Fifth-Generation Chevrolet Camaro

Text expanded from the September 2001 article
An American performance icon is about to die. GM loyalists and musclecar aficionados are nervously watching their calendars, crossing off the days until the final death knell is rung for the current Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird in 2002. Enthusiasts have begun actively bench-racing their dream concoctions for the fifth-generation cars against the all-new 2004 Ford Mustang, hopeful there will be a fire-breathing product to once again engage in the decades-long street and strip rivalry.

The General's been mum about the future. Truth is that, as of this writing, the corporation does not have an approved production plan for one of its most storied brands. But there is encouraging, non-official activity inside GM. We've tapped our industry insiders for an early look of what could be the next great performance legend. While officials would not talk "on the record," our sources helped paint a vivid picture of the various production scenarios.

The natural starting point, and the question that has fueled a hundred online bulletin board discussions, is will there be a fifth-generation Camaro? "We'd be absolutely crazy to let the Camaro name die," explained a well-placed General Motors source. "But unlike Ford with the Thunderbird of a few years ago, we just don't have a new Camaro ready to slam into the breech."

Thus a GM engineer summed up the current situation for the Camaro badge as the company drops the axe on the Ste. Therese, Canada, production facility next year. When Ford's uncompromising, tough-guy president and CEO, Jac Nassar, whacked the moribund T-Bird a few years ago, he knew that a terrific roadster based on the rear-drive DEW98 platform used for the Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type sedans was waiting in the wings. That is not the case here. There is little chance we could see a replacement hit the streets before the 2005 model year, after the Corvette C6 debuts.

Everybody knows the factory contract ends in 2002, so why not rush development on a new Camaro? Because domestic-coupe sales have been in a steep slide for some time. As evidence, we submit DaimlerChrysler's all-new Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring coupes, which have done a face plant in the marketplace with incentives and low-interest financing bandages on sagging sales. The days supply of Stratus stood at 237 in February. For the Sebring it was worse at 281 days. (The industry likes its inventory supply at about 60 days.) Camaro stood at a similarly tepid 203. Even Mercury's edgy Cougar was at 146. Interestingly, the Mustang stood at a more reasonable 84. Of course, coupes tend to be a season-dependent purchase that favors the warmer months. But obviously, all is not well in two-door land.

Our inside sources say that the future Camaro has not even reached the earliest stages of the GM development concept-initiation, or "bubble-up," process. At present, a tiny team of "enthusiast" internals are trying to make a business case for continuing the Camaro, while others are covertly developing a next-gen product. But at this time, virtually every mechanical, styling, and assembly-site detail of the car remains in flux.