This new Mustang
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This new Camaro
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This new Camaro
Op-Ed by MonaroSS
GMI Contributor – 19 April 2012
This week we heard strong suggestion that Ford will be moving away from retro with it’s next new Mustang because it’s sales have been declining, even though retro sold well for them when it first went down that path. However, while I have been in the retro camp myself with Camaro, and evolving from that retro look for the next Camaro, I think I’m now moving into the other camp of making Camaro a new design. A little birdie inside GM Design makes me think that this week also saw some big exciting things happening regarding the new Camaro; so crunch time is imminent for the choice about which direction Camaro will go.
As I said; now seeing what a Mustang below (based off the Ford Evos Concept) can look like, as it leaves retro behind and just incorporates general styling themes from Mustangs history, I think perhaps Camaro should do the same. Retro tends to box you in and limit your design choices when you have to slavishly follow a whole set of themes. But starting with a clean sheet and taking overall new directions, with a little traditional flavour thrown in, may be the way to appeal not only to the current owners but to younger buyers as well.
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Below I’ve taken a previous chop I did off the current Camaro that was a 5-place GT and have cut it down and laid it back into a sleeker 2+2 suitable for a new lighter Camaro. I’ve also rendered a frontal view to go with it. I think that some in the retro camp may resist the idea of a new design direction because it’s unknown and it takes time to get used to new designs, especially for classic brand names. So this is my suggestion of one of the many directions a new design for Camaro could take.
Remember that new isn’t the equivalent of bad, it just takes time to come to terms with as you move away from what is comfortable and familiar. And remember that back in the day, when the Gen 2 came out, people after a few months just thought, “that is what a Camaro looks like”. And equally if a clean sheet Gen 6 came out then, after the dust settles, people will also just come to think, “that is what a Camaro looks like”.
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EDIT: So let's kick the blasphemy up a notch at the suggestion of SierraGS with the proposition of a 4-door Camaro... Available with a turbo I4 engine...
My inspiration for the front was the general elemental arrangement of the Gen 2 Camaro. The Gen 2 was inspired by Ferrari and Maserati designs of the time and so too I used the same basic split bumper either side of a predominant grille (this time my interpretation of the new Chevy grille) and raised sculpted front fender lines leading to a single headlight each side. In this case I put mine under steeply raked-back glass headlight covers, like many recent Ferrari 2+2 GT's have used, bringing the original inspiration back full circle.
I wanted something that looked like it could be a new Ferrari, but has that more muscular stance of American muscle car to it. Camaro has always been more streamlined and stylish than the more bluff Mustangs, and I wanted that too. To me the current Gen 5 is the most ‘muscle car’ Camaro ever. In some ways that styling should have been a new Chevelle. But for the more traditional sleeker Camaro look I tried to imagine something between a muscle car and the Corvette.
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As to engines, if the 130R does not get built, then this could easily take a 300hp Turbo I4 as its base. But with a 130R also in showrooms I would keep it V6 and V8. However I would build it light, say 3,300lb, with the less powerful motors. But for the HiPo motors I would have bolt-on bracing and alloy cradle castings that tie back into the body designed from the get-go to work with the basic lighter frame to add the strength and rigidity needed for the big power and torque motors. That will make the performance models more expensive, but it would allow the lesser models to be much lighter and more nimble, which I think is very important.
This will allow a 3.0 V6, 3.6 V6, and Twin Turbo 3.0 V6, as well as a lower tuned 5.3 V8, to really perform well for less money. The costly HiPo 6.0+ V8’s and Twin Turbo 3.6 engines, with their supercar performance, will be available but a few thousand more expensive than they might be had the car been engineered to take them without additional bracing. But I think that is a better trade-off than all the other Camaro’s having to carry more weight than they need to just to cater for the much lower numbers of the big power supercar models.
In any case I think people, especially younger people, will find a non-retro design perhaps more appealing. It also gives a fresh direction to inspire GM’s designers to think outside the box and dream up future classics….
Lots will disagree, but that’s what forums are for.
EDIT: P.S. Some alternate side profiles..