We get our first look at the Chevrolet Camaro Concept
Chevrolet's Camaro concept car -- the most likely Dodge Challenger challenger (sorry) -- made a special appearance a local cruise-in on Friday. BJ was there, so I'll let her tell the story:
Concept vehicles tend to roam the earth in search of photo opportunities after their glorious debuts at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and the Chevrolet Camaro Concept has been making the rounds. The latest sighting was in Southern California, where it was photographed for a European magazine at Universal Studios before making its way to a popular local hangout for car buffs on Friday nights: Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California. Although it’s not the original Big Boy (that was in Glendale some 50 years ago), this is the oldest surviving member of the chain, with the added benefit of being registered as a national landmark. Years ago it even offered car hop service, of which I remember fondly, being a SoCal native.
A handful of journalists were on the invite list to stop by for a sighting, and I did, getting there just in time to miss Jay Leno driving the vehicle into the lot, but in time to see the Hot Rod magazine cover photo shoot, which will have the same basic angle as the photo you see here with the classic Camaro in the background. Although Dodge has announced it will build the Challenger, no official word from GM as to whether or not a new Camaro is slated for production. As soon as we know, you’ll know. Meanwhile click the comment link and tell us if you think the Camaro Concept should be built, and whether you prefer the Challenger design over the Camaro. We’ll pass your comments along to the appropriate GM folks. As we’ve seen before many a time, if they build it, we will come. -- BJ Killeen
BJ snapped a few pics of the new Camaro; check them out in this Chevrolet Camaro concept photo gallery And yes, BJ is serious about us passing your comments along to GM, so go ahead and let us know what you think of the Camaro concept. -- Aaron Gold
Comments
i love the look of the car, how ever i am concerned about sitting in the driver seat and not seeing the road. the feild of vision looked horrible in comparision to the challenger concept , charger and mustang. bottom line, i still want one.
Looks OK from the side, but I hate the front and rear of the car. The success of the Challenger concept lies in the fact that it looks like the earlier one. The Camaro looks like a poorly done makeover of the current Impala. Back to the drawing boards, boys!
As a former Camaro owner, I am excited to see this type of vehicle possibly put back into production. It still represents an icon to GM fans and I think the concept, with its similarity in design to the late 60’s model, will do well in the market place and boost Chevy’s image. Right now, most American cars are boring and without passion. The new Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro represent a time in automotive history when auto manufacturers still had the passion to produce exciting yet affordable cars. If they build the Camaro, I’ll definetly be looking to get one.
It looks great as it passes you, but the attempt to maintain a corporate identity across the front makes the camaro nose look like a cross between an impala and a cavalier. it just does not work for me. The tail could have gone even more retro. the ‘make a face on it’ look was overdone with Chrysler’s smiling neons. overall, i’d call it a nice try, but the Challenger looks like a more authentic retro muscle car. Chevy, you’re not worthy.
Nay-Sayers: SHUT UP!!! That thing is “Sweet” (Pardon me Dodge) even if it hasn’t got a Hemi! I have owned 6 camaros and Firebirds over the years with my current one being a 98 Formula with around 450 horses and as much as I love it I’d sell it and my left arm just to make the down payment on the concept camaro. That is, on the condition that it have at least 475 HP!Make it Chevy and I will Come!
Who cares about making it look more retro? Rather than reverting back to the past so much, Chevy has takin innovation and design to the next level. If they really get the engine and suspension right, I say build it!
It makes me excited and scared at the same time. Except for a couple of small details like the gauges located low on the center console, I’m a big fan. What scares me is the some of the best things about the concept are going to get lost in production. Couple of things I’m hoping make it are the independent rear suspension and a factory optioned LS7. I’ve already started saving up to buy one but only if it has those options.
GM would have be braindead not to produce this car. I’m a Ford man and this new Camaro looks hot! This could help turn around their failing image.
As for the Challenger, I never liked the old ones and will say the same for the new one. The Challenger just doesn’t do it for me.
I would like to see GM try a little harder to make the new Camaro look more like the 1969 model. It is just too edgy. They should look at the challenger. It is very close to the 1970 version.
Chevy should build it. They should also establish a way to elicit feedback from the guy/gal on the street. Ultimately it’s they buy or don’t buy the customers. What GM needs to take to heart is that they are not above the wrath of the customer.
I like this car. It is unlike anything for sale on the planet. I am glad it isn’t too much like an earlier model (’69 or otherwise). If I wanted a ‘69 Camaro, I would buy one. The idea is to be “retro” not “replica”. I hope it is able to be very modern (powertrain and suspension) while maintaining that retro look. Who wouldn’t want a stump pullin’, ground poundin’, mustang eatin’, retro machine that upholds modern reliablity!!?? I have a wife and two kids, so the C6 is out. Camaro - Sign me up!
The Challenger looks very good. For the Camaro to have the nod over it though, it would (as others have stated), have to have: ind. rear suspension, 400 plus horses, optioned as - convertible, 6 speed man. , rs/ss front grille (hide aways), cowl induction hood (mid-rise), paint schemes,and other interior / exterior options to mimic the ‘67 / ‘68 model years; as GM made successive year models ‘07 = ‘67 ‘08 = ‘68 ‘09= ‘69. i’d sell my ‘69 camaro, ‘72 (400) chevy trk., and my ‘74 stingray..(not). Thanks for the consideration GM. But Please do it… soon.
The idea of making the car look or like the original is absolutely crazy. Design is about change, not duplication. This car is one of the most successful blends of old world styling with a new age twist that I have seen yet. The Challenger is a nice car, but why would I want to see a replica when I can go to any hot rod show and see the original. The Camaro is getting its due attention for “breaking out of the box”. Kudos to chevy for finally coming up with a car that is worth downloading pictures of. Lets face it, they sure haven’t been award winning designers in the last few decades. I would buy one of these cars in a second. BUILD IT!
I have never owned anything but GM but I do love the Mustang. They really turn my head. They hit the nail dead center with their design. The Camaro is not quite dead center but I like it. I will buy one. I just sold my 67 RS and I am already sorry I did. I still have a 2000 Z28 with only 14,000 miles on it.
If GM would have done this with the GTO they would have sold them by the truck load. I loved the drive train and the seats but when I got out of the car and looked at it I walked away.
You make the Cararo and I will buy one. Thanks..
This car is so close to being spot on, but it is still lacking something. Maybe Foose needs to lay hands on the concept and give it that touch he does so well. The one thing I don’t like it those HUGE cookie cutter rims!!
Chevy missed the mark with this one. I love the classic camaros, but this one doesn’t capture the original the same way the new mustang or the challenger concept does.
Back to the drawing board - I actually hope they don’t make this one.
If retro was your intent, I think you are a little on the radical side. The Challenger seemed to nail what my impression of your intent was.
The concept Camaro looks great as it is.
GM must be playing the publicity game and creating buzz on whether they will or won’t build it. If they don’t Rick Wagoner deserves to be replaced. The point here is GM never should have stopped building the Camaro. There is and always has been a market demand for such a car. The bean counters killed it and are killing GM with their we can’t do this or that! If GM doesn’t put excitement back they’ll just disappear.
As far as the comments on the car not being retro enough, design evolves as it should. If you looked at the concept Camaro without the bowtie logos there would be no doubt that it was a Camaro!
The Challenger looks too much like the old Challenger. The retro buzz will fade and the concept Camaro’s design will carry over.
GM, Just Do It, build the Camaro ASAP!!!
Sorry GM but it lacks something! It doesn’t jump out and grab your attention! Could it be the colour? It
needs an attention getter along the body of this concept! Maybe sculpured lines but something! Maybe NISSAN has got an idea to sparle it up!
This car looks like a cartoon. The features are far too exaggerated and have no fluidity. It has the potential to be a gorgeous car (from the profile), but the front and rear end need some work. So far, the Challenger wins out. It has the nostalgic uniqueness with the modern touches that will make RestoMod enthusiasts VERY happy. That being said, why can’t anybody come up with an original design which is as timeless and beautiful as some of the classics? Every car on the road looks the same, unless it’s a throwback to a design from long ago. The auto industry is following the same horrible trend as the music industry and I hope this will change one day soon.
why does it always have to be the obvious that GM can never seem to grasp. all people want is a faithful comaro replica updated accordingly, without the chisled distinctions inserted that insure defeat will be snatched from the hands of victory.
I hate to think that Chevrolet would go ahead with this only to have so-so sales. I’ve owned 69 and 70 1/2 Camaro’s and to try and bring back this car, its DOA except to a very small market. It will have people who will go beyond belief to buy it, but the final results are it will be a bust. I myself, would not buy this throwback, or the Challenger either. I want the real thing or something a lot closer to the real thing, not this. It has too many restyled areas to be on par with a 69, and isn’t clean in the grille or rear panel areas. But, who knows, if they want to sell 15,000 or so, go for it. If they want to sell 100,000, make some changes so it will be appealing, not just a NAME that is from the Past.
This car is needed. If you look at the gm website and look up holden they have a plethora of awesome rear wheel drive vehicles of this platform. They need to bring the ute here and call it an el camino. The amortization of this platform is unreal. The camaro concept is a beautiful rendition of the future of this platform. I really want to see a buick skylark of this, but i’ll take a camaro with a 5.3l and a t56 6spd.
The interior is just about right, a combination of retro/modern. But the front end needs to be opened up and the lines softened. Same with the rear, with maybe round tailights like the 70-72s? Build it and we will buy!
Great idea - a new (old) Camaro. But it looks more like a new Mustang than my old ‘67 Camaro!! There’s more to good car design than sheet metal - let’s see what the rest of it’s all about. Can my wife (she was the Camaro driver) see the road without having to remount the seat (like she did in ‘67)? Does it handle and stop, as well as go (an assumed characteristic for a Camaro)? We’ll probably be in line to get one.
I love my “98 Camaro but the new concept I do like at all. It looks like every other car out there, BORING. I would never buy this Camaro. Bring back the muscle car look Camaro once had. It has been such a great car over the years, please do not ruin it. Maybe recreate one of the older models, some of those were hot. I bought the Camaro for 3 reasons, wanted a muscle car and it did notlooked like something other than every other car, and couldn’t afford a Vet). I will never buy one of those rounded cars. I had wanted a muscle since highschool, 30 years later I was able to get the Camaro, it was one of the very few cars that still looked like a muscle car. When a Camaro comes down the highway you know it is something different, it looks powerful and fast. Please don’t ruin the Camaro. I have always had V8 muscle desires.
I love my old Camaro and would buy another, but nothing like the concept.
I am would seriously at the the new Challenger. A throw back to an earlier time. If I had the funds available I would go and buy that Challenger. So wake up GM and build a real Camaro, not just another car.
I’ve been a GM man for 40yrs, Owning Beaumont SS, Camaro SS, GTO Judge, 442 W30, etc etc..Sorry to say I think the boys at bow tie city have missed the mark on this one..I never thought I’d say it but I’m going for the Challenger!!!
GM: You ruined the TB, Impala, etc.
Don’t take down the Camaro.
Here is an idea: rebuild the ‘68 Camaro.
Challenger will be the hot car now if you don’t build something great. Get a clue GM.
I love it. I miss the Camaro. Chevy goofed when they quit making their affordable, sporty Camaro. Ford and Dodge are snapping up the sports car buyers. Can GM afford this?
I think the Challenger looks more Camaro than this concept Camaro. What’s in store for the TransAm/ Firechicken? I really don’t care if they put this concept Camaro into production or not. Styling is a bit heavy handed. GM=clueless.
Wow, we sure do have a lot of people in here that have absolutely no idea what effect this new Camaro will have on GM’s brand. This car is a perfect example of what GM NEEDS to do going forward. Retro is retro, its a fad and always has been. The new generation Mustang is old news, and it wont take long before the Challenger also is. The new Camaro has hints of the 69′ heritage and yet draws a lot of its design cues from the new C6 Corvette. This new platform will be the basis for the next 5+ years of GM RWD program. It will also include, a RWD Impala, newly designed GTO, Firebird, most likely also a Chevelle, and hopefully they bring the Caprice back to the USA to take on the municipality market.
GM has the best small block engine technology in the industry today, and you can bet that this new Camaro will come with atleast 400 hp (z28, SS). Hopefully they will leave the option open for a LS7 powerplant and call it the ZL1.
Yes, build the new Camaro. I owned two both were 1980 models. I loved them both. Would love to have another Camaro. I also like the Chellenger. I hope GM also makes the new Trans Am. And Chevelle. I like the design of the new Camaro. Build it GM.
I never would have ordered my 06 Mustang if I had seen this first. I’ll have to have one !!
Tone down the bowtie, or remove it. It distracts from the looks. I’m also of the group to make it more retro and copy the 69 looks. Not bad looking now, but if GM wants to jazz up something, have them fix the GTO!
I like it, a nice blend of retro and new. But GM needs to ensure that the quality is high with the FIRST production unit. Also, fuel efficiency is important with gas @ $3 a gallon and climbing!
Awesome. A nice mix of the old and the new. A ‘69 Camaro Rally Sport was my first new car, and I can still kick myself for not keeping it. I would definitely buy the new Camaro, but would really like to see a little more of the ‘retro look. And we know Chevy can do that - look at the HHR spin-off of the ‘49 Surburban! Don’t wait too long to build it GM. My 2001 S-10 has over 130,000 miles on it, and I can’t wait forever to replace it!
Build It GM, make some money and people happy. It should be based on the ‘69 Z/28 with RS option. Same angle on the rear side windows, driving lights where the parking lights were. Proper Z hood, nasty 3 part tail lights, 4 wheel disc brakes, the vette v8s, auto and sticks, maybe even the channeled exhaust again for that sound….. How could GM not have a Camaro…. they shot themselves in the foot over and over…rearwheel drive rules
F*** all these comments! It’s one of the fastest 0-60 rods manufactured @ 2.7 secs and the fastest at over 15 times costlier is only 2.6! Gimme one!
The GTO of today should have been the new Camaro. GM could have been ahead in the stlye game.This concept has more of the old GTO in it then the “thing” has camaro lines of any vintage.It’s hard to understand how it can look so much not like what is said to be, and the Dodge version (I am not a dodge guy)
look like a retro version of a challanger. I am said to say I would put a GTO in the garage before the new Camaro if this is anything like what gets built. Oh thats right lets stop the Gto’s cause that got goofed up to.
WOW it’s ugly. How is it that Ford could get the Mustang so right, and Dodge could get the Challenger so right, yet Chevy could get the Camaro so wrong? It’s an absolutely terrible design. The front end and tail are both absolutely horrendous-looking. Just awful. The side-view of the car is OK, but it has weird sharp edges. That’s not retro. The classic Camaro is curvy and muscular, and it has real character. It isn’t some cold, chiseled, wannabe-European or Japanese. The 1969 Camaro is my favorite car of all time, and it would’ve been great to have seen a truly retro design of that car, instead of an overly modern/futuristic interpretation of that design. Why’d they even bother to go in a retro direction if they were just going to put a Science Fiction movie spin on that thing? Yuck. Just give us a ‘69 with modern components, please. Looks like I’ll be buying the Dodge Challenger, unless Chevy hires Micheal Castiglione to redesign the new Camaro. Really, they got the Challenger design right. It’s very evocative of the original car, yet it is an entirely new design. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the original, then look at the new design. The new car is actually much better-looking than the original. Really, Chevy, hire Castiglione (designer of the new Challenger) the guy loves Camaros. He drives a 70 Rally Sport, daily, and is rebuilding a ‘67. He’s your man, Chevy.
well gm really screwed that up it looks terible .
it needs to look much more like the orig 69 to endure i would bet there are five times as many midlle aged bucks up guys out there who would like another 69 camero than there are kids that would buy this half hearted effort at it . i have been a chevy guy since i bought my first 70 camaro rs when i was 18 ( still have that car 27 yrs later).
i say no thanks i like the old school muscle look not the chinese rip off look that is the concept camaro . i will be over to pick up a challenger before i buy that( boy did they get it right or what)
gm please please please quit smoking your breakfast so you can think clearly
I realy need a new camaro not this
i think it is a gorgeous looking car in and out but i would like to now when is it actually comeing out to buy and at what price in the usa and uk