Agreed. Talk about ignoring your audience...

I almost fear the overwhelming success of the retro Stang may have blinded GM to Camaro's strengths. Enthusiasts have overwhelmingly wanted a retro 1st gen too, but will that ultimately be the best thing for the car?

In terms of pure asthetics I think the 3rd gen wins, followed closely by the early 2nd gens. But the 1982 was MT's car of the year and the lines are still seen as timeless in a lot of automotive circles.

GM could have done far worse (and may have) than pulling the essence of the 3rd gen into the concept. That being said, I do see some common lines/ideas from the 3rd gen in the concept.

I'm not saying the concept sucks at all....I like what I have seen so far, but 80% say "85 Iroc-Z" and the end result is a heavily retro 1st gen design?

I think a lot of things will make more sense after Jan. 9.

 

If over 80% picked the '85 IROC, that explains to me clearly why my good friend (female) refers to Camaros in general as "'80s sex cars", including my '96. Even though the 4th Gens were out in the '90s (not the '80s).

She must be picturing a ragged out, louvred-rear-hatch-glass 3rd gen with a greasy-haired driver in her mind when she thinks of a Camaro.

No offense AT ALL intended toward our 3rd gen owners, 'cause I think they are sweet looking cars myself. In fact, when I first saw teaser pics of the '93, I was afraid they had ruined one of the best looking cars around (late 3rd gen IROC and Z28), though that fear quickly changed to satisfaction, as I love the 4th gens even more...

 

I had the exact same reaction, followed by the exact same satisfaction.

 

It didn't surprise me at all that the IROC-Z won that. Third Gens will probably always be the most popular Camaros in general, especially when alot of people base things on looks alone.

Most enthusiasts will go for the way back stuff for various reasons. Although, as the newer stuff ages, (if you want to call something from the 80's newer) alot of people are getting more and more interested in them.

 

Well for all you out there calling this car retro what the crap do you call every new car on the road today but a retro Euro look to all of them and you can't tell One car make from the other 50 feet away and you talk about retro. Everything out there now is almost a copy of the other company give me a break I love this car and if built it will sell more Camaro's a year than has been done in any year in the past decade.

 

It seems that you don't understand what "retro-modern design" is. The quick and dirty explanation is taking an existing design from the past, removed by more than one generation, and updating that existing design with contemporary design cues. That is what the Mustang is, and that is what the Camaro concept in the pictures is. There is a broader use of retro design that just refers to specific and recognizable design cues (not a complete design) from the past and modernizing it but that is not what we have here.

The retro Euro look you refer to, can you name a specific current design that uses those retro design cues?

 

Neil I very well understand what the designs is and I for one love it. I see alot of different cars in this design as others do. What I ment on the new cars out today is most have body lines that look so much alike they almost copy each other in many ways from company to company so whats wrong with a car looking a little like something of the past. To most buying public now days it will look future because they were not even born when I had my first camaro. I was running the drag strips years before Mustang or Camaro was thought of and I see some retro but see modern as well.
I love it what more can I say and for those that will be at NAIS I will see you there and look forward to meeting you. We are in for some fun along time coming

 

OK, I've been holed up (would have posted sooner, but work got in the way:-) looking at the pics over the weekend and now - all I can say is WOW!!! I'm glad I downloaded them before they disappeared again....

That thing even in it's current form screams CAMARO and certainly doesn't lack in the attitude department.

Some have commented on the fender flares as being too Mustang-like. I say go pop open a mag and look at the wheelwell design on the third gen - looks pretty close to me, except the radiusing extends to the bottom of the fenders and doesn't melt into the bodyline. I also see a third gen look in the front side profile and in the way the grill opening and angle mimics the look of the third gen front end headlight buckets. (I think I prefer the left (drivers) side treatment although the passenger side looks alright too) Overall very nice - I can see some A&S influence in there as well in the crisp looking edges. You really can't go wrong with the timeless Coke bottle styling even 40 some years after it first appeared. I'm not so sure what to think abou the fender vents - I'm not opposed but.....

I for one, am glad to see 3/4 windows - though I'm not sure how t-tops will fit in the picture but I'm fairly sure we won't see a true hardtop like the drawings suggest, so there will, in all likelihood, be a b-pillar to anchor those openings. I would like to see round taillamps - the car would fit in more with other Chevy coupes like Cobalt and Corvette.

Really nice job GM. Hope it isn't as far out as 2009 though - we need this now. I like the interior especially the seats - kinda reminds me of the racing shell style seats in the California IROC - hope they pull it off - seat mounted belts don't hurt ingress/egress to the back seats.

Cannot wait to see the concept next month - I'll have to live vicariously through others - Detroit is just too far away for me. And oh yeah, WOW!!!

One last thing Mr. RP, (sympathies to GM and all) the leaks certainly don't dampen my enthusiam for this car.... it just notches up the expectations and anticipation.... I'll be wreck come 2009.....

 

I would definitely say the main reason the 3rd gens didn't have much influence in the concept is that they're viewed as "redneck" or "guido" cars - the guy with greasy hair, gold chains, etc. They may be very recognizable, but they're not necessarily viewed with positive results. I grew up in the 80's and 90's, so I was a little too young to remember that particular stereotype. For me, the 3rd gens don't carry that image. Unfortunately, for the rest of the public it does.

 

3rd Gens carry alittle of that stigma for 2 reasons.

1) 80s period.
2) These cars are older and the "enter sterotypical slang here" can afford them now.

I expect this stigma to go to the 4th gens after their costs drop and drop with time. It's not specific to 3rd gens.

Before 3rd gens it was second gens, before that 1st gens. This was true with Mustangs too.

After the 6th gen is out a few years, then this new 5th gen will start to attain that stigma...

What is interesting is after they go through that phase, they usually become classics. The car to have I imagine 30-40 years from now will be a pristine 3rd gen camaro. And 1st and 2nds will only be in museums, LOL.

 

On about all pics too... a loooot of them.

 

For me personally when I think of Camaros it's the 3rd gen cars and the LT1 fourth gens that I really can identify with. Being born in '88 I saw lots of IROC-Z's running around when I was little and to this day I still love them...Then I remember seeing the 4th gens when they came out. I remember thinking to myself that they looked like a jet. To this day I still don't think there are many cars that look better. In fact I always thought Camaros and Trans Ams looked far better than the Corvette.....I hope that that tradition will continue but I'll just have to wait until January to find out.

 

I thought since everyone else on the message board was posting in this thread I'd jump on the band wagon. I've read over a lot of the posts since the pictures came out, especially comments from Red Planet, and I'm pretty sure this is not what we'll see at the unveiling. I love this design, and I'm pretty sure this is only a rough draft of the final concept. It'll prolly be the same chassis, general style/shape etc., and I'm looking forward to seeing the polished version.

That said, I like the fact that this car has a trunk and not a hatch. Also, it looks like the engine may fit under the hood. (That's a good thing, because by the time I can afford one it'll need an engine rebuild, LOL. Stupid grad school) Anyway, if there are any GM Engineers looking at these posts I'd like to put my order in for.... cup holders. Now I know that is one of those things I shouldn't be worried about at this stage, but I wanted to give the guys at Chevrolet time to work it in. Maybe let the Performance division in on it, so my Coke doesn't fall in my lap when I make a turn at 30mph. Always good to think ahead.

 

I was born in '76, but didn't get into cars until much later. I really only remember the first time I saw a '93 Camaro. My first reaction is that the designers must have used a door stop for their inspiration. A few years after, the design really grew on me, more so with the 98+ cars. Now I have owned 98, 96, and 99 Camaro's.

Now I've been paying a lot of attention to the market since the late '90's and this is the first time I'm seeing the whole thing play out with the Camaro. It really is exciting and terrifying at the same time!

 

Less Retro More Jet!!!!!