New Camaro revealed.

[rockdogz]

By the time the Camaro comes out in '09 - '10, the LS7 will no longer be the Z06 flagship engine. The LS7 is a possible power plant.

Great point, I guess I was thinking about the current engine lineup...as if the new Camaro would come out tomorrow or something...

[T Bell]

Love it. Love it. Love it. And I'm an Oldsmobile guy.

[srh3trinity]

I like it, I sure do hope the General sends a few to some of the aftermarket companies (if it goes into production) so that they can start making accessories and performance upgrades available the same time the car comes out. If I am not mistaken Ford did that with the newest iteration of the Mustang. This car should make a nice graduation present for myself.

[markss28]

I am going to get one even if my wife needs to get 3 jobs I am going to get one.

They have to make with more power then the ls2 comes with now. I think something like 425-450hp and weighing under 3500lbs would be the way to go. The GTO has a strong motor but weighs a bit much and considering the 06 Vette weighs around 3100lbs I am sure GM can get it to the 3500lb weight or less.

[LIL QIK]

Well........I have to say that I don't like it. I was really hoping for something that looked closer to the original's.....when I look at that car........I don't see Camaro.........and not sure I would know that's what it suppose to be without someone telling me.

I like the interior and the LS2 option.....but the exterior just doesn't do it for me. The front end looks like a 2004 or so Impala.....the headlights kinda look Cadillac-ish......

I was really hoping for the nice round headlights.....the original style tail lights.......and a trunk. What's up with not having the trunk in a Camaro. Anyway........maybe it'll grow on me.........But I don't see me buying one.

I hate to say it.....But Ford hit it right on the head when they built the Mustang. I would never guess that was a Camaro if it was driving past me.

[rwhite692]

All the following IMHO, no strong debate or anything…

I liked it right off. Especially now that I’ve been able to see it with people standing next to it, to be able to see how it scales out. To me, It’s bigger than it had looked to be in the early photos. There is definitely a styling edict at work within GM to create “family resemblance” with Corvette (same lead designer). I think the front of the car looks really menacing.

I think it is about as retro as can be and still be “new” enough to appeal to people that are younger than ~40. The roofline and qtr windows, doors, quarters have enough strong first-gen cues for me… The dash too I think strikes a neat balance. I personally don’t want a verbatim re-creation of 1969.

I’m still on the fence with the taillights but I do like the “sunken-in” depth that you can see within the housings themselves, maybe the outline shape could be tweaked some.

I think that, If you go TOO retro with a design, then, after a few years…what do you do next? except…probably kill it altogether.


The new car has to be able to stand on its own and have its own styling evolution path to follow. I think that from what we see in the new car, GM is thinking this way and there is a plan for the car to have some longevity as an evolving design.

I think we also can’t expect to have the same kind of big collective gasp and overwhelming positive reaction that the current Mustang had when it was first shown. Ford was the first in the "nuvo-retro" game and that whole idea was a brand new concept to everyone then, and everyone was so hungry for ANYTHING new and fresh. Now retro is all over the place, and neat designs in general (retro or not) are popping up everywhere.

Also in terms of reaction (esp on the msg boards) a new Camaro (since it went AWAY, unlike Mustang) has been fretted over / debated / anticipated / discussed ad NAUSEUM, for the last 3 years or so, and so there will be no shortage of critics just posting their brains out about it on the net. I think that “negative nellies”, on any subject, any message board (except lat-g!), tend to out-post positive or moderate people by a significant margin.

I’m much more interested to hear what Mr. and Mrs. Joe Average have to say when they see one pass them by as they are walking down main street USA having never seen one before.

I think that FBody sales tumbled mostly because of a lack of practicality. Most people were not willing to live with one as an “only vehicle”. The same problem very nearly killed Corvette before C5, because you couldn’t fit a set of golf clubs into the back of a C4, and that has been rectified with C5 forward.

Anyway, people just couldn’t live with those Gen3/Gen4 back seats. Four office workers can’t go out to lunch in a 3rd or 4th gen, without there being a lot of bitching going on. New mustang has a usable back seat and decent headroom, sales guy here has a GT and I’ve ridden in the back and it’s a complete non-issue. From the looks of Camaro it will be a similar configuration back there.

Hopefully they also will do a good job with the V6 version of the car which will be the volume sales leader esp in fleet and thus extremely important to the bottom line for Camaro. The Mustang V6 is just a great entry-level car and is a screaming bargain with 200 or so HP.

It’s rear wheel drive, LSx powered, it’s actually called a Camaro, and hopefully will be affordable enough to get the aftermarket spooled up in a big way. That alone is enough to make me rejoice! J

Again, just my $.02. I think it will do well, we’ll see!

[69MyWay]

Originally Posted by rwhite692

All the following IMHO, no strong debate or anything…

I could not have said it better myself!

Excellent post!

[Mecom Racer]

Originally Posted by LIL QIK

Well........I have to say that I don't like it. I was really hoping for something that looked closer to the original's.....when I look at that car........I don't see Camaro.........and not sure I would know that's what it suppose to be without someone telling me.

I like the interior and the LS2 option.....but the exterior just doesn't do it for me. The front end looks like a 2004 or so Impala.....the headlights kinda look Cadillac-ish......

I was really hoping for the nice round headlights.....the original style tail lights.......and a trunk. What's up with not having the trunk in a Camaro. Anyway........maybe it'll grow on me.........But I don't see me buying one.

I hate to say it.....But Ford hit it right on the head when they built the Mustang. I would never guess that was a Camaro if it was driving past me.

It sounds like you should just go buy a '69. I just don't get it... why do people want GM to build a 40 year old car? Retro is a current fad and I'm glad GM has the foresight to design something new looking instead of chasing Ford and Dodge with their Foose-ish retro design recycling.

[c.schulz]

Originally Posted by Mecom Racer

It sounds like you should just go buy a '69. I just don't get it... why do people want GM to build a 40 year old car? Retro is a current fad and I'm glad GM has the foresight to design something new looking instead of chasing Ford and Dodge with their Foose-ish retro design recycling.

Its a funny thing you should say that.The original model that was started at GMs Design north building was almost a very near copy of the 69.Charlie Lillard may remember for his car the MULE was used as an inspirational piece for the design model.
In June our vice president ,Ed Welburn asked my boss Tom Peters to look an alternative to the design being done at our north building.Tom thought that the 69 is an icon all to itself.He thought the new design need to be an all fresh statement.Think about it.You can go out and buy a new repro shell and build a old new car.The new design had to be something fresh to todays proportions and a new design by its self.Try and look at the car with out thinking of the old.Ill bet ya Fords next Mustang wont be retro!!!!!
I have not seen the challenger.But from what people have told me its a very large and bulky car.The camaro is a much smaller and better proportion car.Isnt this what people like us have always wanted,a smaller bodied car with a big engine.Long live the pony car.

Chris