Hopefully there aren't ANY parallels between the Fiero and the new Camaro, because we know how that turned out...

And yes, I am impatient, I will admit that much - but don't try and tell me that there aren't hundreds of others on here that aren't as well. The only difference is that I am not taking the approach that "GM knows exactly what it is doing, and everything about the car and its release will be ideal", because the past has taught us otherwise again and again. As an owner of 2 4th gens, there is no doubt that I love the cars, but from a quality and reliability perspective, the 4th gen is a piece of trash. Like it was brought up in the CHP thread, GM has looked at enthusiasts like us as suckers because they had no problem putting out sub-par product knowing all to well that we'll just shell out the cash for a new transmission, window motor, or rear end - there is no other logical explanation. All I am saying is that I hope GM has turned a corner and makes all of the hype worth it in the end. I want to see this car be successful and carry on the name for another 40 years...

 

The true failure of GM was not showing this concept in 2000. 1993 to 2002 is quite a long time to look at a car and try to think of it as new. Yes i know there was a new front and LS1 but really almost 10 years is a bit much. The Vette, which is a much lower volume car has changed 3 times since 1993. And I am not talking front end changes. GM really needs to get on the ball if they want to stay competitive. Selling the same car for 10 years with no plans to upgrade is a reason why I drive a non GM car today. My 95 Z just sits in the garage waiting for the next gen to replace it. Iraq will be over and Global warming will be solved it feels like till the next Gen Camaro hits the streets. It is a long time to wait...agreed.

 

This is basically what it all boils down to...

 

BTW I have owned 3 z28s. A 1993...when I thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread, and 2 1995s. Back in High school it was a cool car but you can hardly drive a 4th Gen today without looking like that guy I used to laugh at in his IROC. I am far from being in high school now and still waiting for a car to replace the one I have owned for 13 years. What I am trying to say...again is, this car is long over due.

 

IMO, Chevrolet is going to be about 7 years too late when it is all said and done....

But....good things come to those who wait.....

 

^I disagree. I think the Camaro being cancelled was the best thing that could have ever happened to the car. A 2003 redesign would have most likely looked nothing like the amazing car we'll be getting soon and that car would be due for a redesign by about '09 and again, I doubt it would have looked as good as what we're getting. GM FINALLY "get's it." I will agree that the car we're getting will be about 1.5-2 years "late" but I don't care. I love it.

Of course, that's completely my own opinion.

 

+1. I'm not sure I would have even considered the 2003 replacement, whereas I'm definitely buying this one.

 

Who's to say what we would or would not have gotten....honestly....

To me, the hiatus is not just forgiven and forgotten no matter how good the 5th Gen is.....but maybe I am the only one....

 

True. However the 2002 Camaro didn't meet 2003 safety standards and GM had nothing on a RWD chassis to place it on that did. We either would have gotten a Camaro on a SUV platform, or FWD. Neither would have floated my boat. It took a while longer for GM to discover Holden's RWD toys and consider importing them to NA. At best we could have gotten a middle east Lumina rebadged as a "Camaro" (ala GTO). I'm not sure that would have gone over very well either.

 

No no, the problems of no viable platform, etc. etc. didn't just start in August of 2002. Camaro's fate was sealed way back in 1996. A full 6 years before the final 4th Gen rolled off the line.

So you can basically say it took over 10 years (from 1996-August 2006 when the production announcement was made) for Chevrolet to get serious about Camaro again. Kind of pathetic if you ask me.

 

Good point.

 

I hope that there's a parallel to the nearly 137,000 Fieros GM sold the first year. The biggest problem with Fiero was insurance rates. Nobody wants to pay 'Vette insurance rates for a car that goes 0-60 in 14 seconds! Yes there were reliability problems and the first suspension was a travesty, but by the time the last ones rolled around in 1987 Fiero was a pretty decent car. The 2nd gen probably would have been pretty darn good for the time had it made production. Eh, that's overly apologetic. It was a little t*rd in a lot of ways. But I always kinda liked them.

 

Tell that to the hundreds of owners who watched their car spontaneously combust due to poorly cast connecting rods. I think that's what the automotive industry thinks of when they hear 'Fiero'.

 

GM is doing a great job of being competitive in more and more segments. I have no doubt that they will be competitive in this segment too.

 

I'm going to play the devils advocate here. While many people would consider what happened to the Camaro pathetic, in terms of how long it took to bring it back you have to look at it from a larger prospective. I've never worked for an automotive manufacturer but I do work for a large corporation and most of the time the decisions that are made "above your pay grade" have a massive impact on your final product and the future of your product, including the quality of your product.

When it comes down to it, the people working directly on a project really don’t call the shots. When the decision was made to kill this car, I'm sure it was from a MACRO point of view of the company as a whole. Most people don't take this point of view. Most people take the MICRO point of view. When you take the MICRO point of view, you don't see the bigger picture. You begin ask a lot of “why” questions and you begin to criticize aspects of the product or the intentions of the personnel that are producing the product not realizing that there is a much bigger force at work that is driving all of this. Most of the time you **** a lot of people off when you make these decisions but you have to in order to restructure and create a better product. You hope that it doesn't take long to accomplish but things don't always go as planned. Especially in big buisnesses.

I don't think it was the intention of the personnel that were directly involved with the Camaros of the past to see them go the way of the dinosaur. I'm sure their intention was to keep it alive, healthy and a major competitor in both performance and reliability. Well, those things weren’t happening so an executive decision was made. Most of the time executive decisions are made to prevent major collateral damage.

IMO, just be thankful that they even brought it back at all because they could have very well went in a much different direction and just left the Camaro dead.