Camaro VS Mustang sales
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From: Greenville, SC
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From: Greenville, SC
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From: The Golden State
When the fuel crisis kicked in, Camaros and Firebirds were on the same level as economy cars, and sales went up. Also, if you want, I can post numbers of Trans Am sales that show them virturally doubling every year starting in 1972.
Smokey & The Bandit came out in the summer of 1977 (the 1978s were already in production) using a car that was already popular in performance circles and was also already increasing in popularity.
A few months after Smokey & the Bandit came out, the 1979 cars (including the F-bodies) hit showrooms. While Camaro sales increased about 10,000, Firebirds increased 14,000. That was the true fallout of "Smokey & the Bandit".... plus selling out of the Black & Gold "Limited Edition" Trans Ams.
As with everything in the world, the more time goes by, the more myths and legends grow. Almost to the point of being unrecognizable to what actually took place. That movie imortalized the late 70s Pontiac Trans Am for future generations, but that movie came on the tail end of the 70s era of Trans Am popularity.
The infamous T/A 6.6 was starting to become hard to get only a year later, and for the '79 model year the left over TA 6.6s were saved for the "Silver" Anniversary edition. Also worth mentioning is that Firebird sales had dropped about 50% less than 2 model years after "Smokey & the Bandit", but had doubled every year the 6 years before then.
Last edited by guionM; Nov 17, 2008 at 02:06 PM.
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From: The Golden State
guionM, could you post a similar year-by-year breakdown of the sales numbers showing the F-body (including firebird) vs. Mustang.
Most people I know would include both the Camaro and Firebird when comparing the two and I think that is pretty fare. I bet the numbers look a little different when you look at it that way. Thanks.
Most people I know would include both the Camaro and Firebird when comparing the two and I think that is pretty fare. I bet the numbers look a little different when you look at it that way. Thanks.
Chevrolet and Ford are singular divisions within their companies. Ford traditionally has had fewer dealers than Chevrolet, so there's already a built in advantage.
Finally, if we were to lump both F-bodies together, then we would completely change the subject. It would be corperate coupes against corperate coupes. Mustang could be lumped together with Cougars, Capris, and even some Thunderbirds since they ware all at one time or another essentially the same car, as would Barracuda and Challenger.
Did GM make more F body coupes than Ford made Fox body coupes? How did Chrysler E-cars compare with Falcon platform Mustang coupes?
It's always been Ford vs Chevrolet.
It's never been Ford versus Chevrolet + Pontiac... x Oldsmobile ÷ Cadillac - GMC qver the square root of Opel.
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 210
From: Cincinnati, OH
You gotta talk to someone who was at least a teenager in the 70s, Steve.
When the fuel crisis kicked in, Camaros and Firebirds were on the same level as economy cars, and sales went up. Also, if you want, I can post numbers of Trans Am sales that show them virturally doubling every year starting in 1972.
Smokey & The Bandit came out in the summer of 1977 (the 1978s were already in production) using a car that was already popular in performance circles and was also already increasing in popularity.
A few months after Smokey & the Bandit came out, the 1979 cars (including the F-bodies) hit showrooms. While Camaro sales increased about 10,000, Firebirds increased 14,000. That was the true fallout of "Smokey & the Bandit".... plus selling out of the Black & Gold "Limited Edition" Trans Ams.
As with everything in the world, the more time goes by, the more myths and legends grow. Almost to the point of being unrecognizable to what actually took place. That movie imortalized the late 70s Pontiac Trans Am for future generations, but that movie came on the tail end of the 70s era of Trans Am popularity.
The infamous T/A 6.6 was starting to become hard to get only a year later, and for the '79 model year the left over TA 6.6s were saved for the "Silver" Anniversary edition. Also worth mentioning is that Firebird sales had dropped about 50% less than 2 model years after "Smokey & the Bandit", but had doubled every year the 6 years before then.
When the fuel crisis kicked in, Camaros and Firebirds were on the same level as economy cars, and sales went up. Also, if you want, I can post numbers of Trans Am sales that show them virturally doubling every year starting in 1972.
Smokey & The Bandit came out in the summer of 1977 (the 1978s were already in production) using a car that was already popular in performance circles and was also already increasing in popularity.
A few months after Smokey & the Bandit came out, the 1979 cars (including the F-bodies) hit showrooms. While Camaro sales increased about 10,000, Firebirds increased 14,000. That was the true fallout of "Smokey & the Bandit".... plus selling out of the Black & Gold "Limited Edition" Trans Ams.
As with everything in the world, the more time goes by, the more myths and legends grow. Almost to the point of being unrecognizable to what actually took place. That movie imortalized the late 70s Pontiac Trans Am for future generations, but that movie came on the tail end of the 70s era of Trans Am popularity.
The infamous T/A 6.6 was starting to become hard to get only a year later, and for the '79 model year the left over TA 6.6s were saved for the "Silver" Anniversary edition. Also worth mentioning is that Firebird sales had dropped about 50% less than 2 model years after "Smokey & the Bandit", but had doubled every year the 6 years before then.
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