First build some hybrid cars and then you can go back to your usual gimmick vehicles. Nero fiddles while Rome burns.

I have to say, I'm not a big fan of the "Retro" designs. I can appreciate and oldy as much as the next guy, but the past is the past, why not leave it that way?

And the worst part is the "Retro" interiors, like in the current Mustang. Sure, make the body old school, but how about a MODERN interior. Have you taken a close look at the gauges...horrid. Yet the GT500 is it?, has normal gauges.

On a side note- When I was a kid (think 1993- I was 10), there was a 1967 Camaro parked in front of this detached garage (it was a large lot- the house also had a double) by a house down my street. It was faded red with gray primer spots- though the body looked straight. The house was owned by a widowed OLD lady.

I've always been a car nut (subscribing to R&T when I was 12 and reading every article- I recall my first issue had the Ford GT90 concept car on the cover) From doing a paper route for years and working all summer when I was 16, I had saved up $5,200 for my first car. I was in auto shop at high school and thought man, I should buy that old Camaro and fix it up. So by this time it's 1999, the car has been sitting for at least 6-7 years.

I finally thought of a game plan to buy the car from her at a fair price. I walked up to her door, knocked and introduced myself as a neighbor from up the street.
"I noticed that old Camaro has been sitting over there for six years or so, would you be interested in selling it?"
"NO, it's my sons car. He's going to fix it up as soon as he gets enough money."
And that was about it. Oh, and her son was this 30+ year old guy that rode a bike 70% of the time and had a $500 junker car. I was like WTF. I was already sourcing parts, asked my shop teacher if that could be my long term project, etc.

Oh well, I ended up buying a mint (60k), red, 1992 Eclipse GSX. It had the 6-bolt block/4-bolt rear end. I remember when "The Fast and The Furious" came out lol, I was molesting so many Honda's and Acura's that it got boring (there were no turbo'ed DOHC Vtec's in my city).

A note on hybrid cars from a Remediation Engineer

I understand the desire for a low e vehicle, but we really need to look at compelte lifecycle costs of vehicles. Current-gen hybrids using battery packs that are made out of the country beause manufacturers cant meet pollution reduction requirements here in the states (note this is called impact transfer in our business), AND the impact is much higher in pH issues than the savings of hydrocarbon generation of a FFV or even a puregas car!

Also, disposal costs and impacts for all batteries is very high due to battery dispsosal regulations here in the states as well

Something else to think about...

Hybrids are PR vehicles only. They're worse than a Hummer for the environment for the reasons mentioned above:

http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?NewsID=188

And the Camaro is ****in' awesome.

The problem is the industry contimues to market behind the curve of tecnology. There are nanotect batteries that will last the life of the car and perform at a much higher stadard. The real reason is big oil does not want to lose money and for some reason the auto industry would prefer to drag there feet. It is all related to whom makes the dollar so until this attitude changes we are stuck.

Hybrids? I really think people are misinformed about hybrids. First off they actually are not that fuel efficient--only on paper. They cost about 2 dollars per mile more to operate than a regular gasoline auto and I am surprised that no one has brought up the issues of battery and electric moter life in a cold climate such as Chicago, Detroit, Minniapollis areas. PLus battery disposal! Hybrids are not the answer--yet. They are still years off as being a viable alternative to pure gasoline powered cars. Leave it to stupid liberal people trying to make a name for themselves to hawk the hybrid as an answer to CO2 pollution, it just aint so.

Most "children" are not retro people like their older more sophisticated counterparts. Auto manufatures should not and do not design cars for kids. They can't afford them. So anyone under 20 who says they should not build retro should keep their mouth shut because they are not the majority of auto buyers in this US market. I absoutly love the lines of the 09 Camaro and hope they d build it. I refuse to buy cars like the Scion, Toyota, Nissan becasue they look like they were built with a teenagers mothers credit card, and a JC whitney catalog. Huge aluminum wings belong on aeroplanes, not small cars whos top speed is a little over 80mph. Stupid kids...

"There are nanotect batteries that will last the life of the car ..." So why are computer manufacturers having so many problems with .... BATTERIES? Expanding, warping exploding, failing batteries.

Read the article on battery manufacturing and the true cost of hybrids. It's all PR and alot of people are falling for it hook, line and sinker.

Where's my Mr Fusion?

A Camaro just *might* sell. But it would have to be well designed, with the type of features demanded by **today's** consumers.

a) It would have to have a pleasant, and well-built, interior. Both Ford and Chrysler are in the doldrums because all too many shoppers are turned off by a nice exterior...with an utterly forgettable, cheap interior. VW got the A chassis selling again by making the interior a major focus of upscaling. American car companies need better materials and human interface designs.

b) It should have a (very) high performance *V6*, not a V8 - unless the V8 is strictly an option and the high-performance V6 is still available. In today's market with $3/gallon gas, a low sales volume (coupes will always be slower sellers) car with a V8 is probably a death knell. A DOHC V6, or even a turbo DOHC V6, will probably sell well. Technology, or at least the illusion of it, can sell just as well as V8 muscle - with better gas mileage to boot. Same thing with an automatic transmission - you'd better have at least a 5 speed SelectShift if you want to play in the market - don't put in a 4 speed (a typical GM move) and expect the car to sell.

c) Do not make the roofline too low. Low rooflines look great, but with the average height of Americans growing it becomes a limiting sales factor (even though I am "normal" height)

d) RWD must have traction control at minimum, an **affordable** AWD package at maximum.

In other words...make it "retro" but in exterior looks ONLY. The rest of the package must be up-to-date and competitive!

I don't know, lets call agent Mouldner and Scully?

It just looks like a failed design "concept" of a "concept" car maybe even the Z28...

RE: Saganhill

I'm assuming your comment on people under 20 are not who cars are marketed to is in response to Noya's dislike of the retro style. If you had read his complete post you would've read that in 1999 he was 16 which by my math would make him 24 now. That places him in a prime demo to be looking at an '09 model. Maybe people who have the math skills of an idiot should keep their moths shut. Nothing brings out the flammer in me more than someone being an idiot and an di*k at the same time.

THEY JUST PLAYING WITH THE MINDS OF CHILDREN WHO WANT TO BE JUST LIKE DADDY, SIMPLE MINDED HUMANS ARE THEIR BEST AND ONLY CUSTOMERS.

--"not small cars whos top speed is a little over 80mph."

I love people like this. Are they stopping in 3rd gear or what? I have an '01 Civic that only has a 1.7L engine and about 120hp. (the only modification is an air intake)

I've done 135mph and still not hit red-line in 5th. I'm not pretending that its a quick car in the scheme of things...but theres no need to go insulting it.

System48;

Maybe the illiteracy you face in your every day life has become your norm. You obviously do not know satire when you see it. I won't even go into the idiots who use words like "flamer" and other internet speak. You should look into the mirror and see the true idiot. You are that "idiot" standard.

Before anyone jumps on the sandbox preaching about hybrids we need to remember marketing. The Camaro is a low volume 'halo' vehicle. It's there to pull people into the showrooms, not turn a profit. The Mustang is the exact same thing for Ford. As well as the Challenger will be for Chrysler.

Fuel efficiency is a huge deal for automakers true enough. And GM will be addressing it (see the article about them buying a stake in an italian diesel manufacturer). But that does not mean that there isn't room in the line up for cars like this.

I read this post a while back and was curious what the mystery car was that was zoomed in on in the bottom photos. Obviously it's easy to tell now what car it is. It's the '08 Malibu that was announced/revealed/started hype machine of in the recent months.

It's just kinda neat to come back to this posting and have that feeling of, "So that was the car that was hiding in the background."

I THINK IF THEY BRING THE CAMARO BACK THEY SHOULD ALSO MAKE THE MOTOR A CARBURATED MOTOR. SOME OF THE BEST AMERICAN MUSCLE CARS ARE CARBURATED. IF YOU WANT TO BRING BACK HISTORY DO IT RIGHT

I THINK IF THEY BRING THE CAMARO BACK THEY SHOULD ALSO MAKE THE MOTOR A CARBURATED MOTOR. SOME OF THE BEST AMERICAN MUSCLE CARS ARE CARBURATED. IF YOU WANT TO BRING BACK HISTORY DO IT RIGHT

Carburetors? Are you for real? Fuel Injection gives us way more power, twice the gas mileage, and (most importantly) a tenth of the repairs/tweaking compared to carburetors. And if you'll remember back to the 60s and 70s, all the REALLY high performance engines had fuel injection. It was machanical but still injection nonetheless. It's always been the better choice.

Plus, a carbureted engine woudn't pass an emissions test in ANY state. Face it, they're dead. . .forever. . .with good reason.

well the thing to remember about hybrids and "disposing of batteries" is that, on toyotas at least, if you have one of the BIG batteries your more likly to sell the car then to even mess with getting it replaced! The battery is $3656.73 in my area thats retail! there is only one charger in the state that will charge it and its $10K the batteries in these hybrid cars rarly go out and if they do then your not doing something right.

as far as THE TOPIC ON HAND,

i could be any car, Chevelle (lord i hope not from the way that it looks) Nova, a lot of thing but maybe JUST MAYBE its something completly NEW!

I love the looks of the new Camaro. People obviously wont be buying this car for gas mileage. Maybe to look cool and go fast doing it. And maybe to have a little fun and remember the old muscle car days. Iam sure it will suck in snow...might buy one!!

I don't think fuel mileage will be as big an issue as the doomsday-sayers are thinking. I think they need to be reminded of the Corvette, which posts nearly 30mpg on the highway. That's out of a 400+ hp V-8. While most of that is surely due to the 'Vettes slippery surface (the Camaro doesn't look nearly as such,) the Camaro should still get into the mid 20mpg range in HWY mileage.

i think all this talk about hybrids is just stupid yeah they may be good for the enviornment but i think what a lot of automotive makers should just take all the new cars there making and have them on something like vegitable oil and still make them where they can go fast

i think all this talk about hybrids is just stupid yeah they may be good for the enviornment but i think what a lot of automotive makers should just take all the new cars there making and have them on something like vegitable oil and still make them where they can go fast

the whole thinng about power and gas mialage and carburators is retarded. givin fuel injection is better the extra 1-3 mpg difference does not make it mutch more fuel efecient if you get a 30 year chevy it probably gets about 15-20 mpg and the same with a new one the sticker might say 25mpg highway but the average is closer to 20 and the power is because of the engine not the fuel system which still isnt a big difference. and again im not sayin a carb is better because i totaly agree with not haveing to crank the motor for 5 secs killing your starter on a cold morning cuz your choke isnt right but dont diss it just because it's out of date and if you dont know what your talkin about dont just make things up (and btw i drive a 78 chevy el camino so im not just makeing up numbers)

I think that the new camaro is great for what it is trying to accomplish. American car companies were beginning to die and bringing back that old spirit which kindered the flame to begin with, may return those who have gone away from the traditional muscle car. BTW, I think that the Fast and Furious movie completely decreased the intelligence of drivers. People were already bad enough drivers to begin with, now i have to worry about some 18 year old boy who owns a 89 honda civic that his grandma gave him running me off the road because he put an exaust pipe on it and some neon lights and instantly became Speed Racer. Wake up people, unless you have a 120,000 dollars to spend on a tuner car and the aftermarket parts, your not Fast just Furious.

whats the price ranges on the 09 camaro i am inturested in getting one

Looks like a chevy vega comeback in the pic above.

i am so tired of people raging on carburated cars. i drive an 87 camaro with a carburated v8 and it gets 15-20 any given day and I'm making over 400 horses so don't tell me a v8 is a bad selling point. I love my carburetor but its just not practice in this day in age on a production car. i drive this car 24-7 and i live in the middle of south Dakota winters can be bad but if you can drive its not a bid deal with rear wheel drive and no traction control. Just because you can press on the gas and brakes doesn't mean you can drive. hybrids are a joke and so are tuners. i love the new camaro.