Branden's thread he just started regarding ambivalence towards a new Camaro sort of goes hand in hand here with what I was thinking earlier. My Z28 is coming off the road tomorrow, so I took it for one last spin down to the nearest Mobil to throw in some Sta-Bil and a full tank of 93 before its winter hibernation in the garage.

On my way to the gas station I was on a 4 lane road and came to a light. A typical punk kid in a late '90s Saturn SC1 (not even an SC2 for crying out loud) pulled up next to me and began inching forward, like he wanted to race. Light turns green, I take off as normal, and I hear him winding the p!ss out of this Saturn to keep up with me...mind you, I'm not even trying to race him and am shifting before I even hit 3 grand.

I pull into the gas station and he pulls into the pump next to me. "Dude, how is that thing so fast? Its only a Camaro."

I was ashamed to even be associating with this idiot. However, he proves a point I've been coming too. Chevrolet is losing so much street credibility, its unreal. My first Camaro was a 2.8 '89 RS I received in 1998 from my mom, who bought it new. Being a lowly V6, it still had that presence on the road, that "don't mess with me" factor. I NEVER had some punk kid even try racing me unless he was in another Camaro, or a Mustang. I cruised around, and no one ever knew the difference. That car got me a ton of thumbs up from other kids who were around my age (18) at that time.

Now on the other hand, 6 years later, I own a car that will annihilate from a light virtually anything I come in contact with, short of a WRX STi, EVO, LS1 F body or Cobra. And how often do you really come in contact with these cars on a daily basis? Never, around here. And yet, the last 3 times I have taken the car out, I have been challenged by...

-2 Civics
-a CONTOUR
-the aforementioned Saturn
-2 Acura RSXs, and a TSX
-an Eclipse

My point is, Camaros are so forgotten out there on the street, typically, kids really think they can pound these "old" things. Just 6 short years ago, my lowly 135hp RS got a lot of respect. Now I own a Z28 pushing around an even 300hp, and I have 125hp Contours thinking they have a shot at me. WTF?? The same age group that worshipped Camaros a mere 1/2 decade ago now looks at them as an afterthought.

When I was a little kid (under age 10), I was wowed by '80s IROCs, Monte Carlo SSs, Grand Nationals, 442s, even Fiero GTs and 5.0s. These are the cars that made me love cars. Celicas, MR2s, 300ZXs, Starions (remember those? Who does?), and RX-7s were an afterthought, at least around here. Chevy? We had Z24s, Beretta GTZs with 180hp (in 1990-1993), Camaros of all varietys, Monte SSs, and yes, Vettes. I see more old, crappy Z24s running around now than the '00-'02 variety.

These cars had "street cred," and were respected by kids everywhere. What do we have today? What would "wow" me now at age 10 and mold my future brand loyalty today? A Cobalt SS? A Supercharged SS Monte Carlo, with a whole 60 more HP than it had TWENTY ONE YEARS AGO? That's all she wrote...

I'm at the point now where sometimes I feel embarrassed. I mean, I have Civics honestly believing they're a valid race. Maybe its an ego thing, I don't know. But I am starting to wonder, at the ripe old age of 24, where my future brand loyalties would lie in the future, if I was age 10 today.

Cobalt SS Supercharged is a start, but we need more. We need a cool coupe, based on Malibu but with looks to kill. We need a Camaro. We need a car like the GTO (which I know is just a few years away). I am a die hard Chevy fan, but my last 3 purchases have all been Pontiacs. And even Pontiac is ticking me off by not at least making a Grand Prix coupe. G6's full line is a sorely needed car for Pontiac.

But this is about Chevy. I want another Chevy car I can love. Cobalts I like, but I want something I can love, and be passionate about. Even when I was 10, Corvettes never did it for me. And don't tell me brand loyalty cannot be developed before you can see over a steering wheel...I am living proof of that.

If I was 10 right now? I'd probably be a Scion owner in 2018...the tC is that great. Or, a Ford owner. I'd like to think I'd be loyal to my own country...but in this era, American-built means nothing to my generation...sadly enough.

As depressing a post as I've ever written, I pray 5 years from now I can write something better, and that Chevy hasn't lost all the credibility its built up since the 1950s. But I really, really wonder...

 

Oh yeah, I forgot the other race that boggled my mind. The most comical race ever?

Z28 versus a HONDA ODYSSEY.

I wish I was making that up...I'm not.

 

Just a quick note: 10 years ago when I was about 13, I also loved Chevy and knew I would own a camaro when I was old enough. Well now that my brother is 18, he doesn't have the same views as I do. He actually is one of those kids you were talking about that think they have a chance at spanking a camaro when they come up on one. He drives a 97 accord 4cyl!!! All he's got is a chrome intake tube, a header, a muffler, and some colorful stuff on the inside. Now that I just bought my first camaro while I've been overseas, he's talking crap about what his accord is going to do to my Z28 when I get home. And he's serious!!!

So I see exactly what you are talking about. My feelings on it though, are just the way times have changed. What did Honda and Toyota have back then? 10 years ago no one cared about the performance of their civic or corolla. Yeah Toyota had the supra and Nissan had the 300ZX, but there wasn't that much of a following for those cars. If there was, it wasn't a long running enthusiast type following like Chevy has had since the 50's and 60's. No ones dad had an old hot rod supra in the garage that they remember helping out with and fell in love with. No one had the internet to find out what other cars had to offer, they just knew what they had heard from people who had a certain car. Word of mouth doesn't go as far these days when all it takes is a computer to find out what’s fact and what’s opinion. Also I don't think that the competition was nearly as up to speed with GM. Now every car company has something that competes with the rest of the crowd. I don't think brand loyalty makes as much sense (sp?) as it used to. There are too many other "good" cars out there to stick with one company.

Now my brother may always be a ricer, and I probably wont understand it. I know I will always be a Chevy guy, no matter what they put out there and he may never understand that.

(That's not a quick note is it?)

 

Well, Nissan had the Datsun Z. Not quite as long of a following but it is a following and the original cars are valubale and collected just like are Camaros. They were/are even hot rodded.

 

Friday, while I was at Best Buy with a friend, he pointed to a Maurader and said that car could take mine Nobody knows enough about 4th gen Z28s to have any respect for them.

 

Thats nothing new.....

Very few "outsiders" had any Idea when the cars were still on dealer lots.

 

I'm not talking about just Camaros though. I am talking about Chevy's "street rep" period! I know I use the Camaro as an example, but I also talk about other cars that used to generate at least some excitement.

GM as a whole has some nice performance cars when you include Caddy and Pontiac, but Chevy? I mean, what really gets the blood boiling? An Imapla and Monte SS are nice cars with Supercharged 3800s, but that's the best we have these days? Cobalt will help, but in the mid levels...we're hurting.

 

their a business and they're here to make money. just like red said

 

You can race some of these compacts fair. Its called CCR. cruise control racing. When a honda trys to run me I use my cruise and most the time no throttle. Be carefull with those DSM's they make great sleepers.

 

Yes it's true!

Chevy has a humongous gap in it's line-up. Sure, the Cobalt may do well...but what if you're older than 22 and want something sporty from Chevy, under $45K.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
NADA.

As much as I try to stay away from turning this into a purely Camaro discussion, a proper V6, SS and Z/28 Camaro would plug alot of holes at Chevy.

 

Ya know, I have found that the "SS" designation still has a lot of street credibility here in the Detroit area. Most people who see my car are like "OH sh*t, he's got an SS!" or "Oh man, nice SS!" They don't even call it a Camaro. I find that the punk kids are also intimidated by the SS badge. Some of them even think it came supercharged from the factory.

 

Again, I agree completely. I grew up LOVING all things Chevy. Of course, Camaro had a huge impact on me. Ever since I saw the first Camaro at a stop light, from the back window of my father's Tempest.

But it wasn't just Camaros. It was everything from Chevy. Novas, Lagunas, Monte Carlos, Chevelles, Vegas, Monzas....even Bel Airs and Impalas. I even thought Chevy Vans were cool, (The famous ChevyVan, for more street cred on your modded Chevy Van, you'd remove the "C" from the emblems.....giving you a hevyvan).
I just thought that Chevy was, by far, the coolest automotive brand on Earth.

By the time I was a teenager, bowties flowed through my veins.

Can't really say that grade school or high school kids will see a Malibu, Impala, Venture or Aveo and feel anything for Chevy...ever.

And this middle aged enthusiast is beginning to run out of gas with the brand that I grew up loving.

 

When I was 10, my dream car was a ZR1 Corvette. 400 HP, DOCH 350 V8, 6 speed, 192 MPH top speed.


Also, you have to realize that Fast and the Furious and the whole ricer movement has brainwashed a generation(those from 14 to ~25) That's why everybody thinks their Honda and Toyota family sedan is fast, because of the brainwashing. My one friend tried so hard to convince me that a 88 CRX was the baddest a@@ car ever made, and it could whip up on my Z28. He ended up buying a 98 Civic instead, and he thought it was pretty quick. Raced him in the Z28, put a several buslengths on him. That got him out of the dillusion real quick.

Also, Chevy I think still has street cred around where I live. There are plenty of Corvettes to keep up the credibility. People know to show respect when you pull up in a Vette or Camaro. You will get laughed at if you are driving any other late model Chevy car though.

 

When I was 10, my dream car was a Ferrari Testarosa. Saw several in Italy, and it became my dream car. I saw one the other day, and I felt like a kid again.

As for street cred...maybe there isnt much street cred in a Ricers mind since there idea of performance is anything they can pick up on cleanrance at Pep Boys. I think you are getting a little crazy.

As for street cred with real people that know more then what F&F taught them, Chevy still has a lot. A lot of people still respect teh LS1 fbodies.
I think with the introduction of the Cobalt SS, "street cred" with the import fans will start to pick up.

 

I'm 19 and I've always been a Chevy guy, since even before my dad was a Ford dealer and that didn't change anything. It's not a whole generation. I will admit since a 90 Beretta GTZ (180hp 5-speed) was my first car I don't always listen to the "no replacement for displacement" BS. My 2.3l was plenty quick enough to murder a couple v6 f-bodies and only lost by a car length to a modded IROC auto. I also know that my Quad4 GTZ was quite a bit quicker than my 3100 Z26 is. Everybody asks "why mod a Beretta?", even if they are Chevy people. So if you think your Camaro doesn't get the respect it deserves, try driving a Beretta.

I'd LOVE to see a new Camaro for when I'm ready to buy a brand new car in a few years. So far I've bought 2 Berettas and 2 Camaros. Not all teenagers are into gay-*** ricey Civics.