I'm not sure if anyone knows the answer or not?

It has been said here before that there are high level people at GM pushing for a new Camaro, and there also some that are not.

Now that ole Bob is again focusing on global product developement, I would really like to know which side of the fence he is on.

 

uhhh, well considering he went to great lengths and personal trouble to bring the Australian Monaro here, I'd be shocked if he wasn't behind the Camaro...

 

He may have brought the Monaro here, but his love for the F-body has certainly not been evident.

Remember, he grew up in Europe, and is of an age that simply was too old to "get" the ponycar, when it was first introduced. The GTO/Monaro he can understand (although, he probably thinks of it as a Pontiac version of a Buick Super or Century - he is known to have a fondness for Buicks since his father used to drive them in Switzerland - I think thats right), but the F-body doesn't seem to be a hit with his age group; even when they were first issued.

He axed the possibility of a future Firebird with absolutely no hesitation.

I could be way wrong here, but I've yet to hear him say anything even remotely good about the F-body.

I'm not a Lutz basher. I think he is good for GM. I just don't think he is fond of our favorites.

 

I agree with that.

 

I think that he is what we want in that position.
I think he knocked down the Firebird idea because of his plans for Pontiac, not that he doesnt like the Firebird.
As for "not getting it", the man "got it" when he force fed the Viper into the minds of thoes at Chrsyler to make the car, when they were waist high in K cars and mini vans.
He is THE man we want.

 

.....and apparently echo'ed Z284ever's thoughts about Zeta not being the right chassis for the Camaro . I sure loose lips Bob would looooooove to let the world know whats going on with the Camaro , in light of the Mustangs huge success . Unfortunately the C-word is still a no no at GM .

 

Lets see, he's the reason dodge has a v10 super car. He's probably a huge reason why the c6 z06 exists as it does (427 small block? 8 liter v10? he doesn't mind huge engines.) He drove a monaro and saw a great thing and then ****ed up by rushing it out for 2004. (the only reason the GTO looks like it does is because that pontiac front end was pre-approved for another pontiac model. They didn't have time to get new body work for approval in time for 2004 so they did what they had to and got it out.) GM as a whole is flawed, lutz knows it, you know it, I know it. I'd say he's more friend than foe but then again they were having a hell of a time selling fourthgens near the end. I don't give a crap anymore, ANYTHING gm does with the firebird and camaro will backfire. If it has heritage cues people will ridicule it for being retro. If it's a fresh design it will alienate camaro and firebird lovers. Pretty much no matter what GM does with the fbody (imo only) will backfire judging from the jaded people that visit these boards. Who knows, maybe there'll be a camaro in 2009 that sells and I get to eat my words. I hope I get to eat my ****ing words.

 

If this was a vette forum, I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. But, there are light-years, conceptually, between F-bodies and Vipers. No doubt, he understands cool cars. My point is that, it is the F-body concept in particular, that he hasn't been friendly toward.

Maybe I'm wrong here. I hope so, but it probably doesn't matter anymore. This is just one more opinion here (because the actual relationship hasn't been shown yet), but I believe Lutz' new "global" platform assignment will mean "everything outside of NA". I've heard this corporate-speak before. Our future will be determined by Wagoner.

We shall see.

 

Lutz is into performance vehicles and he's well versed in their history and the noteworthy ones. He's absolutely a frind in that respect.

He's also not disjointed nor out of touch with reality where "regular folks" are concerned. He's exceptionally sharp. I'd qualify that as also being "friendly."

His position at this point is a stronger one regarding getting the roght product developed, and making sure it's engineered to work in whatever plant might need to build it.

The fact he is outspoken and audacious is exactly what GM needs. He's matter of fact in his approach, which doesn't happen enough in large corporations. He's a CAR guy.

Any car company need appealing product with style and bang for the buck. Wagoner is doing the right thing and Lutz is now in ther ight place.

 

My impressions exactly.

 

Well, we could be worse off.. If it weren't Mr Lutz... we could have a facelss corporate type who cares not for the dreams of gear-heads at all and believes the future is in FWD boredom-boxes that are about as exciting as a washing machine. So I would give Bob the benefit of the doubt, since he is at least passionate about performance, even if in the past it hasn't quite taken the shape we f-body fans would like; let's see what he can do in his new position which hopefully is not just a nameplate but carries real clout to get things moving.

 

In my view he's a friend.

 

Gotta disagree here.

First, let's be honest about something upfront: Getting a Camaro to market is going to be a tough sell. The 4th gen really never caught on outside of performance types, and there bluntly isn't enough performance types around to maintain sales viability of a low cost high performance coupe.

Secondly, anyone from GM who actually takes the time to monitor this site over an extended period of time will likely leave here pretty disgusted. Not only isn't there a consensus regarding how Camaro should look, there are too many people who say "if a Camaro doesn't have so-and-so I'll never buy a GM product again!" There's still also that vocal "engine-in-a-box" people who still don't get that that package didn't work last time. Finally, there's the group that want Camaro to be world class, but still somehow be a sub-$20,000 car.

Finally, when the pony car wars were going on, Bob Lutz was in his low 30s! To say he was too old to "get" what the pony car era was about is very misguided to say the least.

He is THE man you want as chairman of product at GM right now. He understands the impact of exciting cars on the public. He is extremely aware of a car's history. An if anyone would still approve a Camaro after coming to this site, the not so great sales of the last Camaro, and the fact that the next Camaro absolutly, positively needs to share it's chassis with something to see the light of day, he's probally the only higher up that's capable and willing to make it happen.

 

Great post GUY! I would hope Lutz, if he is visiting this board, realizes that some of those negative comments, are likely comming from ppl who seem to not want Camaro back. It seems fairly obvious IMO, considering some of the comments being made on here! Most of us know that the top model, will most likely be more than the Mustang, but want it to be well worth that extra dough! After all you get what you pay for! I think most would also like to see a base model in the same price range 25k +/-, but with more for the money, DoD, IRS, nicer interiors or something, to make the average consumer see it as the better deal. I do believe the Camaro is somewhat of an icon as well, obviously not as much so as Corvette or Mustang. So there is much to overcome from "Across Town" with the Mustang, IMHO the car does need to be better all around, but for 20k ppl are definately dreaming! I would say the top perf. models in the current GTO price range +/-o, with the base V6 & V8 models smack in Ford's face (pricewise even if it is only a dollar). I don't remember being able to find any 25k 4thgen Z/28's on the lots around here, they were all 36k+. For ppl who want a V8, a low option model is needed to bring back affordable performance. You can upgrade later as long as it already has the V8, which is what most (enthusiasts) really care about not having pwr everything.

 

Who here doesn't want the Camaro back? Seems obvious to you? What individuals (names) or group (set of opinions) are you referring to?

What a whacked out statement to make!!!!!