This debate has certainly struck a cord with the faithful. Seems to me there is little in the way of middle ground for a good number of people on this one.

Just to reaffirm things a little, the final design is by all accounts pretty much locked in (remember) and 3/4 windows appear to have made the cut... so debate may indeed, be futile with regards to the whole are they there, or not scenario.

Perhaps the only thing left for us to ponder is whether or not they'll roll down and if we think they should. As I stated earlier this may have a deciding effect on whether T-tops return or not - but in the end I don't really know any more than anyone else here. So maybe one will nothing to do with the other.

 

No rear windows please! This is just another indicator that the 5th gen is going down the wrong path.

 

The 5th gen is certainly going down a path I don't like either. More upright body stance. 3/4 windows. A trunk. 1st gen like front end and body styling.

Why all this fuss about the 1st gen look anyway? The 2nd gen was the real "designers" car if you ask me. IMO, the 1st gen F-bodies looked too much like a car cobbled together from X-car components to give GM something to sell to compete against the Mustang back in '67. Yeah I know, the Mustang came from pedestrian Falcon underpinnings too, but the whole chassis including the high-cowl firewall section of the X-car had to be shared with the new pony car from GM. It wasn't until the 2nd gens came along that the studio designers got what they really wanted. A ultra low front cowl area with a much longer hood and shorter rear deck. Moving the green house 3" further back on the 1st gen chassis gave the designers what they always wanted. A sleeker and more exotic looking F-body even though it basically shared the same X-car based chassis structure as the 1st gen.

Since the design of the production 5th gen is probably already locked in and approved by top GM brass, I guess were going to get a more upright sedan based car with lots of 1st gen styling cues than a more sleeker looking exotic-like low slung pony car. If it was me calling the shots, I would have based the new 5th gen on the 2nd and 3rd gen F-bodies with just a hint of some 1st gen styling cues.

 

I can go both ways on this personally. So if it does or doesn't have quarter windows, it won't be a deciding factor to me.

Having said that, I think from a sales & rear seat habitability standpoint, it will bring alot of people over from other cars. The idea is to steal sales from competitors in the same segment.

If buyers of sports coupes want rear quarter windows, I think Camaro should have them. Not "BMW 3 series sized", but there is nothing wrong with the rear quarter window designs that have appeared on 60s era Camaros & Mustangs, or the Challenger & Cuda of the 70s. If the top part of the quarter window meets with the tail edge of the upper drivers window (sort of an obtuse triangle), you could even make T-tops look like they belong.




Trivia time:
Chrysler's pony cars were designated "E" bodies, and GM's were "F". Chrysler also had an "F" body car: Volare & Aspen.

 

IMHO 3/4 windows and a slightly more upright stance will hardly kill what the essence of the Camaro is. Until the car is unveiled, the exact direction of the cars styling will remain conjecture. What point is there in condemning the car? A car that precious few have actually seen.

The Camaro over its 35 year run has come to mean many different things to many different people. I think that a car we haven't set eyes upon yet can still be a homerun even if it embodies styling elements that some of us don't agree with... give GM a chance to get this one out of the gate before deciding it's really a Camaro... or not.

Maybe in the end it will prove that it was best that we were in the dark about the direction of the car rather than having these hints dropped. Opinions are being formed without having all the facts on the table.

All I'm saying is let's give GM some leeway here. Obviously parts of the formula may have changed... a bit... the car got stagnant as it was and change can be a good thing as long as the end result remains true to what the Camaro was and will be again.

 

I dont want the windows, but if they are their, they better roll down.

 

If the car has rear side windows (and it seems like it's very likely), I think it would be cool if they rolled down. And to be honest, I can't see T-tops looking good with rear side windows.

 

Ditto.

If there are rear windows... then no T-tops!