[headpunter]

im at a loss for words.....

Originally Posted by Motortrend December 2008 Letters from readers

I hate to say it the 2010 Camaro is the right car at the wrong time. It is 6 years too late and should have been out in the spring of 2003 replacing the then outgoing fourth generation Camaro when gas was still affordable. Now it’s symbolic for Detroit. A once good idea is not necessarily a good one today. The 1960’s looking body and exterior was cool and new 40 years ago, but today all it means is a lack of imagination or new ideas. Any enthusiast will like a 420 hp 6.2 liter v8. But with gas at $4 /gallon and maybe 20mpg from the big v8, the resulting economic realities can dampen the enthusiasm. Also where is the practical hatchback and folding seats that made the previous Camaro so useful? Sadly gone. Good luck, GM.
-Chris


1. Why is Chevy so proud it can outrun a four year old mustang design, especially since that was exactly what it is set out to do? The mustang is supposed to be a bargain bin muscle car, what is so awe inspiring about strapping a corvette engine into a four seater and saying it can go faster than the ‘stang.
2. Why does the new Camaro, which is supposed to evoke the cars glory days (I’m assuming 1967-1969, not the “mullet era”.) look more like a 1969 mustang then a 1969 Camaro. Pointed nose, straight lines on the front fenders, the raised edging on the rear fenders, that flat deck- in what world did a 1967-1969 Camaro have a pointed nose? If you can’t beat them join ‘em, Chevy
3. Has Chevy finally designed an interior that won’t shake and rattle when performing dangerous driving maneuvers like entering a parking lot at five mph?
4. Why didn’t the Chevy team learn that speed isn’t everything and apply that knowledge when it built this car? The old z/28 and SS Camaros of the late 1990’s and 2000’s were certainly faster than their contemporary mustang gts but last time I checked they were still discontinued
-Rob

After reading your September feature on the new Camaro, it strikes me that Al Oppenheiser should be up for the next “Constipation of the Mind, Diarrhea of the Mouth” award. No wonder American auto companies are languishing. Apparently, Oppenheiser hasn’t figured out that his real competition is the next mustang update-not its six-year old design. He should have been reprimanded for wasting GM’s development money if it required more than one competitive ride to figure out hose to make a good pony car. And if he really understood the mustang’s Philosophy (a mustang for everyone) he would appreciate why mustang survived when the Camaro didn’t and wouldn’t be waving his narrow-focus flag. (Making the last Camaro look like an outdated spaceship with a buckboard ride narrowed the customer base to a few wannabe males who didn’t have the bread for a corvette.) It looks like Oppenheiser is just the guy to do for the Camaro what Bob Lutz did for the GTO. Oppenheiser seems to overlook the fact that there’s only one reason there’s going to be a new Camano- the success of the mustang. He should send ford a personal thank you for giving him a job
-Ronald.