Pour one out for the Camaro.. again

https://www.theautopian.com/chevrolet-camaro-production-to-end-in-january/

Chevrolet has announced that in January 2024, the sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro will officially exit production. With no immediate replacement, this is where the Camaro lineage stops for now. Chevrolet has promised an eventual successor, but it’s hard to say what form it might take. 

The current Camaro is a car I don't personally like, but have a ton of respect for. It's a shame to see it go away, even though we all knew this was coming. Then again, it died once and came back, so it may happen again. Though I suspect that if it comes back, it'll be doing so as an EV.

Chevy is going to New Coke it. Take away the sugar soda, and when the demand is high enough, bring it back after you swapped to corn syrup.

It will be electric.

Don't worry, GM will bring the name back, likely on whatever the latest Daewoo sourced micro compact SUV is to come next. 

I've been saying it for years... If you want to keep th Mustang and Camaro around there needs to be a 4 door option. 

Yes, it's sacrilege to expect a 4 door Pony car.  But, it wasn't that long ago that 4 door was seen as sacrilege on a soft top Jeep.  Now, it's super rare to see a 2 door Jeep but that has not been at the expense of the Jeeps capability or "coolness". 

I'm not talking Mustang E-Mach 4 door but the same muscle car that guys with 2 kids could justify owning. 

Really Dodge has been doing it with the Charger/Challenger for many years.  But, they'll be gone too. 

Times they are a changin'

Hard to say if it will be ev or ev only as gm just recently announced the next generation small block v8 it's also being reported that the c9 will have the small block.

People always complained that new musclecars were too big and heavy, so GM made the 6th-gen smaller and lighter and sales tanked. Then they had that ill-advised front end restyle in 2019 that made sales even worse. 

While I admire the 6th gen performance, I just can't over the "I'm in a bathtub and can't see E36 M3" feeling.  Hopefully the next one will have...you know...windows.

I have a whole lot of car magazines from around 1970 to 1974 filled with articles and editorials that predict that insurance costs and $1 a gallon gasoline will be the end of the musclecar.

In reply to John Welsh :

The Charger has been a 4 door for longer than it was a 2 door. The Wrangler really took off when the 4 door was introduced.

I think you're not wrong. 

I was so happy when I heard they were bringing back the Camaro, and I thought the retro styling of the 5th Gen and was really cool at first.  But, despite the performance numbers I just don't have a connection with the 5th and 6th generation cars.  I think the pre 2019 cars are the best looking of the bunch, and if I buy one it will most likely be that model year, but they just don't hit me in the feels like the old 4th and 3rd generation cars did.  I'll miss them when they are gone, but I think i'd rather have a 4th or 3rd gen with a lumpy cam.  Or even better a 2nd gen original LT-1 car (can't afford one of them anymore sadly).

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

After owning a 4th gen and riding in a few 2nd and 3rd gens, i think the sitting in an bathtub and can't see E36 M3 feeling is a feature and not a bug.  You could see out of the earlier gens though, except for that pesky HUGE blind spot of the B pillar..

Add me to the chorus of, "I love the idea of this car, I don't love the reality".  I can't see out of it, and it feels tiny inside.  I really wanted to like it, i own an older camaro.  
 

Give me a car with the ergo and sightlines of a BRZ/GR86, a bit heavier (300-400lbs)  to allow for the ls/6speed, and i'm happy.  The gen5/6 cars weren't it.  

The 6G probably would have sold better if it was taller, with 4 doors, a full second row, factory lift kit, granny gear, supercruise, a 6 foot bed, and 10,000 pounds towing with 30+mpg. Sadly, it was just a Camaro and not a Canyonero. 

06HHR (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

After owning a 4th gen and riding in a few 2nd and 3rd gens, i think the sitting in an bathtub and can't see E36 M3 feeling is a feature and not a bug.  You could see out of the earlier gens though, except for that pesky HUGE blind spot of the B pillar..

Oh no... not if you want to performance drive it.  Seeing is kinda essential.

I love the Camaros, but the fact that a helmet won't fit through the doors always makes me hesitate when I'm getting in the right seat of one.

I loved mine, just not as much as I loved the 4th gens.

Based on 15 seconds of research, I see that Ford sold 52,414 Mustangs in the U.S. 2021. That same year, Chevy sold 21,893 Camaros. 

I am going to test drive a new LT1 version next month.  I really like the idea of a stripped down 455 hp LS and 6 speed.  I'm not the tallest person so this car might fit me okay.  I know LS engines last forever if cared for, so I could see driving one a long time.  It's going to have to be really good to replace my Si though.  I think I'm at almost 30k miles in it and it is a really great DD.  

In reply to David S. Wallens :

You nailed it. Mustang won the nostalgia war and dodge won the outright stupid horsepower war. Once again Chevy aimed conservatively and won nobody.

Random thoughts:
The Chevrolet SS was a better car overall than the Camaro, but they didn't market it- in fact, they kind of buried it.

Two doors only work well for cars with no back seat. 

The Trailblazer SS is probably what more people are looking for these days.

I drove a 95 z28 as a daily for 9 years. The later cars did nothing for me. Bought a used 911 instead. 

GM dropped the ball with the styling from Day One.  The Mustang and Challenger were true homages to the original styling. GM went with 'using design elements' only, which resulted in a car that sorta looked like a Camaro of yore, but also didn't. 

In many ways a technically better car than the Mustang (pains me to say that as a S197 owner), I think the styling and packaging is what kept people away from it. Meanwhile, Mustang and Challenger sold in significant numbers.

I don't think making a 4 door is the answer. Aside from the Charger (which succeeds due to fleet sales), the Impala SS and Taurus SHO both bombed and vanished. Aging nostalgia buyers like myself won't buy a 4 door with a borrowed nameplate, and younger buyers want bubbles that pretend to be SUVs nowadays. 

While I'm sad the Challenger is coming to an end and annoyed with Ford's horrid application of the Mustang name on a freaking SUV, the Camaro I really won't miss. It never achieved a status of desire with me due to the scattered styling.

John Welsh said:

I've been saying it for years... If you want to keep th Mustang and Camaro around there needs to be a 4 door option. 

Yes, it's sacrilege to expect a 4 door Pony car.  But, it wasn't that long ago that 4 door was seen as sacrilege on a soft top Jeep.  Now, it's super rare to see a 2 door Jeep but that has not been at the expense of the Jeeps capability or "coolness". 

I'm not talking Mustang E-Mach 4 door but the same muscle car that guys with 2 kids could justify owning. 

Really Dodge has been doing it with the Charger/Challenger for many years.  But, they'll be gone too. 

Times they are a changin'

A four door Mustang would be a dadmobile. Sort of like a minivan would be a mommobile. I still know people still won't be seen in a minivan because of that image. They sold a buch of minivans but thet weren't cool. Mustangs are image cars.

The more things change...

It's funny, Ford can sell tons of Mustangs every year, and Dodge sells tons of Challengers despite a chassis that dates back to the first term of the George W Bush administration. So what is the issue with the Camaro? It has all the right stuff on paper, with a willing chassis, a great lineup of engines, and more. 

The issue, I think, is GM. 

They are notorious for building something cool, never telling anyone about it, and then canceling it because no one bought the thing. I hardly ever see advertisements for anything GM, save for that ad campaign a few years ago telling people that the egg shaped CUV's they are building are Buicks. You might see a Chevy Silverado ad every once in a while during a sports game. That's about it.

I don't think I have seen a Camaro ad on TV since the 80's. Hell, just recently, I learned that they built the Camaro LT1 package, which stuffs the V8 into a base car. You would think that just maybe they would tell someone about something this cool. Of course they didn't! I found out about it because someone on Twitter stumbled upon the package on the Build & Price tool. To my knowledge, they still haven't told anyone about it. 

You would think everyone would probably know what a Camaro is, but when you think Camaro, what do you really think of? I think either of a shiny 1st gen car sitting at a car show or a ratty IROC with some guy with a mullet driving it listening to Hair Metal. They are a distant 3rd behind the Mustang and Challenger to anyone you ask, a joke, and an afterthought. 

They will likely bring it back as some mediocre EV CUV thing, and probably not tell anyone about that, either. A sad, yet deserving end. 

I've wondered about the lack of promotion too.  You never see any print ads or TV commercials for Camaros.