A depressing thought. But it's not always been that way; the 4th gen was out ahead of the Stang and was a far better sports car for its entire life. GM does know how to lead, but I guess they got scared by the success of the retro Mustang and thought they had to play it safe.

As to what styling direction to go after this generation, I'm sure it won't be retro. I think the retro fad will have died down well before the end of the F5's life (some would argue it's already passé) and designers will be free to advance the state of automotive design instead of regressing it.

Subsequent generations of cars don't always follow a linear path so in that regard I don't think Chevy will be bound to do something that is derivative of the F5. They could do a fully modern Camaro, pay homage to all past generations, and it would still be a Camaro.

 

Thats a really good point, and a positive one at that