Before this thread gets hijacked any further, that's why I believe a Firebird is necessary among many reasons. People love, adore, prefer the Firebird's styling compared to the Camaro's, and vice versa. By having both, GM can appeal to different consumers. It's called subjetive styling, people have different tastes than others.

 

I'll guess that in a few years I'll be able to buy a Camaro... but not a Firebird.



Firebird was a lodestone around the neck of the Camaro in the end. Honestly, call the Solstice a Firebird and life is good, just keep it off of the same platform as Camaro until Pontiac can actually sell some of them.

 

You're pratically asking for it, and that is trolling. Please, take a page from Morbid. You two are on the same page in a lot of aspects (that's why I'm editing this, I couldn't even tell the posts apart)

Oh, and I did finally find something towards Camaro and Firebird sales. You say GM couldn't give away Firebirds towards the end, and it, but Camaros didn't do much better.

Honestly, you say the Firebird detracts sales from the Camaro, but did you ever think that people who bought Firebirds liked them more than Camaros. That might explain why they bought the Firebird over the Camaro.

I don't want the Camaro to fail, if it does, there is no chance of a Firebird revival. But I definitely don't like people who believe that Firebird enthusiasts are ignorant because of our taste in cars.

 

Sheesh... some people! Let's not forget that 79 was the most popular year for the Firebird PERIOD! If memory serves me correct it outsold the Camaro that year or was dang close (around 200,000 units). So if you are trying to equate sales with styling success then 79 is the best styled year! I personally would never own a V6 Camaro or Firebird (I mean, whats the point?) but that is just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions?

This coming from someone who currently owns three f-bodies (94 Z28, 76 TA and 02 TA). The lack of aggressive styling on the 94 Z28 was one of my complaints.

 

Guess is right.

I don't see how any of you can make fun of a Firebird if you own a Camaro (and vice versa). They may as well be the same damn car. I got my firebird because it looks better (to me, you opinion flaming morons-even though thatcould be considered an opinion flame).

Blame Gm for advertising failures (amongst other things). Not my car.

Yeah. Right. Because Camaros sold SO much better in the end. Quit trying to make it sound like the Firebird is substandard to a Camaro.

 

Spare the hatred for the Firebird please, it is an F-body as well. You can certainly have your opinion, but the general buying public did not agree with you as over 100k Trans Ams were sold in 1979 alone. I love the
styling of the second gens, those years are my favorite.

As far as the Firebird name being used on some small 4-cyl or 6-cyl car, forget it. I would rather not see the name come back in that case. The Firebird name has as much heritage associated with it as the Camaro does.

 

How old are you? Apparently not old enough to know the history of these cars much beyond the 4th gens. Back in the 70's, it was the Firebird that helped keep these cars from getting axed, particularily the Trans Am. So I guess that made the Camaro the "lodestone" around the neck of the Firebird . The truth is, at one time or another, each one of these
cars needed the other one. In my opinion, to have one without the other is
wrong. There will be many disappointed Firebird enthusiasts if the Camaro is
the only one to return.

 

Here Here! I was actually going to post pretty much the same thing. Obviously it was a different era (no internet) but I wonder how it would have felt to be a Camaro enthusiast back then if there were rumors that the Firebird would continue while the Camaro would be killed off? Camaro enthusiasts would probably be saying the same things us Firebird guys (and gals) are saying: "To have one without the other is ludicrous," "The Camaro appeals to different people," etc. But I guess now it doesn't really matter.

 

It's actually very ironic.

The cars have ALWAYS needed one another, and now, the Firebird needs the Camaro (to come back) if it wants to come back.

 

Well, not to be harsh, (because harshness is unforunately almost a requirement here, and you guys are getting plenty already) but would you rather have a great or excellent Camaro with maybe some Firebird luxuries that could attract you to it, (like a super loaded SS model) or only a "good" or "decent" Camaro AND Firebird that might make alot of buyers go the opposite way because they had to spend more on both which made the cars less than spectacular? You guys know which has to come back and all the reasons why it should, (Camaro) but the Firebird for the last 2 Gens especially has been basically a "Pontiac Camaro" more than ever. (in the 4th even moreso) Try a Camaro, I think you just might like it. At least think about for the 5th Gen.

 

Firebird never outsold Camaros, though it came reasonably close.

However..... Pontiac Trans Ams did far better than Z28 in sales from about '74 (Z28's last year till it's hiatus) till '81. From 1977 (Z28's return) till 1980, the Trans Am simply decimated Z28s in the sales lots.

 

Thanks for the info G, I knew 79 was probably close but I didn't have the Camaro sales numbers. Didn't really know the Z28 vs TA sales figures either but it makes sense knowing that in the late 70's the TA was THE car to own. I just wanted to offer a rebuttal to Moron's (er Morb|d's) nitwit statement.

IZ28, I own both currently and have owned a number of Camaros (78 Coupe, 79 Z28, 80 Z28, 82 Z28, 87 IROC). I prefer the Firebird but the Camaro comes in a close second. I would buy a 5th gen Camaro if a Firebird was not available.

 

I want one of those... with the big firebird on the hood. Those are just plain cool. I'll have one. One day. And I'll park it next to my (future) Black '02 TA WS6... and my Red '97 Firebird.

 

Cool.

 

I'm a big Firebird fan (if you haven't caught on already) and I'll answer that very simply: I'd obviously rather have an excellent, great performing Camaro on the market than to have a less than great one if a Firebird model would drain resources away from Camaro. I love Camaros too.

Basically, what I'm trying to get at in this post and others is that I think there'd be a way to differentiate Firebird from Camaro through differnt chassis, drivetrain and whatnot to make it work. And I'll agree that if Firebird would to come back basically as a reskinned Camaro with different interior it probably wouldn't be worth it. I'm of the opinon that Pontiac needs the Firebird in their showrooms.