Robert_Nashville
10-10-2006, 01:10 PM
Before anyone complains or says “not this again” let me say upfront that this post is absolutely NOT about bashing GM for not building the Firebird or to re-hash the reasons why GM is not building it.
I think everything that can be said about the “why” has been said many times and as a businessman; especially one connected to the industry, I fully understand GM’s decision - were I in a position to make it I probably would have made the same decision as the management of GM made.
What I did want to comment on is why those of us who love the Firebird feel a bit betrayed and, more importantly, why it saddens us to know our car now lives only as a part of automotive history. I want to comment on it because from what I’ve read here and from talking to people it seems to me that many of you just don’t understand why the Firebird is of that kind of importance to us.
Many of you who have come to the game only during the years of the fourth generation and, to a slightly lesser extend, during the third generation know and understand the “F-Body’ – you came at a time when the differences; both the quantifiable and the highly subjective were few; sometimes even downplayed by GM itself. You knew that if you replaced a few pieces of sheet metal and interior pieces; you wouldn’t know if you were in a Trans AM or a Z/28. At the risk of oversimplifying, I suspect many of you have a hard time understanding how anybody would decide not to buy a fifth generation Camaro just because there is no Firebird…for you, it just isn’t that important an issue.
However, for those of us with a bit more grey hair (assuming we still have hair)…for those who remember the first and second generation cars because we were there and we owned them; we aren’t “F-Body” guys nearly as much as we are Camaro or Firebird guys.
I remember a time when THE car to have was the Trans Am and as good and as similar as it might be, a Z/28 was simply not a Trans Am.
I remember a time when Pontiac guys were Pontiac guys and Pontiac guys just didn’t buy Chevy’s. Yes, as you got older you might move up to Buick and then, when you really arrived, Cadillac but the rivalry between Chevy, Pontiac (and to a lesser extent, Olds and Buick) was real and substantive. The rivalry between Camaro and Firebird was just as significant as between Camaro or Firebird and Mustang.
I remember a time when if you bought a Pontiac you got a Pontiac engine and if you bought a Chevy you got a Chevy engine…granted; the similarities between the various GM brands far exceeded the differences but there were real differences (as well as some differences that were primarily marketing issues) but the differences that did exist were important to us when we went to buy a new car.
I’ve always respected the Camaro but I bought Firebirds and I never even considered buying a Camaro. Yes, I did buy a 2000 Z/28 but the only reason I bought it over the Firebird was simply a matter of looks (and because there really was no significant difference between the two cars by that point other than looks).
The Firebirds were the cars I was passionate about; in many respects it was the car that made me love cars so its passing is significant to me and to others like me.
Should those of us who are older "live in the past"? Of course not. But many of us love the Firebird in a way that many of you will not understand and its disappearance from GM’s lineup hurts deeply…while you may not share or understand our feelings about that at least try to understand that we have them and don’t deride those who, for whatever reason, can’t make the transition to a “Camaro only” world.
May the Camaro live long and prosper; but I’ll always miss my Firebird!
I think everything that can be said about the “why” has been said many times and as a businessman; especially one connected to the industry, I fully understand GM’s decision - were I in a position to make it I probably would have made the same decision as the management of GM made.
What I did want to comment on is why those of us who love the Firebird feel a bit betrayed and, more importantly, why it saddens us to know our car now lives only as a part of automotive history. I want to comment on it because from what I’ve read here and from talking to people it seems to me that many of you just don’t understand why the Firebird is of that kind of importance to us.
Many of you who have come to the game only during the years of the fourth generation and, to a slightly lesser extend, during the third generation know and understand the “F-Body’ – you came at a time when the differences; both the quantifiable and the highly subjective were few; sometimes even downplayed by GM itself. You knew that if you replaced a few pieces of sheet metal and interior pieces; you wouldn’t know if you were in a Trans AM or a Z/28. At the risk of oversimplifying, I suspect many of you have a hard time understanding how anybody would decide not to buy a fifth generation Camaro just because there is no Firebird…for you, it just isn’t that important an issue.
However, for those of us with a bit more grey hair (assuming we still have hair)…for those who remember the first and second generation cars because we were there and we owned them; we aren’t “F-Body” guys nearly as much as we are Camaro or Firebird guys.
I remember a time when THE car to have was the Trans Am and as good and as similar as it might be, a Z/28 was simply not a Trans Am.
I remember a time when Pontiac guys were Pontiac guys and Pontiac guys just didn’t buy Chevy’s. Yes, as you got older you might move up to Buick and then, when you really arrived, Cadillac but the rivalry between Chevy, Pontiac (and to a lesser extent, Olds and Buick) was real and substantive. The rivalry between Camaro and Firebird was just as significant as between Camaro or Firebird and Mustang.
I remember a time when if you bought a Pontiac you got a Pontiac engine and if you bought a Chevy you got a Chevy engine…granted; the similarities between the various GM brands far exceeded the differences but there were real differences (as well as some differences that were primarily marketing issues) but the differences that did exist were important to us when we went to buy a new car.
I’ve always respected the Camaro but I bought Firebirds and I never even considered buying a Camaro. Yes, I did buy a 2000 Z/28 but the only reason I bought it over the Firebird was simply a matter of looks (and because there really was no significant difference between the two cars by that point other than looks).
The Firebirds were the cars I was passionate about; in many respects it was the car that made me love cars so its passing is significant to me and to others like me.
Should those of us who are older "live in the past"? Of course not. But many of us love the Firebird in a way that many of you will not understand and its disappearance from GM’s lineup hurts deeply…while you may not share or understand our feelings about that at least try to understand that we have them and don’t deride those who, for whatever reason, can’t make the transition to a “Camaro only” world.
May the Camaro live long and prosper; but I’ll always miss my Firebird!