Well, with all the insiders keep saying this or whatever else, and people speculating on the Chevelle name, and Guy and/or "Red Planet" also keep saying "Camaro-like" car coming, what about the Monte Carlo going back to RWD?

After thinking about this more and more, I remembered hearing something a long time ago about the MC going back to RWD, and then I figured the redesign for '06 (isn't it only cosmetic, and engine, not really structural?) why waste the $$ to revamp it much for '06 if a RWD is coming?

I really don't know, or claim to know much at all, this is just a speculation...

 

Chevy seems set on making their 'performance' cars all FWD. Corvette is the only thing good left IMHO

I also believe the GTO is the closest thing to a Camaro that we're going to get.

 

A RWD Monty would be nice but would not be the type of perfromance vehicle they are speaking about. The hints are pony car like, something the Monty surely is not.

 

Give this man a cigar!

 

Ok, but the Chevelle is? Why couldn't they just drop the current Monte and place it in a pony car segment?

 

Chevelle ain't happening. Search and sit back and read. Read for a few months it has been covered to death that the Chevelle rumor never had any truth behind it.

Camaro has always been the name that GM wanted to use but there are constraints.

 

The Monte Carlo name has just been too damaged over the past 5 or 6 years to be viable for a real sports coupe. I'm not saying that the current Monte is bad. Wait, yes, actually I am. The current Monte is a freaky looking, wallowing canvas for Dale Earnhart decals and similar variants. Meanwhile, it's about a half second slower to 60mph than the Honda Accord Coupe. It's one of the only cars GM sells that would have absolutely no appeal to someone intending to buy a foriegn car. That said, I have not seen the '06 in person, but from the pics, it looks the least updated of all the GM mid-sizers both inside and out.
Now, as for the Chevelle, I don't know anything regarding platform issues, although I assume that it would be completey dependent on zeta. However, just using the name seems a bad idea to me. Just like with the GTO, everyone would be expecting the Chevelle to come out looking like a 1970 454 SS with maybe some zenon headlamps added up front to give it a modern touch. It will not be able to please its potential market.
The Camaro seems like the only viable, and at the same time best option. It has a built in market - not of people who own 30 yr old cars and like the name - but of actual new car buyers whose loans are just ending on the last Camaro's and are looking at the new one. They also have 15,000 units per month from Ford's direct competitor. It's a no-brainer if you ask me. Even given whatever problems using the name might have, I can't imagine that the CAW is really going to drag their feet in this - especially since they've been getting lots of new investments from GM lately. It seems perfectly in line with logic that GM will build a Camaro soon. Thus, I'm incredibly worried, because as we all know, GM management seems to be averse to logic in all of its forms .

 

Monte Carlo was NEVER a performance coupe. It's a personal coupe. Sure there have been sport editions made (all SS), but Monte is the last surviving big American coupe.

It's NOT a Camaro, it's NOT a pony car, it's NOT a subsitute for a pony car. It DOES NOT even have the same demographic of buyers for crissake!

"IF" there were a 5th gen Camaro, it wouldn't be confused with a Monte Carlo or blend with it's buyer profile.

As far as that "IF" goes, anyone who has been keeping up with things here know how likely that "IF" really is.


BTW, FWIW, Guy and RP aren't the same person. We grew up a county apart in PA, but we aren't the same. He's better looking.

 

A while back I posted that a friend of a friend ( ) who saw the supposed "Camaro" prototype, said that the GM insider than showed it to him also mentioned a "Chevelle" was in the works.

I wouldn't be surprised to tell you the truth. Chevelle could be reborn as the Chevelle truely was, an all-in-one multi use nameplate with two-door, four-door, and wagon options. A four-door model to counter the Chrysler 300, a wagon to counter the Magnum, etc. (Remember only a small portion of Chevelles were ever big block Super Sports.) Chevelle could be the GTO sister car, and then some.

However, the Camaro should remain a completely different vehicle.

Stay tuned.

 

While that all makes 100% logical sense...... you know that all Chevelle's were REALLY big block super coupes..... right ???

 

Yes, that is 100% accurate!












BTW, my first car was a 67 Chevelle Malibu Hard-top. It had a 283 V8, 2-bbl, 3-spd on the column and front bench seat.

 

Sweet ride!

My father-in-law (I watch/help out/try to learn things from him) is doing a complete front end restoration on a 1967 Chevelle SS396 right now... Blue, blue interior, all original, numbers matching,27,xxx original miles.

We're just about done... had the car totally disassembled from the firewall forward... just have to button up the front end (bumper, grille, etc...)

 

Speaking of SS 396...I just bought my first Camaro last week!
http://www.members.aol.com/mdewb409/camaro005.jpg
http://www.members.aol.com/mdewb409/camaro001.jpg

 

Veeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyy Nice!!

 

Holy crap! Talk about rare.... is it an L-78?