DerekShiekhi

Chevrolet Takes a Look at the History of Camaro Design



Chevrolet asked five of the people responsible for styling within GM who own (or have owned) Camaros to give their opinions on what made each of the five generations of the Mustang-fighter distinctive and attractive.

Read the rest on the LS1Tech.com homepage. >>

Z Fury

iTrader: (1)

I like how distinctly different each generation has been from the previous. The cars have enough similarities that you know it is a Camaro, but each design was really different from the prior.

I honestly don't think the 6th Gen will continue that trend. It will probably be as different from the 5th Gen as the LS1 Camaros ('98-'02) were from the LT1 Camaros ('93-'97).

Fast350Z

iTrader: (2)

I think the biggest difference in the 5th generation camaro is how much bigger and heavier it is than all previous generations.

Z Fury

iTrader: (1)

To be fair, the same can be said about almost every car. Safety regulations are the main reason, followed by people wanting more luxury (power seats weigh more, etc.) and technology in their cars.

I love my '99, but I'd be blind to think that the 5th Gens aren't safer, better built cars. Looks are subjective, but safety and durability are not.

alex722607

iTrader: (4)

Actually I don't agree. While there are minute similarites between the f-body and zeta-body camaros, I believe that you could put a 1969 and 1996 together and you could see the transition somewhat across the generations. The new camaros are not by any means similar to the f-body camaros. But that ofcourse is my opinion

JDEP162

Zeta-body? That's what the fifth gen is? Learn something new everyday.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

I think you can see the similarities between a 1st and 5th gen a bit easier than a 1st and 4th gen just from how the 5th gen took cues from the 1st gen to start with.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Heavier yes; bigger not so much. I don't know where people get this idea from, as the 4th gen is actually a longer car by 3 inches. I think the 5th gen "looks" bigger to people, but this perception is a matter of design I think.

I agree in terms of safety, but IMO it's too soon to claim 5th gens as the more durable car. As the oldest ones are only 6 years old, most are still under the 5 year powertrain warranty while many are still under the bumper-to-bumper warranty. I would expect them to be relatively issue-free through the warranty period, but how well the additional complexities, gadgets and electronics hold up over the long term remains to be seen. Initial fit and finish should always be better on a newer car, but will the 5th gens be as easy and low cost to keep on the road as a 4th gen when they are 20 years old or more? Only time will tell, but increased complexities tend to create more opportunities for breakage over the long term.