Please respond to my post.

 

I look just like my grandfather. Am I retro?

For those of you that are really on the ball, no, it's not the grandfather I posted a picture of the other day.

 

I think I qualified it fairly comprehensively in the remainder of the post. As a a whole, in it's entirety, as a single entity, the 5th Gen Camaro ONLY resembles the 1st gen Camaros. It has barely any cues from subsequent generations. It does not look like any Camaro from the 70's, 80's, 90's, or 00's. Prove to me that it shares one panel shape from another generation. Beside the quad taillights ('70-'73), there is hardly evidence at all.

More if it resembles the 1st gen then any other. That design is 40 years old.

That makes it retro.

 

Would the Challenger be considered Retro?? yes... out of the 3 ponies... the CHALLENGER is the most retro of them all. Why.. well, ask yourself this question.. if we were back to the late 60's and you see the CHALLENGER concept pass by.. while a bunch of other challenger are going by and you are a casual person (not a motor head) would it really stand out?????

Now.. the Mustang... same thing applies.. it travels back to the late 60's and it would stand out more than the other mustangs??? yes.. but not by much to the casual person.

Now.. the Camaro Concept.. that thing WOULD stand out like a sore thumb. Te camaro Concept belongs more in the future than any the other ponies.

 

Since you asked, I'll respond.

Regarding the Porsche and Corvette. Sure, there are retro cues all over them. I believe the reason that they are not labeled as retro, is because their design has continued to evolve on the same basic shape and production was never ceased. Their basic shapes remain today. There was a continual cycle of 'modernization' and subtle changes over the years. You can clearly see the lineage if you lined them all up from 1st year to present.

To sum it up this way. The VW Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche, and the original 911 was based on the same platform and designs. The Porsche stuck around, but evolved. The Beetle stopped (in the US, and even the Mexican car was not redesigned).

Do we call the Beetle retro? Yes. Why, because it's production was ceased, then it was re-incarnated with a design that clearly harkens back to it's original.

Conversely, do we call the 911 retro? No, we call it 'Classic'. Why? Because it's production never stopped.

The 5th Generation Camaro is a car that saw a period of no production, much like the Beetle, even the Thunderbird, etc. It is brought back to life not looking like the next revision of the most recent design, but rather, a revision of the very first design, some 40 years hence.

So I think if we call something retro, that means it relates closer to something from the past, than it does from the present, especially if that of which it resembles was not it's most recent design.

 

So what if it is "retro" ???? I will buy it b/c it looks great & will go fast & it's a Camaro.

 

By that logic, the current Impala should be considered retro.

 

How so? Was it brought back looking just like a '58 Chevy?

 

You said that Beetle and Thunderbird were retro because production stopped and then came back.

 

I think that's the important point. Each generation of the Vette or 911 evolved from the previous one, taking small steps and mostly keeping up with current design trends while still maintaining some defining cues. No generation did a 180 and started all over again from its 1st gen.

Camaro was doing a great job of this up until the 5th gen concept. Third gens were a wonderful improvement over 2nd gens and were among the best looking sporty cars of the 80s (along with the C4 and Fiero). The fourth gen was a perfect evolution of that design, taking it cleanly into the 90s and was again one of the best looking sporty cars on the planet. But the evolution clearly stopped there. There is no possible way you could say the concept is an evolution of the 4th gen. It went back to the 1st gen, and is therefore unequivocally retro.

 

NICE WORK R377! I coudn't have said it better myself! No one can dispute your arguement - case closed.

 

I said: "The 5th Generation Camaro is a car that saw a period of no production, much like the Beetle, even the Thunderbird, etc. It is brought back to life not looking like the next revision of the most recent design, but rather, a revision of the very first design, some 40 years hence."

They were brought back looking very similar to their first generation design. The fact that they were out of production only bolsters the idea of being retro, but admittedly, isn't much of an argument on it's own merits because the Mustang never ceased production, and many would state that the '05's are retro as well.

The Thunderbird was made for years after the '55-57's. Though, none after that looked like those years. The latest car looked like a 1st gen Thunderbird. It didn't look like the latest evolution of the early '90's 'bird! Same with the Camaro. It doesn't look like that latest version of the 2002's. In fact, it doesn't share ANY visual cues from that car, I would argue. Rather, it gets the majority of it's design from the 1st gens.

To me, that qualifies it as retro.

I think we can agree to disagree!

 

The concept is an evolution of the 4th gen.



Don't get me wrong -- it has a LOT in common with the 1st-gen, and I do believe that that was a deliberate move on GM's part. I still don't feel like the car is retro.

 

How so? I don't see a single similarity. Just because it's painted silver, doesn't make it similar. Not a single, solitary, remote aspect of the 4th gen is present in that car. Not the shape of the fenders, doors, quarters, front fascia, grille, lights, mirrors, a pillar, b pillar, roof, trunk, tail lights, or anything. Not a single component. Not the shape, silohuette, nada zippo.

That's my opinion on it. By all means, point out the similarities for us to understand.

Show us what you mean, explain it to me, just don't tell me your opinion.

 

To me, each generation in that picture gets more modern, more in tune with the contemporary design themes of its time. Then the 5th gen comes along and whoooaaaa, wayback machine!

Or look at it this way: which generation was on the trailer with the concept at the Chrysler preview? Not a 4th gen. Why? Because that's not what it evolved from.