Can you tell from my blog entries that I like the new Camaro? In my post “Perfect Pony?” I discussed good proportions for a modern ponycar. Chevy prefers the term “sports car” to avoid that lineage to the original Mustang, but the Camaro is no sports car.
At first glance, the published specs for the new Camaro had me thinking it was a bit too large. But a closer review showed that to be a hasty judgement. Purely out of curiosity, I decided to compare the 1969 Camaro — the designer’s inspiration for the new car — to the 2010 model. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the new Camaro is only modestly larger than its forbear, and, considering the gains in performance, safety and chassis sophistication, not much heavier.
I decided to share my comparison table with Super Chevy Editorial Director Jim Campisano, whom I had just seen at the annual IMPA Test Day in Pennsylvania. Jim decided to use it on his the Super Chevy web site and made me a bit of a “celebrity” by retelling some publishing history. A big shot editor today, Jim joined CSK Publishing (MuscleCars, Vette, High-Performance Pontiac, High-performance Mopar, Cars Illustrated and others) about a year after I departed for other endeavors. Here’s Jim’s take:
Comparing the new Camaro to the icon of the brand, the 69 Camaro – Super Chevy Magazine
Numbers junkies can also download my original chart. I make no claims of it being a definitive document. Camaro proportionsJK revised.doc
