Who loves Camaros?? (muscle car, vehicles, sports, Chevrolet)

[Magnum Mike]

I've only owned one Camaro Z-28, with the 350 engine. It was a 1980. It had the looks, but not the same power its older 1960's and early 1970's siblings had.

I put 78,000 fairly hard miles on it, and I got rid of it in late 1984 because I started hearing a rod bearing knock.

I always liked its cousin though, the Pontiac Trans-Am, especially the 1977 model, with the same look as the ones Burt Reynolds drove in the first Smokey and The Bandit. Back then, these machines were built for speed, even though most others cars lacked the performance.

I saw something on the History Channel a few months ago and they were talking about that movie, and the producer said that 3 Trans-Ams were completely ruined by the time they finished filming the movie.

[momof2dfw]

I want a Smokey and the Bandit TA so bad........... I found one awhile back for sale at $14K and it was gone before I could blink. If I could find the VIN on my 81 I would search high and low for it.

[bmd69]

1969 cross-ram camaro!

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by bmd69

1969 cross-ram camaro!

Yeah!
I certainly like those a lot more than the funny-looking modern egg- or blob- shaped Toyotas and Hondas.

[Noahma]

Originally Posted by exhdo1

While I think the new 09 look is interesting (not a fan of too many hard edges) I wish G.M. would have gone retro like Ford did with the Mustang and Dodge with the Challenger. Maybe the 70-73 body style would have been a good starting point!

In a way chevy did go retro with the new 09 Camaro. The style is based on the first generation Camaro (1967-1969) with a bit of a modern twist on it.

[Linson]

Originally Posted by Hungry For Cheese

Is that possible? I thought only the Vette would have the LT1 until the mid 90s?

Oh BTW the 35th anny is my fav...I love the 2002 Camaro....a nice drop top would be great.

actually you're talking about two different engines. in the 1970s the designation was LT-1 (which was available on Camaros). in the '90s the designation was LT1 (without the hyphen).

here's a picture of my LT1 Camaro.

[Historic Bessemer]

I had a 1970 SS Redneck Corvette one time...........I wrecked it!

[Linson]

my '67 Firebird...

[Linson]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

We have 2 firebirds (00 Trans Am, WS6 and a 99 v6 firebird) both black. My BF flew out to Houston in July for the 99 and drove it back. He searched for a year for this specific car. Hopefully he's content for a while.

he searched for a year specifically for a 4th generation [base model] firebird with a V-6??? no offense, but...just seems kinda blah. i could probably find one of those no later than tomorrow. that WS6 is a cool car though.

i have a black firebird as well - a 1989 Formula 350. it is also a WS6 package. it is in currently in the project phase. it's complete and solid though.

[Linson]

Originally Posted by Noahma

In a way chevy did go retro with the new 09 Camaro. The style is based on the first generation Camaro (1967-1969) with a bit of a modern twist on it.

yeah, and plus, i think it's good that they're not just trying to make the exact same visual statement as 40 years ago. i'm already pretty bored of the '05+ Mustangs. i personally liked the '99-'04 body style better.

this new Camaro is going to blow the Mustang outta the water. the problem in the past IMO has been lack of marketing on the part of GM. they practically never made a Camaro commercial, and never exploited the fact that the Camaro/Firebird was a far superior performance option over the Mustang.

here are some facts and opinions

fact: late model camaros/firebirds got a bad rap for being uncomfortable to drive and for having a cramped interior, and useless back seets.

fact: i have ridden in a few late model mustangs which were deemed to be more comfortable to drive.

opinion: those mustangs had an even more cramped, more uncomfortable, and ergonomically inferior interior - and those interiors bear a striking resemblance to mustang interiors as far back as '64.

fact: from the early nineties until the cancellation of the F-Body, when compared to the mustang, for a little more money you got a lot more power and performance.

fact: GM did not advertise this fact.

opinion: that being said, i dont think that the Camaro and Firebird combined will ever outsell the Mustang. this is for a couple of reasons. one being that the camaro and firebird have somehow been given the conotation of redneck culture due to satirical stereotypes of the late seventies and early eighties. another reason being that women will typically choose a mustang over a camaro or firebird for the simple reason that the name mustang=horse=pony, and every little girl wants a pony. on top of that, a large part of the market share are young men who want a car that is going to attract young women. and what are most yong women going to like? redneck huliganism or a pony?

fact: im not trying to rat ****k mustangs.

fact: i like mustangs. i want a 1967 or 68 mustang.

fact: throughout the 80s the Ford's 5.0 (302) motor had better quality built into it than it's GM counterparts.

opinion: due to narrow stance and short wheel base, those same mustangs had inferior handling than thier GM counterparts.

opinion: fact is, that throughout the 40 year rivalry of these cars the mustang was almost always inferior from a performance perspective. styling is subjective, but again, i would almost always go with a camaro or firebird in that department as well. as far as day to day practicality goes, it is the camaro that gets the bad rep, but in my opinion they are both pretty impractical as far as being a sole means of transportation.