Why? Wheres the article?

I think with the economy explosion of the mid - to - late 90's, that prices for stripper Z28's or V6's shouldn't have been too expensive for late teens / early 20 year olds. But as you said, they really didn't even know it existed. The name "Camaro" had a sense of nastolgia in my mind when I read it on the back of my dream car sitting in front of a local dealership.

 

Though I'm sure the lack of advertising since 1998 had something to do with that lack of awareness, it's also obvious that young car buyers simply don't buy NEW performance cars with V8 engines. Sure, there are exceptions to every rule, but as a rule it doesn't happen.

As pointed out, anyone could walk into a Chevy dealer and order a base Camaro Z28 for only $23,000 plus taxes & destination. What did young buyers buy? 4 cylinder imports..... often at much higher prices!!

Back to Stang & Camaro, it's interesting is that the average V6 buyer's age between the 2 are about the same, but the performance model (Z28 & GT) have a 4 year spread!

Mustang Buyer Demographics- V8 (V6):

Median age: 37 years (35 years)
Median Household income: $55,000 ($53,000)
Gender Mix: 61%male/ 39% Female (44% Male/ 56%Female)
Principal Driver: 37% GT (63% V6)

Meanwhile, more interesting is the so-called "ricer" group's choice of cars. The average age group of the buyers of those types of cars typically average just over 30, but it's also a group of cars that attract even a higher percentage of women than Mustang overall (Most all Mitsubishis have a 40/60 split, favoring female buyers).

RSX has a 60/40 Male/Female split, 27 year median age, and a median income of $60,000.
Toyota Celica is one of the better ones, but it's split is 58/42 men to women. But it also has a median age of 41 !

http://autos.en.msn.ca/vip/heraudspe...celica&src=404
http://lang.motorway.com/home/articles/acurarsxa.asp


Guess the real question is, how far is everyone here willing to go to attract so-called younger buyers? Young new car buyers (including young men) seem to go where female buyers go, and that typically isn't towards V8 powered fast cars (those that do buy fast V8s go used).

Many people here chide Mustang as a "woman's car". Yet Mustang GT still has a higher percentage of men buyers than pretty much every import car popular with the Fast & Furious crowd.

 

Back to 4th Gen vs. mid-size SUV ... to me the Envoy is a "mid-size" SUV.

2002 Firebird= (Branden's numbers)

Wheelbase: 101.1"
Overall length: 193.3"
Overall width: 74.4"
Overall height: 51.2 "
Weight (A4 Formula): 3517lbs.
(M6 Formula): 3495lbs.

2002 Envoy

Wheelbase: 113.0"
Overall length: 191.8"
Overall width: 74.7"
Overall height: 71.9 "
Weight(4x4): 4,628 lbs.

The footprint is virtually indentical.

The Gen 5 needs to be shorter overall, on a longer wheelbase. This picture to me amplifies how excessive the current overhangs really are. http://www.perldev.org/media/camaro.jpg

IMO the Chevrolet SS Concept car, shortened into a 2 door would have the right size and evolutionary styling.