New Camaro : Did they fix the problems with the 4th gen

[salbracht]

Looking at the Camaro concept, I love the styling.

But I started thinking ... why did the 4th gen F-bods fail? People throw out a lot of reasons (no marketing, etc. etc.) but the one that comes up most is the fact that they basically turned the car into a 2+2 Corvette. At first, you say "What is wrong with that?". Nothing if you are a 100% performance junkie. Unfortunately, by making the car this way (difficult ingress/egress, difficult to see out, low seat/ride hight, small backseat and trunk) they limited the market considerably. Mustang's continued to sell because ladies could get in/out more easily, and in general the car was easier to live with on a day to day basis.

(Please don't shoot me for making these comments. I have a 4th gen and I love it, but I understand why it wasn't an overall success with a larger portion of the general public.)

So now I'm looking at the Camaro concept, and I'm wondering ... did they fix these problems? It's hard to see from the photos, but I'm not so sure they did. (It's looking like they made another 2+2 Corvette that looks like a '69 Camaro.)

What do you think?

Steve

[zeobandit]

My biggest problem with the 4th gen Camaros and Firebirds is that there was no room inside them. I am 6'5" and I couldn't fit in the car, otherwise I would own one now.

That, and the cheap all plastic interior, more ex********************ve sticker then the Mustang, and aging technology is what killed them.

[zabolots]

As far as the concept goes, I'd say that no, they didn't fix the "problems" of the 4th gen. Still looks like a b?tch to get in and out of. Hopefully the new car won't have the catalytic hump in the passenger foot well either!

[tom3]

I'm a Camaro junkie I guess, and the fourth gen just didn't do anything for me. Just didn't look like a Camaro should. Test drove a couple over the years, I get in and all I see is dash top and wiper blades as I recall. Looking under the hood and how do you start to work on the engine? The later fourth gen car was probably a really good deal for the money, get a standard Z which included most options for well under $25K. Don't remember seeing any rebates or such on the Z, and also don't remember any advertising in the last several years. So, for me the car just didn't have the appeal and GM turned its back on it. And maybe also worthwhile to mention that in the big sales years of the late 70s there were several models to choose, not just a six cylinder and the hotrod Z cars. Most sales were the smaller V8 versions from the numbers I've seen. You lose those sales and the volume doesn't justify the car? Sure looks like the new car might be a success if what I read comes true. I'm sure interested - but doubt I can afford what will be a pretty steep price I'm guessing.

[Buffman]

I dont know, I've seen the back seats of Mustangs and they don't look very easy to get in/out of. You want to complain about backseats, go and look at the back seats on an Audi TT. My friend has (well had it had an electrical fire a couple of months ago) and I don't even know why they put seats back there...!

[yassir(snowman)]

my friends 97 eagle talon is comfy in the back if ure by ure self but once ure in u cant get out. if the new camaro is priced reasonably it will do good. small things need to be dealt with like the grill the gauges and to me the hood looks too long.

[JJZ28]

Yeah...my biggest dislikes of the 4th gen is visibility, electronic glitches, interior quality, exterior fit and finish, and interior room (very difficult to get out and in without the door wide open). Mechanically I dislike the whining noise at highway speed, weak rearend, clunking noise from the driveshaft, floaty suspension on Z28, poor quality rims on Z28, weak window motor and rattling glass if opened half way. The list goes on...but hearing the LS1 open up and ripping through the gears makes it all better. I hope the new Camaro addresses all the little issues that the average buyer looks at.

[BigAls87Z28]

Well gents, we know that inteiror and exterior quality will be above where the 4th gens were, which aint that hard to do, but even the Aveo has better quality materials.

Now as far as you wont be able to fit, the concept has a very large interior, thanks to its wide wheel base. Bob Lutz drove the car and got out of it pretty easily if I recall, and he deffinatly aint short.

I think that a production car will not follow inthe footsteps of the 4th gen. They understand what the car needs to be. The chassis design alone wont allow some of the things that the 4th gens had, such as a small interior space, engine under cowl, cat hump, long overhangs, and super low ride hight.

[Tone]

Chevy seems to be following the Mustang playbook here: the Mustang concept looked very much like the actual 2005 production model, but was a bit more aggressive in terms of a low roof.

In fact, the Mustang concept was derived from the productions car; I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the concept Camaro is simply a more radical version of the actual production piece.

I suspect you'll see a more reasonable greenhouse in production models.