The "business case for Camaro" is spelled thusly: M.U.S.T.A.N.G.

 

Good call, this chop is sweet:

 

Why would they call it Chevelle, when GM has been selling the same concept as the Chevy Lumina for years in the middle east?

 

Sounds like it needs a lot more lug nuts...

 

Whoa! back-up the bus a minute. Before you dump all over this project there are some things you should know about it.:

Yes it is based on the Holden line from 2004 (the only available RWD platform GM had at the time other than Sigma. There is good reason for that: all of these cars were in production at the time in Holden trim. This project was started Pre-Zeta,pre-Camaro and pre- Cobalt. The main premise was to pull from existing GM hardware to get a line of RWD cars to the US in the shortest time possible. If you read the whole site you might see just how detailed it really is and how plausible . You don't have to like the cars,but be fair and put them in context.

Another guiding principle was to have the appearance of the cars be in line with the prevailing styling in use at Chevy in 2004. I think I can speak for everyone else involved in the project when I say that we would have loved to dump some of those styling cues.

So please, take a closer look before you dismiss all of the hard work put into this project.

 

Pretty ooogly honestly, and that isn't going to help GM out much.

 

I like the idea that the car represents, but the pictures in the show are .

 

Nice idea, bad execution. Those are even more bland than the new GTO.

 

honestly I was waiting for a loud booming voice to say

"introducione el chevrolet estupido grande' Chevelle'!!!! "

 

There was a lot of hard work put into the Aztec as well.

Honestly, they should have hired a stylist, or at least recruited a student of an automotive design program, to design something that would be based off those real cars.

Just because a lot of thought was put into it, does not mean it is good.

 

If im not mistaken, CaminoLS6 was one of the creators of the site...correct?

 

Whoa, tough crowd

Maybe you guys are missing the point. I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so I won't address anyone's gripes about the cars themselves, with the exception of the following.

• The comment about the greenhouse being lifted from an S95 Musang is incorrect. The inspiration for the greenhouse, quarter window, and roofline actually came from the '70 Chevelle. Of course it doesn't look exactly like that, because that exact shape doesn't fit the overall bodystyle (keep in mind Camino's comment about us making necessary concessions to the basic Monaro/Commodore/GTO shape). To understand what I'm saying a little better, Google the Hot Rod GTO-based Chevelle. All that bondo and sheet-metal fabrication couldn't make that car any prettier a Chevelle than ours.
• To whoever said it has Cobalt taillamps, you may want to check the rear of a 71-72 Chevelle. Or the 70-73 Camaro. Or the late 50s-early 60s Bel Airs. Or the rear from every Corvette since 1962. Circular taillamps are a Chevy styling trait that both ties into Chevelle's past and makes the car more recognizable as a Chevy in a world where everyone and their mother has a car with triangle-shaped taillights. So it really was a no brainer to put them on this car

To expand on what Camino said, the point of this project was to show just how powerful GM's resources are when they're used to their fullest. Using the platform available to us at the time, we created an entire lineup of midsized RWD vehicles for Chevrolet, every one of them filling some hole in GM's current lineup.

- the Coupe and sedan are pretty self explanatory. If you want, call the sedan Impala, Bel Air, or Caprice. In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter.
- The HHR is the closest thing GM has to an affordable wagon. Meanwhile, the Magnum enjoys sustained success. It really makes sense for GM to offer something here for those who need the cargo capability of a midsized SUV, yet don't want the many negatives associated with buying one.
- El Camino and Chevelle Independence XT - I seriously see these as a viable Colorado alternative, if not a replacement for some Colorado models. GM admitted that the Colorado isn't as capable as the S10 because "compact truck drivers don't use thier trucks for work". Thinking along those lines, an open-bed vehicle that handles like a car and gets good gas mileage makes a lot of sense.

Building a Camaro just because the Mustang is kicking *** right now would be a foolish move for GM without a sound business case for other, higher volume vehicles to be built off that same platform. Believe it or not, the pinnacle of this project is not, nor was it ever, the Chevelle SS427 coupe. It's the Independence (AWD) Chevelles, as they were created to appeal to a wide range of buyers, giving them features not found in the intended competition. The presence and success of the Independence Chevelles enables a lower-volume car like the SS427 to exist.

If you can't understand what I'm trying to say, then let's look at the Mustang in a different light. Its basic structure descends from the Jag X-Type, and also is the basis for the Lincoln LS and the now-dead T-Bird. Suppose that during the time when the current Mustang was in development, the X-Type, LS, and T-Bird did not exist. Short of continuing with the Fox body, what could Ford have done to keep the Mustang going? I am guessing "not much", and the Mustang could very well have gone on hiatus much like the Camaro.

 

I believe they had a very good idea with the concepts they did. cut people some slack some time. they do all this work on something that could be a great car and you people want to bash it because.... there is not any reason that the cars shown couldn't be good they could be great. think of the options. if GM would offer this sort of option list on all their cars it would be great. and witht the new Zeta platform it could very well work.

A spiced up Impala....... i happen to like the styling of the previous impala thank you.

 

Now imagine taking this basic concept and all of the models it contains and distributing them across the GM brands. The RWD/AWD architecture GM will be using for Camaro and other RWD cars is an evolution of the platform we used for the Chevelle project. No, we won't get one Chevrolet line that offers all of these models, but we will get most of them under a variety of nameplates. This is something we were hoping for when creating our Chevelles. We set out to show what was possible and I think we did.

Just imagine all of these from one architecture:

Camaro
Chevy sedan
El Camino
Chevy coupe
Pontiac sedan
Pontiac coupe
larger buick sedan

And those are only the most likely-many other variants are possible. All of them will help secure the existence of a new Camaro.

 

Actually the one that makes the most sense noones mentioned and never existed before. That is to lend the Camaro plat to Caddy for a direct BMW competitor.

If Chevelle was that red car you didnt look at a 70's, 1/4 window very hard.

Of course GM could have imported those cars with new metal. We screamed for the SS Koala "bring the Muscle Car home GM!" as one mag put it. When it got here via the GTO it was heavily critisized. Granted that had to do with the GTO concept being retro and Mustang being retro but why would you bring over more cars to be modified for the same scrutiny? If you had gone retro you might have had something. The GTO had to be modified to come here and it lost trunk space. Im sure alot was put into that project but all of the cars shown looked like the last gen impalla. None of them resembeld the cars they were supposed to be. I get with mods to meet US crash impacts those cars could be imported to fill gaps
but Zeta will do a better job without mods...

BTW The Chevelle chop on the left done by prototype66 on GMI would have been a smash hit!