O/T: The New Camaro and Challenger

Moderators, feel free to delete this if it's too offensive for this board, but I just saw the pictures today and I'm burning with curiousity. What does everybody think about the new Ponycar concepts?

Some of us are going to hate anything new/muscle related no matter what, but I know a lot of us have an appreciation for cars in general, so I'd like to hear some informed opinions.

Personally, I feel Dodge got a lot closer to what new Ponycar buyers are looking for than GM... possibly even closer than the Ford Mustang, if it's priced competitively.

 

The Challenger is a stunner - & that's all I'll contribute to this pot stirrin'.

JH

 

I'll admit it, I want a new charger...Personally I think they look similar to the mulletstang but stretched just a little.

Farmall

 

I freakin' LOVE the Challenger concept car. Wrinkle coat Hemi valve covers?! Hell yeah!
I think they got closer to the feel and heritage than the Camaro. The Mustang is spot on, too.

What excites the hell out of me are these factors:
Soon, you'll be able to go to any one of the Big Three (or Not So Big Three anymore) and drive off the lot in a genuine, relatively affordable (compared to Viper/Corvette) high performance 2dr car. It's the '60s all over again.

And even more exciting is this: The Ford MOD motor and Chevy LS engines are starting to be common in junk yards. Mopar has kicked out several hundred thousand 5.7 Hemi engines in the last couple years in everything from Rams and Durangos to Chargers and 300s. Sound familiar? And now they're producing the 6.1 Hemi.

In a few years, it's going to be worth the trips to the junk yard again.
No, it's not Flat Heads, 409s and Hemis, but for the build-it-yourself enthusiast, the future looks better than it has in a couple decades.

The whole Retro craze by Detroit is a reflection of the hobby, and the hobby is going to benefit from it tremendously in the very near future.
I'm excited as hell about it.
-Brad

 

my cousin showed me an article in car and driver about the challenger concept over the holidays... i think its pretty neat. i like the fact that automobile companies are producing high output vehicles again.

i havent seen the camero concept yet.

 

Dig the Challenger. The Camaro is nice but....it looses something. I can't put my finger on it. I'll see them both next Thurs when I go.

 

that challenger rules.

 

They are playing catch up to the mustang, just like the 60s. The concept camaro that a kid drew for pop. mech. looks better, imho. Id rather get an 07/08 skyline for that much coin.
.02

 

i got booted from the moparts.com forum for telling those guys to cool it about that car.

it looks great, wonder if it will be like the original: bad handling, shitty brakes, crappy interior, and kinda quick...unless really breathed on.

there is going to be a new camaro? wtf...thought that they had killed that thing for a while?

 

Typical General Motors---kill the F-body, wait a few years for the majority of potential F-body customers to defect to Ford, then, a bold new concept....the Camaro!

 

The camaro is not bad, I think the grill/headlights and taillights need to be more retro. Say '69 RS style. I do like the overall bodyshape and interior alot.
G.M.B.

 

Yea your right catch up, But the POOR preformance of the mustang has really made me evaluate the fact that im a ford guy. Its just not right, Flomaster Mufflers dont make fast.... .02

 

The Challenger is beautiful. It's doubtful it'll be that bitchen in production, but the concept is dead nuts on.

 

I was 17 when I got my first car in 1980 - a '69 Camaro... it had a built 350, 4-speed, ET mags, and a ROUGH body. It cost me $650 and I had to fix a few things so it would pass inspection. I remember rattle-canning the primered hood black just so it would "match" the rest of the car. Aesthetics aside, it would haul ass and IT WAS MINE.

The concept for the "new" Camaro definitely harkens back to the '69. GM might actually build this car for the 2009 model year. Some might say "retro" styling is played-out, but I admit I think it would be cool to have the Pony War raging on the streets and strips again. Hell, it might even convince younger, performance-minded drivers to think twice about going the import tuner route.

-murph

 

I like the Challenger--a lot.

I don't much care for the Camaro. To me it looks like a cartoon car.

I'm willing to bet the engineering will be the same. Daimler/Chrysler obviously understands that there's a market for cars that'll flat haul the mail yet be reasonably comfortable and utilitarian. GM hasn't shown a willingness to learn from its mistakes in years. All through the 80's and 90's they were "king of the pony car hill" based upon a handful of specials that you had almost no chance of actually owning because they were limited production. Meanwhile there are zillions of Fox-bodied Mustangs still on the road because anyone with a check book could could walk into any Ford dealer and buy a Mustang that was ALMOST as fast as the F-bodied specials...and faster after they were breathed on just a hair. My prediction is that IF GM builds a new Camaro they'll play that same game again and get their clocks cleaned by Challenger and Mustang alike in the marketplace.

 

I like it, though I think it looks more like a 67-68. If they came out with it now, they'd sell the crap out of it. But by 2009 it'll have people yawning.

Typical GM - day late dollar short

 

challenger rocks.... and i'm a chev fan.

i think i would like the camaro a bit more if they would SMOOTH it out a little.

both are "concepts" which means they will surely change before/if produced... hopefully for the better!

both would be fun to hammer on i'm sure.

 

I think GM needs to get themselves an original idea, instead of copying Ford and Mopar. Ford and Mopar have both had lots of original ideas lately. The retro Mustang, Tbird, and GT were all original ideas based on heritage, Mopar is coming out with some cool stuff, Magnum, 300 series, Charger, even the PT cruiser was different. But GM just really doesn't get it. They copied the PT criser, they come out with a retro craparo just because Ford's stang was a big hit. The ssr was a disappointment and the corvette lacks the attitude of the original. And they wonder why they're going bankrupt. They'd better get thier act together...

 

supposedly one of the leaked pictures

 

The Challenger looks great, even better than the Mustang...with a hemi in it it's a home run. The Camaro looks like it's catering to the Cadillac crowd with that front end, but it's just a concept. Front engine/rear drive, Hemis, Gt 500's, it's a lot better than what's been offered for the last decade. The best part is that the foreign cars can't compete with this, they have no 60's muscle car heritage

 

Good point about GM missing the market window 4+ years after the 2005 Mustang hit the streets. It only took them 2.5 years to catch Ford back in the 60's. Hehe. Hey, what if GM came out with a retro-styled, 4-door family hauler? You know, make it look like a late-40's / early-50's Suburban or something like that. I bet they would sell a bunch of those.

-murph

 

The Mustang & Challenger look great! The Camaro is done in what I think is a painting style called "cubist" all lines & angles F-117?

 

this is the one i was referring to

 

a "new" '69 camaro would be wicked. the artists concept has potential. (i hope they offer it in Sunoco Blue though)...but no retro minilites!

the challenger was not slated for production till '08, but due to the success the new 'scratstang they decided to rush it in to production...basically straight off the artist sketches.

 

If that Challenger was sitting in my local Dodge dealer's showroom with a 6.1 HEMI and a 6 speed, I'd be driving it tonight.

 

They have, they call it the HHR.

As for wether or not GM or Chrysler either one build a Challenger or Camaro, Chrysler could make it available quick, just ditch a couple of doors from the Charger.

GM on the other hand, doesn't even have a compatible rear drive platform to build a Camaro around.

I bet we see a new Challenger 2-3 years before we see a new Camaro.

My two cents.

 

The Challenger is bad ass, if they build it similar to how it looks now, and you can get it fast and reasonably priced, I'd be tempted to pull the trigger.

Somebody said the early Challengers didn't drive well, etc. My dad has 3 of them, I'd have to differ. I think they "feel" a lot like a Camaro, and drive pretty well for what is approaching a 40 year old car.

My concern with the new camaro is that the same problem will exist as did in the 90's. That Camaro would haul ass, but it didn't appeal to very many people, and the thing needs to appeal to women. I think the new mustang does, and the Challenger probably will, but I'm concerned the Camaro won't. I'm a Ford guy, but I want desparately for GM to get its act together.

As someone who got a driver's license in '89, I am so excited that this kind of stuff is probably on its way to production, and not some crap hole FWD 4 cylinder pile of shit.

 

They do to have a platform to use... the CTS is rwd and about the size a Camaro would be. Or the new Impala is rwd now too. And we allready know GM will drop the ball. how you all forget the lame ass GTO. Lets hope they dont try to use that chassis its allready way out dated. And im holding out for the new skyline too

 

I'd much rather be driving something like this instead of the JUNK that GM is giving us as consumers now. HHR,Impala FWD,Lucerene,LaCrosse,Cobalt & the like!. Maybe the GM Brass is finally getting their corporate heads out of their asses and giving us what we want. I also still have my high school Camaro SS350. I worked hard to buy her then & build her back into being a relatively cool car. I would buy one these if the were seriously offered.
Haven't seen the Chalenger yet.

 

Evidently the Camaro could be based on the "Zeta Lite" platform, to be shared with the Australian Holden. This is supposedly an economical platform, with potential to out-perform the Mustang. You gotta take everything with a grain of salt, but it does sound like GM has a game plan. While Zeta Lite sounds goofy, it's better than the recent string of three-letter-acronyms being used to name GM vehicles.

-murph