Why we and everyone loves this car.. essay

[jthibodaux]

I have to admit I have made many amazing choices in my short 37 years of life, one of those finding my wonderful and beautiful wife who has a habit of spoiling me in new and wonderful ways. Another was the purchase of my 2010 Black and Silver 1SS/RS.

On April 29, 2010 my wife wakes my up about 3pm, I work graveyards so I tend to sleep throughout the mornings and into the afternoons, and ask me if I would be willing to test drive cars with her. I shuffle out of bed, brush my teeth and we head out; honestly I did not look my best that afternoon.

I offer to drive, I love driving. So we hop into my 2007 Nightfire Red Mini Cooper S and mini down the hill to the Ford lot. Trisha, my wife, heads over to the Explorer section and I move over to a 2010 Fusion Sport. We end up test driving numerous vehicles while on the lot but ultimately decide to test other makes and models. I would like to mention that the Fusion Sport is actually a decent vehicle, nothing in the range of the Camaro, but probably the best Ford out there currently.

We mini’d down the hill to Reliable Chevy in Albuquerque, NM and pull into the lot. I driving like most men, lost and without a care in the world end up in the Chevy Fleet lot and walk halfway around the block to find consumer targeted vehicles. I walked past a Chevy Cobalt SS and without warning I saw her, my beautiful mistress, Isabella. Her solid rear end, shining in the sun caught my eye like no other rear end I had seen before, besides my wife’s I should say. My wife reached over, closed my open mouth and told me to go over and introduce myself. God, I love my wife!

I walked up cautiously, really in awe of her. I had known the Camaro was out and had been out for about a year, but in my part of town, also when and where I travel; she is a rarely seen beauty. I ran my fingers across her lines on my way to the door handle. I, according to my wife, had the most amazing smile on my face that she has seen. It rivaled the smile in our wedding pictures. I tried the door but she was locked. I did not have to wait long though. The salesman they sent out to me hurriedly walked over with a greedy look in his eyes. He shook my hand weakly and ignored my wife completely. I promptly sent him back into the office for someone with a stronger handshake, manners, and the keys to this v6 Automatic.

Yes, I drove a V6 Automatic. I was mildly surprised at the sound, and the power the vehicle had. Our salesman told me to be cautious; I eyed him and gave my wife a smirk. When we came back into the lot I had another one of those grins on my face and my wife pulled me aside and asked me if we should drive something with a little more power. She pointed at the sister vehicle to the one I was driving. I agree and we speak with the salesman about a Black and silver 1SS/RS.

On our way to the car, the salesman asks what car I drove in. I of course proudly mention my Mini. He scoffs at me. My beautiful wife gives him the eye. We get into the car and begin to take off, I stall the car in reverse… twice. The salesman laughs at me, and tells me that if I drove a better car than a Mini then I wouldn’t have an issue with the clutch. My wife quietly suggests to the man he should watch his tone if he wants to sell us a vehicle. He complies as I enter traffic. I ignore the exchange; I have other things to concentrate on. I am sitting at the entrance to this fast-paced road, and I feel the subtle vibration of the V8 coursing through the engine, transmission and up into the shifter. I listen to the exhaust note, I feel the car tense up as I punch it; she opens herself up in my hands.

I can feel the power force me back into my seat and the car melts into the road. Hell everything melts away as the hairs on the back of my neck raise a bit. Adrenaline is pumping through me as I shift through the gears, and I swear to God the traffic opened a hole around me as I raced towards 85 mph in a 45 mph zone. None of the customer service issues matter any longer, none of the snarkiness of the salesman mattered any longer, honestly nothing mattered but how I felt in the car and how the car reacted to me. As I push the car past 85 mph from the backseat I hear a small giggle as my wife is totally enjoying her. She would tell you that she laughed at a text message she received, but for the life of me I believe it was the car! We return the vehicle about 30 minutes later and honestly I did not look back. We went home, worked out finances on our car and then we begin the horrible car buying process!

I have had my car for just over a month now. I do not regret my decision, I love my car. In this first month I have put 1506 miles on my car. I have taken her to Sandia Motor Speedway and raced her with some of the most amazing Camaros ever. I have to give a shout out to the LPE brother and sisterhood here in New Mexico, Bad Karma’s Awesome Maggie S/C’d beast, and the Motiva Twin Turbo Camaro. Albuquerque has some amazing Camaro owners, who will definitely help a novice out, and you the Camaro5 community have really been super awesome and I feel that I have made a great choice in cars. Now, to talk my wife into allowing me to modify my Isabella, perhaps I should buy her more diamonds?!






Joe.

[IROCanSS]

I will play...


I have been a car guy my whole life (I am 33). I am on car # 20ish... I have some sh... boxes, mostly OK cars and a few bada$$ rides including a 2000 C5, a 2004 RX~8 and a 2007 C6... For the haters... YES the RX~8 is an AMAZING MACHINE... no torque but an awesome car and it got as much attention in 2004 as my 2010 because of its unique styling BUT the passion among drivers was not there... whatever this isnt about the RX~8. Well it got wrecked while it was parked so I found myslef in 2007 looking for another toy... Hind site I should have just waited.... I didnt I went out and bought a brand new Corvette... black, manual tranny... wooo laaa weee... so I thought...

I quickly found myself loveing the car, hating the image. I'd go to cruise ins and "try" to speak to other C6 owners... a few times I had to check the mirror to see if I had sprouted another head... Why would they not talk to me? Did I do something? I tried to be nice. In the 2 years of ownership it finally wore me out... Corvette owners are mostly older, well-to-do people who have no care to speak to a guy in his late 20s/early 30s who SURELY can't afford a new Corvette. Then on the other hand, you have the not-so-well to do folks who always have something nasty to say... I got sick of it and decided to sell it and get a Camaro. May 23rd, 2009 I placed my ordered impatiently waited 12 weeks (short I know) and took deliver of #32,673 on August 13th, 2009. I sold the cherry, 15,000 mile Corvette on July 13th, 2009 to an older, well to do gentleman! Go figure...

Over the next 10 months I have driven the Camaro about 10,000 miles and I LOVE IT! Best thing I ever did!

Why you ask? Simple, the following. I have met so many friends b/c of this car and this forum. We have cruises, we have mod-days, we go to car shows, we meet for dinner... its AMAZING and the people range from 20s to 60s and we all get along great. I was at dinner last night with a couple of them and mentioned how it was funny that we all became friends b/c of some stupid car (tongue in cheek of course) and how nice it is that everyone is so friendly. The group I was with last night was myself, another guy who sold his C6 and a guy who was considering a C6 but opted for the camaro b/c he needed a back seat... We sat and talked and ate and carried on like old friends, friendships that were made b/c of a car!

Thanks FBodFather and all of GM again for this! We will cherish it always!

As for the OP.... great thread! Thanks for reminding me (and all of us) why we love this car!

A pic for good measure...



THANKS AGAIN...

[Slowkray]

Time to chime in.

This is my first post on C5 and my first Camaro. I am turning 40 this year and as anyone who is close to this age and buying any sort of sports car can imagine, "Are you having a midlife crisis?". No I am not.

Ok, here is my story.

I am a huge GM fan. I love anything GM. I have owned some cool cars IMO. I have been watching this car since the concept was launched. I have been planning on getting one as soon as I paid of my 07 duramax.

Well, that all ended about 5 weeks ago. I was taking the D-max down to have it detailed at our local detail shop. Made an oppointment. Was heading home (detail shop is right next to a Chevy dealership) when I saw "The One". I had not personally seen the Inferno Orange Metallic Camaro yet. "OMG" as my teenage daughters would text. I immediatly pulled in the lot. I walked around the car for at least 10 minutes before even looking at what options it had. I was taken back, speachless, what ever you want to call it. I then realized it was the bad boy. 2SS/RS with a stick, sunroof, everything I was going to eventually get. Then I drove it. Lets just say, I no longer own a $60,000 truck.

This car takes me back to when I was 16 and my father handed me the keys to my 1972 olds 442. But much, much, more. As others have posted, this car is apart of me. I love this car. If you have never driven muscle cars, you may not remember the feeling the first time you pushed the long skinny one on the right to the floor and held on. This car gives me that feeling plus 10.

Thanks GM for hitting this one out of the park. This is one Bad Mo Fo.

[stingrayj]

My story is still open ended since it will be awhile until I can get into a 5th gen, but the passion is still the same.

My parents bought an '82 Vette when I was 4 years old. They joined a local Corvette club shortly after and I was surrounded by muscle cars of all sorts from that point on. My dad bought an '88 Camaro new in '88. Then my parents won a '68 Corvette convertible at the Corvette show in 1990. They had all 3 cars when I turned 16, but wouldn't let me drive any of them. Finally, for my 18th birthday, my dad let me drive the '82 Vette. I spent my entire childhood admiring this car and I finally got to drive it! I was the only time I ever drove the car and it is still one of the best memories of my childhood.

In 1998 I bought my '95 Camaro and aside from being an automatic (I really wanted a stick) I was in love from the start. I drove that car through absolutely everything (all 4 seasons) and only ever had 2 near accidents in the 8 years I had it. The best part of the car was that it became part of me. When I drove it, it was almost like a third arm. I could make that car do anything I wanted and it responded happily.

Since I had the car for so long and through a particularly active part of my life, it was there in some manner through so many important parts of my life. It was there on our wedding day, when I graduated from college, and even when I out ran a tornado (not kidding!).

But, eventually, it started having some issues with nearly 200,000 miles on it and our family had grown. I needed something bigger but didn't want to lose the muscle car, so my wife and I compromised by buying a 2006 Magnum R/T. I love the Magnum and I've had it for 3 years now. But, it is still missing the bond that I had with my Camaro. It's fun and comfortable, but it is still just a car. And for that reason alone, I still miss my '95 Camaro. The Magnum makes sense for us right now to run the kids around and for going on various trips, but it's not a Camaro.

So, with 3 years of payments left on the Magnum, I can only drool at pictures for now with memories of my old Camaro.

[redcoats1976]

my 2 cents.ive only seen one transformers movie and it was ok,but wouldnt cause me to rush out and buy a camaro.ive always liked musclecars,and had a 66 pontiac tempest hotrod and 67 mustang coupe for about 25 years.sold them when i got tired of drum brakes,8 mpg,and no a/c.the little 6 cylinder in my RS is an amazing engine.smooth idle,quiet,about as fast as the pontiac was and much better gas mileage and comfort wise its everything an old man could want.

[Iron Lung Jimmy]

Spambot revives 9-1/2 year old thread.

[Spec]

Originally Posted by Iron Lung Jimmy

Spambot revives 9-1/2 year old thread.

Feel the same way about the Camaro today that I did 10yrs ago.... so, All Good!

[JLSuperfly]

Originally Posted by Iron Lung Jimmy

Spambot revives 9-1/2 year old thread.

When I was in college, my essays were hand written and corrections were made with a white out.

[Danial]

Originally Posted by Eric's Blue

I’m 35 the connection for me goes my 2010 Camaro to the Movie then back to the 80s series. I do think the Classic car people have another connection that goes back to the muscle cars of the 60’s, but Im not one of those people and I can’t relate. Hence, why the first Chevy dealer I went to should have not spent so long bragging about the “gauge cluster.” It did not mean much to me.

This is a fun post with a lot going on in it so I will speak to your paragraph talking about "classic car people".

Now I can't speak for all "classic car people" but I can relate my own experience as a 56 year old who has owned over 70 (yes 70, no exaggeration) cars in my life with all but just a dozen or so being fun, special interest, "classic" and antique automobiles.

My love for cars is hard to explain. I'm not interested in categories and descriptors like "classic" or "antique" or even "hot rod". I buy cars based on a lot of different factors but seriously, the fact that someone else may view it as a "classic" isn't even a small part of the equation in my decision making process.

I love my 2013 Camaro SS for many of the same reasons I loved my first 69 Firebird and the flip side of that coin is that I love it for many different reasons as well. I enjoy my 2013 SS as much as I enjoyed my 89 IROC Z. But for some same reasons and some different.

I think if I had to distill it down to one criteria for making a car purchase, I would throw out all other descriptors but one and that word is "fun". If the car is fun to drive for whatever reason that makes it fun for me, then I'm all in.

And who knows - my current car, my 2013 Camaro SS, may just become a "classic" some day. That would be fun.

[Danial]

Originally Posted by JLSuperfly

When I was in college, my essays were hand written and corrections were made with a white out.

You had white out?

[Danial]

Even if they're old, there are still some great stories here. Fun thread!

[lemontwist]

i have had many cars over the years only 1 ford and it was given to me.
i'll only name off the chevys
green metallic 68 impala fast back 300hp 327
black 77 monza
brown 78 monte carlo 305
white 84 monte ss
yellow 86 camaro type lt LG4
white 95 firebird formula(chevy motor)
silver 86 El Camino
black 92 c1500 and the now 2011 2ss rs
like Danial said i liked them all for different reasons. i am into whatever car i have at the time i have it,except for that dam ford! the old cars were great but the my camaro is the best rounded car i have had it handles better than any car i have ever had it may be the fastest. the yellow draws alot of attention most good and it has had it's fair share positive compliments.
so i was rocking a 2016 vw passat (yeah i know) and beating the crap out of it a friend at work kept saying i was going to blow it up lol.i have told this story b4 i was going to stay sedan and against my better judgement i went to kia i test drove a stinger brought it home overnight,on the test drive the salesman told me he ordered a 2010 SS still had it and it was his daily with 140k trouble free miles on it.2 weeks later i got my 2011 SS..now that's a good salesmen LOL.i wanted inferno orange and i found a 2010 1SS M6 with 28k and exhaust but it slipped away from me after the test drive they told me it was sold to a dealer in Fla that morning(i was totally pissed)then they tried to sell me a descustang gt350.a week later i found my yellow bone stock 2011 2SS/RS M6 for the same price garage kept with 18750 mi on it i scooped it up sight unseen and had it delivered.i really wanted the orange but the yellow is actually better. i am going to make a long story short. check out the fortune cookie i got while i was camaro shopping.

[Jaminjim13]

Originally Posted by SS Beast

Wow, thanks for the essay. I was a big 1st gen Transformers fan, as well. I do agree that the man/car relationship that Spike and Bee had an influence on me but the first time I fell in love with the Camaro was seeing it in another 80's classic, Better Off Dead. That black '67 SS was, to me, the epitome of American Muscle.

One of my favorite movies. I had a '68RS when that came out.

[bertha01]

Wonderful post, i like it