2008/2009 Chevy Camaro concept.

[reberto]

Here's something for the Mopar fans.
View attachment 38212

View attachment 38213

that looks 200% better than the "mullet king" camaro

 

[reberto]

But nobody really treats Volvo or Mazda as "Ford." They survive on their own. Most people I know don't even know that Mazda, Land Rover, or Aston Martin are a part of Ford.

With GM, their brands are GM. There isn't necessarily a GM car badge, and so when people think of Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, Jeep, etc, they immediately think of GM. So if one of their brands does poorly, it reflects poorly on GM.
.

If you look at some of the parts on those cars (linclon,merc',mazda,volvo,jaguar,Land rover, Aston martin) you will find at least 50 Ford branded parts. Oh and also, Jeep is not owned by GM, its owned buy the crap-tastic Chrysler group (Chrysler,Jeep,Dodge. They all suck)

 

[DakotaGuy]

YEEEEEHAAAAA!


....not excactly my idea of fun.

Look at that pic closely...that dude is going to get some cause he just bought a new Mustang II and the girls are impressed!!!!

HAHA...thanks for the pic...that was funny!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

that looks 200% better than the "mullet king" camaro

I'm torn with this retro crap. Some of it can be quite attractive (like the linked pic above), but is this all the American car industry has got for performance cars? People elsewhere in the world build hot hatches, sports coupes, GT cars, sports sedans and exotics. Some are not that powerful but lightweight and nimble. And we have....SUVs/Trucks with huge lazy engines and neo-retro pony cars. Live axles. WTF? That's it? That's American performance?

<Big 'ol rant>

Which is why the Ford GT is nice - a mid-engined all out performance exotic, And in its case I can excuse the retro-ness because the styling is based on a LeMans racer, not some production sedan/coupe.

The 'Vette has had it's ups and downs. Nowadays it's a true contender. The Viper is legit too I suppose, but a little on the crude side. Chrysler has 8 liters to work with and they get....500hp. A couple hundred short I think.

I want to see a true American challenger to the Evo/WRX. I want to see an American builder that puts out wild, exotic GTs like TVR. I want to see super-economical hatchbacks like the new Fiat Panda, and a hot hatch that can tangle with the new Golf GTI or the performance-enhanced Euro Focus we don't get here mad: ).

We build big fat grocery getters and to the Big Three a "performance" car is a big fat grocery getter with a big, fat engine and body kits.

The hot Cobalt and turbo Neon come off as Fast and Furious posers compared to the massive capabilities afforded by the WRX and Evo. I guess they tried, but they just aren't in the same league. The SVT Focus (and to a slightly lesser extent the SVT Contour) had the plot, but the suits didn't recognize that they had a good thing going. The previous-gen Cobra was a good idea - Ford should have made the new GT a similar car (INDEPENDENT SUSPENSION). They liked the Lightning though.

There's nothing wrong with pony cars, but was the '60s the peak of American car tech? 'cause they really seem hung up on that period. I know we can do better. I just wish we would, instead of running off like sheep to buy the latest crossover SUV monstrosity or believing GM when they tell us that the Pontiac Grand Prix (and here I quote their website) "will set the sports sedan bechmark for years to come". I don't think I need to elaborate there. That kind of silly arrogance has got them where they are.

</Big 'ol rant>

Just so you can't say I'm all grumpy there ARE some positive signs in the US auto industry:

- Chrysler switches to using a rear-drive platform for certain sedans. Definitely a good move. The 300/Charger, despite it's flaws, is a better drive than the FWD GM/Ford sedans of a similar size partially due to it's rear-drive layout. Mercedes mechanicals help too.

- More use of displacement-on-demand and variable valve timing technologies by all three Detroit behemoths. Right now they are imperfect but it's a step in the right direction.

- Ford chose to make AWD optional on the Five Hundred. A good feature, hopefully to be repeated on less hopless cars in the near future.

- The Solstice. This car is proof that GM is managed randomly - I can't think of any other way that the same company that gives birth to turds like the Impala SS, HHR and Aztek can produce a gem like the Solstice. There was a little help from Opel there though, so it wasn't totally home-grown.

 

[840quadra]

Here are a couple of my pictures from earlier today

More photos from Detroit, more to be posted later in the week.

http://www.neuwerks.com/gallery/NAIAS06

 

[hulugu]

first of all it's pretty ugly for a muscle car. The mustang is much sexier. Second of all it's just another step in the trend of american cars - first it was the H2, then it was the mustang, now it's this - these cars are exciting looking and off the wall in a way taht will attract attention, but they are not good practical cars (high mpg, durable, inexpensive). It's almost like american car companies are ceding that category to japan.

The Camaro design is pretty good, although the front grill is ugly. But, to compare it to the cubist horror that is the H2 is just wrong. Furthermore, these are pony cars, fun to drive, but not very practical. Not everyone wants a people mover.

 

[Jovian9]

Looks a lot like the Mustang, except the Camaro has an ugly front.

I agree.

 

[SharksFan22]

The 'Vette has had it's ups and downs. Nowadays it's a true contender. The Viper is legit too I suppose, but a little on the crude side. Chrysler has 8 liters to work with and they get....500hp. A couple hundred short I think.

Having driven both, I agree with you on the Vette. The current one is an amazing car for the money. However, the Viper, while brutally fast in a straight line, doesn't inspire confidence in curves. I've read that it pulls close to 1.0g on the skidpad, but just didn't feel it when I drove it. Admittedly though, I'm a Porsche freak.

I want to see a true American challenger to the Evo/WRX. I want to see an American builder that puts out wild, exotic GTs like TVR. I want to see super-economical hatchbacks like the new Fiat Panda, and a hot hatch that can tangle with the new Golf GTI or the performance-enhanced Euro Focus we don't get here mad: ).

We build big fat grocery getters and to the Big Three a "performance" car is a big fat grocery getter with a big, fat engine and body kits.

That's becasue, on average, we Americans have evolved into the largest, fattest, laziest individuals on the planet. While my statement is a generalization, I think that most Americans simply cannot fit comfortably into most compacts and hatchbacks. And, other than the recent, short-term run-up in gas prices, there's been little to no incentive to buy cars fuel efficient cars in the last 20-25 years.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Thanks for bringing us the pics, 840quadra!

The Camaro concept has some nice details, but I bet a lot of the magic will be gone with the production version. I won't miss the interior though - it looks silly.

That's becasue, on average, we Americans have evolved into the largest, fattest, laziest individuals on the planet. While my statement is a generalization, I think that most Americans simply cannot fit comfortably into most compacts and hatchbacks. And, other than the recent, short-term run-up in gas prices, there's been little to no incentive to buy cars fuel efficient cars in the last 20-25 years.

There are a lot of Americans that CAN fit though, and would probably buy these cars. The stereotype that we are fat, lazy and stupid is so pervasive that it actually prevents people from selling there cars here. And the Big Three exacerbate the situation by making fat, lazy and stupid cars.

 

[SharksFan22]

There are a lot of Americans that CAN fit though, and would probably buy these cars. The stereotype that we are fat, lazy and stupid is so pervasive that it actually prevents people from selling there cars here. And the Big Three exacerbate the situation by making fat, lazy and stupid cars.

Ah, yes. I agree that there are many people who can fit. But (this is only a guess with no fact) I suspect that given a finite amount of Engineering and Development resources, GM can get a better return selling large cars than they can with small cars. Again, that's just a guess.