Coupes de grace

Automotive Industries, Nov, 2001 by Ken Gross

"Chevy never should have cancelled the Camaro," an annoyed New York Chevrolet dealer tells me, after hearing the news that GM will cancel production of its F-cars next year. Besides offering Corvette performance for $20,000 less, Camaro was an icon for the Chevrolet brand for four decades. In its early years, the irresistible combination of V-8 performance and rear-wheel drive, wrapped in a sporty-coupe body and priced attractively, had buyers clamoring for Camaro (and its Pontiac sibling, Firebird).

Since 1967, Chevy's F-car has waged popular war on road and track with its arch nemesis and original inspiration, the Ford Mustang. But the F-cars struggled in recent years while Mustang enjoyed greater investment and a much more enthusiastic corporate focus. "Chevy never woke the car up," laments the dealer. "You could hardly tell a Z28 from an RS. It should have made the models more distinctive; that's what Ford did and that's why it's still selling Mustangs."

As sales volumes shrank, there wasn't much internal support to spend money on redesigns from volume-conscious top management But that wasn't the point with this car. Chevrolet's performance image has waned. Camaro is one model Chevy should keep, even if it means shifting production from St. Therese to perhaps Bowling Green.

Like full-sized pickups, V-8-powered "pony cars" are a distinctly North American phenomenon. But unlike trucks, their appeal wavered when fuel prices spiked and insurance rates for their accident-prone, youthful buyers shot through the roof. And since the mid-1970s, imported coupes with better-balanced performance and fuel efficiency, sometimes flashier styling and more affordable insurance have steadily captured the youth market.

Combined annual sales for the F-cars peaked at over 435,000 units way back in 1978. Since then, Ford has done more to evolve the Mustang and widen its audience, thus retaining a stronger image and market share. Sure, in the early 1990s GM updated the Z28 Camaro into a great car, but it then basically sat back as sales eroded. By decade's end, the substantially revamped Mustang offered performance packages that peaked with the outrageous 385 hp, 170-mph SVT Cobra R. It even included a new independent rear suspension -- a feature the F-cars needed but never received.

No matter that the top Camaro SS offers 320 hp and "only" costs about half the $54,000 Cobra R. Camaro sales continued to fade as Ford revived the Mustang yet again, this time with a special $27,000 Bullitt edition. In exclusive Dark Highland Green, it evokes the cam which Steve McQueen ran down a Dodge Charger through the hilly streets of San Francisco in one of Hollywood's most thrilling chase scenes. The Bullitt bristles with styling cues from the 1968 original--including a raucous exhaust note and trick 5-spoke wheels that ape the classic American Torque-Thrust Ds. Privately, Ford concedes it's added about $8,000 in content for just $3,695 in additional sticker revenue. It will only make 6,500 copies--and will sell every one of them, adding to the Mustang's luster.

By September's end, Mustang YTD unit sales were 126,161--down from 140,351 the previous year, but still not shabby. There will always be a place for well-executed, hot rear-drive V-S coupes and convertibles.

Naturally Chevrolet and Pontiac insist they'll keep the Camaro and Firebird nameplates for future considerations. It's hard to believe GM will bring out the limited-appeal Chevy SSR pickup and swap it for potential Camaro units, considering what a redesigned Camaro, sharing Corvette bits, could do. As far as insurance goes, maybe GM should have considered underwriting policies years ago for careful younger drivers. It's too late now. Over to you, Mr. Lutz.

KEN GROSS is an internationally known author and marketing consultant. He has been writing about automobiles and the auto industry for nearly 30 years.