I don't suppose you have those basic numbers handy? Looking up sales numbers for the Camaro each year is easy (and revealing), but percentages compared to other vehicles is a harder nut to crack.

I suspect there are a few "qualifiers" in those numbers.

Bob

 

Why, because it doesn't interest your tastes at the moment?

I love 2+2, V8 powered, RWD ponycars. Right now my only choice is Mustang. I hate Fords. Therefore there's nothing that fits my desires in a new car.

I want a new Camaro. Do I need a new Camaro? I guess not, but then I don't think my 95 Camaro is going to last another 10 years, even though it only has 53k miles on it.

 

I'm in the same boat. Somewhere around 1977, I saw a '67 Camaro, and for the first time in my life, I fell in love. Some thirty years later and I'm more passionate about Camaro today.

I have owned four Camaros in my lifetime. Three of them I still own today. Although I love my '67 Camaros (one is a numbers matching original, the other a modernized hot rod), I don't drive them as often as I should. Its not that I'm too busy, or they aren't running, etc. I just don't. Even though my '95 Z/28 is 12 years old, its still fun to drive, and much more practical than either of my '67s. I love the new Camaro because it embodies the heritage of the classic Camaros I love, but packages it with modern day technology and performance. Once I buy a new Camaro, I'll still love and cherish the classic '67 Camaros that started my life long passion, however I may just sell them all if the new Camaro is as perfect as I expect it to be.

Am I expecting a lot from GM? You bet. Am I asking for too much of the new Camaro? Hell no. GM has the capability to make as big of an impact today as they did in 1966. The Camaro legend deserves that; and the Camaro enthusiasts deserve this Camaro.

 

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/fea...vrolet_camaro/

Things don't always have simple answers.

 

A bunch of nutless wonders at the top of GM.....

 

I think the latter pretty much sums things up .

 

I'm Gen X (31) and really love all the muscle coming out from the big 3. I am part of the target audience for this car, but I would say it leans heavily toward the baby boomer generation who will buy this car for nostalgia's sake alone. My boss (~55) is Mr. Corvette and has a C6 Convertible. He told me he is going to sell it to get a Camaro when it comes out. I get it. It looks like a late 60s, early 70s muscle car. The Vette does not. Oil Crisis? Who cares! The baby boomers (aka the me generation) will get their second chance at a real muscle car. I don't think there are too many car lovers like me who aren't jealous as hell of our parents and all of the cool cars they could have bought brand spankin' new. Here come's another chance. Build it...and they will come.

 

So much of real value has already been said in response to your question,Josh, that I'm going to stick with just one small point. As you, (among others) well know I'm a dyed-in-the-wool GM fan: including Camaro. But, Camaro isn't my only (or first) choice looking back through the years since the first '67 came into view. I also find it funny to hear people describe Camaro,Firebird, and Mustang as musclecars - they aren't. True Musclecars run to slightly larger dimensions and are more to my taste. What the "Pony Cars" shared with their larger cousins was performance. So, when the times changed and performance declined one by one my favorites dropped into history until they were all gone. Only a few of the Pony Cars survived to carry the torch of performance through dark times: Mustang,Firebird, and The Camaro. This tells me that Camaro has something beyond what my old favorites could ever muster: staying power. Yes, it lost its way (or its funding/advertising) thanks to some very poor decisions in the recent past. But, the very existence of this site and others like it, and petition drives, and gatherings of the faithful all across the country who pushed, prodded, complained and insisted proves beyond doubt that Camaro is part and parcel of our social fabric.

Enter the new Mustang. GM has to respond.

There can really be just one choice.

So yes, the Camaro deserves its re-birth...


... and we deserve to have it back.

 

This is the main reason the car should be brought back. If GM was looking at the big picture, there should have been no reason to approve a limited run, two seat convertible first, when they had nothing in the pipeline in the much higher volume rwd coupe segment.

I am not sure what GM's target market will be, but people I know in their early twenties are impressed with the car. Older buyers will be there-those that bought a first generation and also those that aspired to buy a first generation, but now have the means to buy whatever they like. This car will have widespread appeal.

 

hmmm.......actually, the numbers are somewhere in the archives of this site........

I may still have the spreadsheet in my computer at work.......but it was very simple....you take the number of Camaro retail sales versus the total number of retail sales for that particular calendar year................

as to 'revealing' -- keep in mind that:

>the market continued to grow most years from 1967 thru 2000

>there were more and more nameplates entering the market between 1967 and 2000....which frankly, is ONE reason GM and Ford lost market share...not the ONLY reason -- but one of them nevertheless.....

>people moved over to sedans and trucks and SUVs .......and coupes died out.........go count the number of coupe models available in 1967 -- 1977 -- 1987 -- and 2007........

 

Would be nice to see the spreadsheet.

I have most of the Camaro production numbers (from this Forum)....

67: 220,906
68: 235,147
68: 243,065
69: 243,065
70: 124,901
71: 114,630
72: 114,630 (not a typo!)
73: 96,751
74: 151,008
75: 145,770
76: 182,959
77: 218,858
78: 272,631
79: 282,571
80: 152,005
81: 126,139
82: 189,747
83: 154,318
84: 261,591
85: 180,018
86: 192,219
87: 137,760
88: 96,275
89: 110,850
90: 35,048
91: 101,316
92: 70,712
93: 39,755
94: 119,934
95: 122,844
96: 66,827
97: 95,812
98: 77,198
99: 42,098
00: 45,417
01: 29,009
02: ??????

By looking at the numbers, I guess what I'm having a problem with is your statement that ".........if you go back and look at Camaro sales performance....it captured the same percentage of the "vehicle" market as it did from 1967 thru 2000.........."

Quite possible I am simply misunderstanding the statement.

Thanks.
Bob

 

Here is Scott's spreadsheet he did a few years ago..

http://www.frontiernet.net/~face440/...ionHistory.htm

http://www.frontiernet.net/~face440/...ionHistory.xls

 

Thanks. That breaks down Camaro sales, and is certainly interesting (I saved the excel file). However, it doesn't explain the comment concerning the percentage of Camaro sales.

Bob

 

I dont get it either. I thought it meant the Camaro sales % of the coupe market stayed the same as a whole if you accounted for new coupes that entered the market.

Maybe this is pointing out the obvious, but the Performance Camaro Sum is the combined sales of SS, Z28, and IROC for the model year. The Percent Performance is that number/total Camaro sales to give you the percent of performance Camaro sales to overall Camaro sales. Nowhere in this particular spreadsheet does it compare Camaro sales to all coupes sold by all manufacturers for that model year. Very interesting though! Performance percentage of sales went up through the years...

 

Not the same spreadsheet. That's a different study that Chris put out there.


I'll have to dig it out....but I pulled the info. together to prove a point to a few decision makers and they were dumbfounded.....to the point where we went back and double checked the numbers........