The end of the Camaro after 57 years

[Car-Addicted]

Third-Gen Camaro (1982–92): The one that’s misunderstood
21 November 2023
The third gen, produced from 1982 to 1992, is the one people are most likely to mock. It had the weakest engines, starting as low as 90 horsepower in base models; build quality ranged from suspect to depressing
Cafaro, who designed the Z28’s nose, drew inspiration from the slantnose Porsches that were dominating Daytona. It was a beautiful departure from the go-fast gimcrackery that had taken over performance cars in the late 1970s. Thanks in large part to its enormous glass hatch, it was more functional than any Camaro before or since—more than trivial given that 1980s car buyers used them to do things we now reserve for 2-ton crossovers. (The Camaro was also, in this era, the Chevrolet most likely to be purchased by a woman.)
Those numbers, ignominious as they are, rapidly improved. By 1985, the top dog (now called an IROC-Z, a nod to Chevrolet’s participation in the International Race of Champions) could be had with a fuel-injected, 215-hp, 305-cubic-inch V-8. Two years later, the 350-cubic-inch small-block returned with 245 horsepower. Yet those anemic early ’80s cars, produced in the hundreds of thousands, left a bad taste in many enthusiasts’ mouths.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/automo...misunderstood/

I'm really not sure that Hagerty is doing the Gen three much good with this article. Again GM was not alone doing this period. Cars just plain sucked.

[Donatello.]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Oh excuse me 245hp so a Integra could kick your ass.

"This powertrain is just as happy going to the grocery store as it is zapping unsuspecting Z28s and Supras."
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...y-the-numbers/

We get it, you hate the Camaro. Go drive your FWD turd

[Bongoxxx]

Originally Posted by RPM33

This is terrible. Poor Camaro killed by GM’s disgusting EV’s.

More like lack of sales killed the camero

Under 25k annual sales the last 3 years in the US.

[gblansten]

With the recent Camaro I feel like its drivers are very forward looking types of people. Some of this stems from the lack of a rear view though.

[XutvJet]

This is last Camaro until it's not. They played this game back in 2002 when that was going to be the "last" Camaro ever until they developed the Transformers Bumble bee concept and people lost their minds and then we got the 5th gen.

The 5th gen's problem was super retro styling which people really aren't into anymore, absolutely terrible outward visibility, and a severely overweight chassis for a car of it's size. The later models Camaro are pretty amazing performance machines with the right parts and tires, but damn they are big, heavy, and hell on consumable parts.

I had a 1994 Z28 and that's the car that started my passion for modding and working on cars. It wasn't overly reliable, but it was fast and powerful for its day. I did so much street racing in that thing during my college days in Lawrence, KS. Every weekend we were racing out on vacant old highways. What a blast. Funny to think that my 265hp Cayman would likely run neck and neck with that modded Z28 (intake, exhaust) and my M235 would run away from it.

As a child of the 1980s, I'm drawn to a good condition 3rd gen Camaro. I would love to do a restomod one with a high revving naturally aspirated LS motor, 6MT, IRS swap, suspension, chassis bracing/seam weld, and revamped interior. Something like this but not so much exterior or interior flair, less racecar stuff:

[Tejas1836]

Camaro went rapidly down hill after 1969

[jmack]

I always hated the 5th and 6th gen styling but still a shame to see it go. It's absolutely the performance bargain of the past decades. Hopefully it will return without 4 doors and 5000lb of battery packs.

[gblansten]

I always hated the 5th and 6th gen styling but still a shame to see it go. It's absolutely the performance bargain of the past decades. Hopefully it will return without 4 doors and 5000lb of battery packs.

The market for sedans and coupes in general has been shrinking. Add that to the recent gen Camaro's lack of trunk space and practicality and there just weren't going to be a bunch of buyers.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by gblansten

The market for sedans and coupes in general has been shrinking. At that to the recent gen Camaro's lack of trunk space and practicality

Announcing the all new Camaro EV SUV.
Some deaths are worse than others.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Announcing the all new Camaro EV SUV.
Some deaths are worse than others.

I have a preorder for the Camaro Canyonero. The size of the regular Canyonero with zero rear view and it gets 42 miles of range.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

As a child of the 1980s, I'm drawn to a good condition 3rd gen Camaro. I would love to do a restomod one with a high revving naturally aspirated LS motor, 6MT, IRS swap, suspension, chassis bracing/seam weld, and revamped interior. Something like this but not so much exterior or interior flair, less racecar stuff

Interesting to take a trip back in the Wayback Machine and see Camaros, Mustangs, Corvettes and alike with HP figures around 200HP and mileage's in the low 20's and now you can walk into a show room and buy a KIA Forte with 200hp and 40 miles to the gallon. Me, I'll take the 68 Mustang or Camaro Restomod.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Interesting to take a trip back in the Wayback Machine and see Camaros, Mustangs, Corvettes and alike with HP figures around 200HP and mileage's in the low 20's and now you can walk into a show room and buy a KIA Forte with 200hp and 40 miles to the gallon. Me, I'll take the 68 Mustang or Camaro Restomod.

Times have definitely changed. I remember that long 0-60 time in my Prelude SH of 7.2 seconds. Minivans would melt my Prelude today.

[Donatello.]

Originally Posted by Bongoxxx

More like lack of sales killed the camero

Under 25k annual sales the last 3 years in the US.

Sadly, GM killed it with their poor design, bad pricing, etc

[Donatello.]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Announcing the all new Camaro EV SUV.
Some deaths are worse than others.

They missed the opp to slap the ZL1 drivetrain in the new junk Blazer. That would be the only reason to maybe buy 1

[Donatello.]

Originally Posted by jmack

I always hated the 5th and 6th gen styling but still a shame to see it go. It's absolutely the performance bargain of the past decades. Hopefully it will return without 4 doors and 5000lb of battery packs.

Camaros, Mustangs, etc stopped being bargains years ago. Pricing is lol wtf no.

You want to pay $80k for the new Darkhorse Mustang? 80k puts you in much better & nicer cars

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Donatello.

Camaros, Mustangs, etc stopped being bargains years ago. Pricing is lol wtf no.

You want to pay $80k for the new Darkhorse Mustang? 80k puts you in much better & nicer cars

Seriously. I know I have said this before but a PP2 stang here, admittedly just a few years old, was about $55 to $60K all in. At that point I paid $80K and went with a 911, figuring the 911 is more likely to hold it's value anyways.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by Donatello.

Camaros, Mustangs, etc stopped being bargains years ago.

I suspect you are correct. The Camaro, Mustang and Dodge muscle cars are competing for a ever small demographic. Interesting sales numbers.
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2022/12...arter-2022-q3/

[Donatello.]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Seriously. I know I have said this before but a PP2 stang here, admittedly just a few years old, was about $55 to $60K all in. At that point I paid $80K and went with a 911, figuring the 911 is more likely to hold it's value anyways.

If I wanted a new Hellcat today I'd be in the hard pass camp. I bought mine new in 2018 & paid $10k UNDER MSRP aka $64k. Now they are $100k or more? lol GFY, Stellantis

[RM7]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

The 5th gen's problem was super retro styling which people really aren't into anymore, absolutely terrible outward visibility, and a severely overweight chassis for a car of it's size. The later models Camaro are pretty amazing performance machines with the right parts and tires, but damn they are big, heavy, and hell on consumable parts.

I had a 5 and have a 6. The retro-styling fake vent things on the rocker panels was dumb along with the "hood vent", although a number of people put in the Gen3 "kit" LED mod, but a vent with no real purpose is dumb. At least the 6th gen hood vents are actually vents and when I go to the car-wash, steam comes back up out for a while.

The gen 5 wasn't severely overweight, the SS was 3850 with a manual transmission. It did get severely overweight fast when you did things like went to an automatic, which back then was +200lbs, convertible was another 200, ZL1 was another 200, so yes, you could end up with a 4500lb car putting that all together, but automatic convertibles aren't really for enthusiasts. The gen 6 *only* lops off about 200lbs, that is not a drastic change, but it's enough to let the chassis really dance and sing, and then the automatic is not a huge weight penalty anymore either.

They are big...and the gen 6 is deceivingly small compared to it. It kind of fools you into thinking it's got similar dimensions, but you notice the smaller interior and that it takes up less space in the garage. But not compared to anything, it can be hard to see.

Visibility is about the same and to be honest, it's not much different than my BMW 4 series. That car had a tiny rear window and to fool you into thinking otherwise, the rear view mirror was setup to be real small, but looking at both rear windows (BMW and camaros), almost exactly the same height. High sills on modern cars are fairly common, the camaros are a little higher than most...but that gives you more protection too. The front...you get used to it, somehow I don't hit any cones in AutoX...and I do well in it. A sunroof helps immensely IMO in making the car seem more "open"...but I also like the fact that I'm not in an econobox that seems taller than it is wide. I don't want people peering into my car all the time while I'm driving. Rear side view is...well, it's not as easy in either the 5 or 6 to crank your neck and see in that direction. It doesn't help that 99.9% of the population sets up their side mirrors wrong-if you can see the SIDE of your car, you are missing the actual blind spot, but lane-assist radar/lights help on the 6.

But that's the tradeoff, it's an outstanding chassis with outstanding dynamics (the 6) and you make a few sacrifices for that. The 5 was a good start IMO, it had a solid foot planed in the performance realm. Yeah, you could screw it up by specing the heavy builds, but it was pretty solid and that LS3 was a hell of a solid engine.

There's a guy that shows up at Autox with a gen 5 1LE. That is a well sorted car. It's no miata, but it does well.

[RM7]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Seriously. I know I have said this before but a PP2 stang here, admittedly just a few years old, was about $55 to $60K all in. At that point I paid $80K and went with a 911, figuring the 911 is more likely to hold it's value anyways.

1LE 2SS with a few more options, out the door 48K, a few years old now, but a pretty screaming deal (costco).

NOW, you are going to fight to get any car less than that, dealer markups and all that...

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by Donatello.

Sadly, GM killed it with their poor design, bad pricing, etc

My completely unscientific sales poll has me seeing a lot more Mustangs, Dodges and Corvettes locally than Camaro's and we have a huge Chevrolet dealer in the area. I won't say GM did a bad job, to me the other companies did a far better job. There is also the issue of Demographics. Generation Z has been a very fickle auto market, split between no car, EV's and the those buying SUV's for family reasons. Honestly the last job I would wont would be to be a auto executive.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by MaxThrottleton

These developments are indicative of the evolving automotive landscape and GM's commitment to innovation.

Not sure I'm with you here. Currently the Free market is exceeded by Government and Banking interference.

GM Say EV Demand Is Shrinking, but Data Shows a Complex Market
Oct 20, 2023
Idled plants and pushed-back production timelines signal a lull in EV sales, but analysts say demand is just one piece of the puzzle.
If EV sales are seemingly on the rise, it begs the question of what is truly behind GM's decision to take a step back from Silverado EV production. Karl Brauer, iSeeCars' executive analyst, sees the move as potentially prudent in the long run, in spite of positive sales trends for individual vehicles and specific statewide trends.
"There seems to be a threshold of around 7%-10% share before EV sales drastically slow down. That's the situation in California, Oregon, and Washington, where those states have the largest EV share but also the slowest growth in EV share," Brauer explained.
https://www.autoweek.com/news/a45586...rends-gm-ford/