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Start beating the
drums, the muscle car wars may be ready to erupt into their tire
burning glory days once again. It had been strongly hinted, and
now confirmed, that GM is working on a sporty car for Chevrolet
which includes a 5.3-liter V-8 engine, rear-wheel drive, and
four-passenger capacity. Could this be the 2007 Chevrolet
Camaro?
GM is keeping a tight lid on the vehicle that will be based on
the new “Zeta” platform that is under development by Holden,
GM’s Australian division. The “Zeta” platform is to replace the
aging Cadillac Deville, Seville, and Buick LeSabre, currently
built at GM's Hamtramck, Michigan plant. This would be the
likely place for the new “Camaro” to be built.
Lee Iacocca drew the first sword when he brought the 1965 (64 ½)
Mustang to life at Ford Motor Company, striking a cord with
buyers looking for a sporty car that was affordable, and had the
capacity to carry four passengers in a pinch. The lines of the
new Mustang drew praise from across the globe, exciting passion
in its racy styling, even if the base models only packed a 101
horsepower inline 6 cylinder engine. A later model year GT could
be had with a 271 horsepower V-8 engine, resulting in a bit more
tire burning torque.
Chevrolet soon followed with the 1967 Camaro, utilizing the same
strategy of a small 2 door, four passenger, sporty car. The
Camaro mimicked the Mustang in that it could be equipped with an
anemic inline 6 cylinder or a more powerful V-8 engine. This
move provided for good sales of each model, allowing buyers that
were not interested in speed to purchase a sporty looking car at
minimal cost. The winning combination brought forth attempts
from Chrysler and American Motors at muscling in on the
competition. While some of these cars were real powerhouses, the
mainstream always viewed the Mustang and Camaro as the real arch
rivals of the pony car wars.
The muscle car wars raged until the early 70’s when emission
regulations, the fuel crisis, and emerging newcomers from
abroad, stuck a knife in the muscle car mystique. What remained
of the muscle cars was little more than ungainly looking
vehicles, with loads of decals and spoilers, attempting to fool
the public into thinking everything was ok in the land of muscle
cars.
So, here we are in 2004, and the Mustang lives on, driven by the
heritage of yesteryear and the thoughts of revitalized sales
figures. Will Chevrolet have the wherewithal to resurrect the
Camaro? If they do will the effort be adequate to make the car a
viable contender in today’s marketplace? During the 60’s there
was little affordable competition from Europe to challenge the
American muscle cars, and almost non-existent competition from
the Asian market. When American buyers stepped foot on the
showroom floor to purchase a performance oriented automobile it
was likely made in America. Now, things have changed
tremendously, the American muscle car has been knocked from its
perch, and it won’t be an easy ascent back to the muscle car
throne.
Chevrolet made several attempts to keep the Camaro alive,
pumping the Z-28 and SS models full of horsepower and driving it
through a 6 speed gearbox. The bowtie folks soon realized that
savvy buyers would not ignore an ungainly unibody structure, and
poor build quality, for simple straight line performance. The
Camaro and Firebird gasped their last breathes of ram induced
air. Ford has taken a different stance, keeping the marque alive
through the use of retro styling and a much improved unibody
structure. Ford has taken the risk of using a live rear axle, in
an effort to keep the buy-in price of the Mustang GT in the
$25,000 neighborhood. The new Mustang is much more refined, has
improved road manners, a new 3 valve cylinder head V-8 producing
300 horsepower, and improved interior trim. Will this be enough
to lure the young (17-25 yr old) buyers away from the quick and
nimble cars coming from the Asian market?
Chevrolet must do several things to make a new Camaro appealing
to the performance car buyer. They MUST improve the interior
quality of their cars. Cheap plastics and poor switchgear make
for an unpleasant experience in many of the GM vehicles. They
must improve the vehicle chassis, which should happen with the
Zeta platform. They must make the vehicle stand out in a crowd
while maintaining a clean fresh look. Power should not be a
problem for the GM folks. They have plenty of engine options to
give the car good speed and acceleration. And, they must avoid
the mistake Ford made with the new Thunderbird, pricing the car
out of its market.
Americans want to buy American cars, but they won’t do so just
because of a nameplate. They insist on the same level of quality
they can purchase from European or Asian automobile
manufacturers. American manufacturers have greatly improved the
reliability of their vehicles, now now we need to see them build on
their marques, not cast them aside with every change of the
wind.
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