in the SS. Each engine is available with a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic.

GM began shipping the first 2016 Camaros, which are built in Lansing, Mich., nearly two weeks ago and expects regular retail delivers to commence by the end of next week.

The Camaro ranges in price from $26,695 for the base 1LT model to $37,295 for the V-8-powered SS model. Both prices do not include shipping, which Chevrolet has not announced yet.

Chevrolet officials invited Boyacioglu to attend a Camaro promotional event Saturday and surprised him with the car, which he ordered earlier this year. Patrick emerged from the car and handed him the keys.

Through October, Mustang has handily outpaced the Camaro in U.S. sales -- 106,321 to 66,833. Camaro had topped the Mustang each year since 2010.

Chevrolet plans to launch the convertible version of the Camaro early next year.