Future Muscle Car (photos)...

Peloton25 · Dec 7, 2005

These started floating around the web, and have been slowly disappearing from the places they were posted. I figured people here would want to see and maybe share with their friends - this is rumoured for 2009.

Whatever you do, don't say the "C" word, or the men in black suits will show up here too.

>8^)
ER
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tfazio · Dec 7, 2005

I like it. I look forward to seeing it in person at the North American Auto Show. Hopefully, it will be there.

reospeedwagon · Dec 7, 2005

Looks fake.

amenasce · Dec 7, 2005

C word as in Camaro ?

mattymouse33 · Dec 7, 2005

amenasce said:

C word as in Camaro ?
Click to expand...

shhhhhh

Pagani16 · Dec 7, 2005

What the HELL?

bostonmini · Dec 7, 2005

I like it for what it is!

EnzymaticRacer · Dec 7, 2005

Whats the deal with the break that goes right down the middle of the car? At first I thought it may have been due to a page change or something, but I looked closer and the two sides of the body definitely do not line up correctly...

Auraraptor · Dec 7, 2005

Mirrors are too small and the back looks half done. The A-pillars are a bit think and look out of place.

That said one of the best looking American cars I have seen in a long time.

Auraraptor · Dec 7, 2005

Ferrari_Addict said:

Whats the deal with the break that goes right down the middle of the car? At first I thought it may have been due to a page change or something, but I looked closer and the two sides of the body definitely do not line up correctly...
Click to expand...

Design test for 2 subtly different looks of the body work.

That said I like the passanger side front and side, but the rear design of the driver side.

lotustt · Dec 7, 2005

Definitly some sort of photochop of what maybe someone has seen. The C car will be at the Detroit show in January definitly. If it looks like that, then I'll like it.

shiggins · Dec 7, 2005

it looks more like a clay model than a photoshop to me.

Peloton25 · Dec 7, 2005

lotustt said:

Definitly some sort of photochop of what maybe someone has seen. The C car will be at the Detroit show in January definitly. If it looks like that, then I'll like it.
Click to expand...

With the dramatic efforts that GM has been making to get these off the Net, I guarantee they are actual photos and not photoshopped images at all (save for the horrible watermark).

The split down the middle of the body is a common practice when evaluating different designs "side by side" in the automotive design world. The car you are looking at is actually made out of clay.

I surmised that the front ends could be a V6-nose and a V8-nose, but given the different windshield header heights it could be that they are just separate ideas altogether.

>8^)
ER

Ferrari0324 · Dec 7, 2005

I'll take a Mustang. Thank you.

Rifledriver · Dec 7, 2005

Sure beats the Mopars.

justhrowit · Dec 7, 2005

It'll probably never happen! Leave it to Chevy to design something, get a huge applause and positive reaction from the public....then never build it! They'll probably tease everyone with a 427 or 454 powerplant option, blah blah blah....and say, "well, this isn't the direction we want to go right now"!

J

Horsefly · Dec 7, 2005

It looks too much like the current Mustang. Which means that it looks like it was moulded out of plastic and popped out of a mould with no chrome at all. Like one of those 99 cent toy cars at K-Mart.

And it's probably a typical uni-body piece of junk which means it will be a creaking, groaning, rusty floor pan disaster within a few years.

CornellCars · Dec 7, 2005

Horsefly said:

It looks too much like the current Mustang. Which means that it looks like it was moulded out of plastic and popped out of a mould with no chrome at all. Like one of those 99 cent toy cars at K-Mart.

And it's probably a typical uni-body piece of junk which means it will be a creaking, groaning, rusty floor pan disaster within a few years.
Click to expand...

Personally fwiw, I like it...esp. in comparo with the Mopars and the GTO (awful styling, good performance)...I would assume it's GTO platform, and those haven't been panned for anything other than a bit of piggishness and terrible styling, but the performance is decent. If it get the LS6 w/400HP or more, seems like a pretty nice return of the C to me. Certainly better than any C since 1969 in the styling dept!

lotustt · Dec 7, 2005

Peloton25 said:

With the dramatic efforts that GM has been making to get these off the Net, I guarantee they are actual photos and not photoshopped images at all (save for the horrible watermark).

The split down the middle of the body is a common practice when evaluating different designs "side by side" in the automotive design world. The car you are looking at is actually made out of clay.

I surmised that the front ends could be a V6-nose and a V8-nose, but given the different windshield header heights it could be that they are just separate ideas altogether.

>8^)
ER
Click to expand...

Well nice! I'm not sure which side I like better then.

B R · Dec 7, 2005

First shot looks too much like a Mustang. Otherwise, it's not too bad.

lotustt · Dec 7, 2005

Oh and Rob you best delete these immediatly before GM lawyers come calling!

GT Fan · Dec 7, 2005

Surely I'm not the only person that noticed the independent rear suspension...

luke9583 · Dec 7, 2005

I think the new "Challenger" looks much better And No, I didn't mean "Charger"

Peloton25 · Dec 7, 2005

GT Fan said:

Surely I'm not the only person that noticed the independent rear suspension...
Click to expand...

You aren't, but you are definitely the first to mention it here. Somewhat surprising, but I'd rather listen to the hard core drag racers complain than make any sacrifices in ride or handling to appease them.

>8^)
ER

Peloton25 · Dec 8, 2005

For anyone doubting the validity of these photos, here are a couple of posts from the Camaro Brand Mgr made on a Camaro forum.

This guy has some serious ellipsis usage problems btw. :screwy:

Cliff Notes available at the bottom

First.....thank you Jason and Chris for 'doing the right thing"........you could have increased your web traffic by a huge margin yesterday, but you once again have proved to many many people that you are --both of you-- a class act. I'm truly grateful.
To my fellow enthusiasts. I think I'm pleased, for the most part, as to the comments I'm hearing. Yes, there will always be a few that have harsh words....that's to be expected. I still look forward with great relish to watching the faces and expressions of my fellow enthusiasts as they see the concept in person for the first time....(you have no idea of how much I look forward to it.......)

Now.........why am I upset? (let's forget the Corp. position for a moment, shall we?)

How many times have you met someone......and your first impression was "Well, if he/she wasn't

>all sweaty/dressed poorly/bad-hair-day/20 pounds overweight/bad mood/ --insert anything bad here -- <

...........he/she would be a knockout...........

See what I mean? First impressions are oh-so important. We did not get the chance to control a first impression. The pictures you saw are obviously not of a finished product.

WE won't go into the financial impact this will have on GM....but suffice to say it will.

We do want your input.......but there's a proper way to get that. Your input, believe it or not, has been somewhat compromised in that, again, you did not see a finished product.

Moreover, it started a firestorm of controversy on several sites..and people started flinging insults back and forth.....and in a few cases, some close friends were summarily flamed beyond recognition. Because of someones' (that's plural, by the way) poor judgement, people are now mad at each other. That is even MORE unfortunate.

So........yup.......I am beyond angry at the GM or contract employee that allowed these photos to be posted. I suppose I will eventually lose some of my anger at a few webmasters that also played a part in this scenario.

All that said..........I hope you like what you saw. It is not the finished concept...and moreover, you can never adequately or fairly judge a product by a picture......esp. one like you saw. I hope that each of you will get to see the concept in person as it tours the country to several autoshows and events.......and that you are even more excited and enthused.

I hope that there's a lot of good that comes from this unfortunate experience......and that now, most, if not all of you can plainly see that 'The Future Indeed Looks Bright!"
Click to expand...

...and this:

"thank you all for the kind words.
It's been tough over the years....knowing that the 4th gen would be put to pasture....that a plant would be closed........and worse, I couldn't say much of anything to you other than "keep the faith."

I think what most people don't realize is that when I said "keep the faith" there was credibility attached to that statement. If I said that.....and nothing ever happened, I'm sure that at some point in time, there would be a posse in my front yard........with a rope....and burning torches........(and you get the idea) Therefore, I started with the "Read my book"........

I can honestly say -- as I have been for quite some time -- that the future, INDEED looks very bright.

AS to the Mustang helping the Camaro along.......you betcha. Would we have done a Camaro anyway? Well.....who knows.......but I can tell you that there are dealers like my friends:
Greg Heinrich (Fairway Chevy)
Darrell McCutcheon (Reliable Chevy)
Matt Berger (Berger Chevy)
Tom Henry (Tom Henry Chevrolet)
Steve West (West Chevy)
Bill Heard (Bill Heard Dealerships)
Rollie Purifoy (Purifoy Chevy)
Jeff Cauley (Jack Cauley Chevy)
John Rampone (Ramp Chevrolet)
George Moore (Geo Moore Chevy)

and even Jim Perkins.....former VP of GM and General Manager of Chevrolet Motor Division who is now retired and working for the Hendrick organization...and their many Chevy Dealerships.............
......Every time......and I DO MEAN EVERYTIME they had an audience with the top men and women at GM, the Camaro issue came up. They demanded a new Camaro. You can bet that the hiatus of the Camaro affected these dealers in more than one way. First...they all have a passion for the Camaro......moreover, they sold a LOT of Camaros.....and when Camaro went away...so did some profit!

(a tidbit....I was visiting one of the Bill Heard Dealerships back in late 2001.....they had over 130 new Camaros in stock...and were gonna order more.....and Bill's son came out to see me and said "Mr. Settlemire...if you continue to build the Camaro, our 24 dealerships will buy every one of them!" (Talk about "Hard to say 'no' to someone!) But it was not possible to keep the car in production for several reasons.)

In a way, the past couple of years have been hell.
I knew it would be.

I suppose that I could have transferred over to other Brands (turned a couple of jobs down)......but I chose to ride the Camaro out to the end.

Do I regret it?

NO.

Was it painful?
Boy Howdy.

Did I leave the office on many a night so depressed and defeated that I sometimes questioned if I was sane?

Yep.

But you know what?

I wouldn't change what I did.

When you love something that invokes a passion.....you do what you have to do.

Moreover, every time I meet one of you...
........and you tell me about your Camaro (or Firebird) and I see that certain 'gleam' in your eyes....and the passion you show for these cars........I know it was the right thing to do.

I don't mean to imply that I'm the only one that felt that way.....far from it. I know John Heinricy for one felt just as bad as I about the cars going on hiatus........and many many more just like him. I guess my sorry face is just a little more visible than most...............

I know many of you can hardly wait for January 9.

Well guess what?

I can hardly wait as well......because I want to see the expressions on some faces......

......and I want to be around in 25 years when people say "remember wayyyyyyyy back in January of 06 when we first saw that great concept???"

Again.....thank you for the kind words.........

MORE IMPORTANTLY....to many of you.......

THANK YOU.......

........for 'keeping the faith!"
Click to expand...

Cliff Notes Version: (for those who barely care)

Pictures of a Camaro concept were leaked. I'm sure you saw them - tastefully retro and aggressive design studies, and a few technical renderings of a chassis showing a 2+2 rear wheel drive layout, mcpherson strut front suspension, multi-link IRS in the back, V8, true dual exhaust.

The Camaro's brand manager expresses gratitude to members of another forum for removing the pictures. He goes on to explain how leaked pictures hurt him and hurt the brand and the company. He expresses some enthusiasm about the finished concept and wishes people could get their first impression from the finished design and not the blurry photos of the rough-edged design study.

He also talks about the trials and tribulations of being the brand manager for a car that's loved by everyone with a pulse - excluding the bean counters. He talks about the loss of the 4th gen and all the people who fought with him to keep the Camaro alive.
Click to expand...

They have allowed CamaroZ28.com to display this image without the watermark too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Peloton25/muscle/cam.jpg

Reading some other posts around the web - apparently the concept we will see in Detroit January 9th will look quite different in the details. Expect the taillights to be round, and maybe the headlamps as well.

>8^)
ER

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