GM-lausunto, Camaro&Firebirdin lopettamiselle

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Goodbye, Camaro and Firebird

Get ready to say farewell to the kings of muscle
April 16, 2001









BY TERRY JACKSON
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS



It's time to begin the wake for the Chevrolet
Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird.




Reports appear to confirm what has been a poorly
kept secret at General Motors for the past year:
The 2002 model year will be the last for the
Camaro and Firebird.




While GM spokesmen continue to say that no
decision had been made, the fact is that no work
is being done on a new version of the F-Body
platform.




F-Body is the internal designation for the
chassis used on both the Camaro and Firebird.
Only those two cars use that platform, which
hasn't been significantly changed since 1993.
Also, both cars are built at a Canadian plant
that has been slated for closure next year.




That leads to the inescapable conclusion that
while the Camaro and Firebird names may reappear
in the future on other, new vehicles, the days of
these front-engine, rear-wheel-drive muscle cars
are extremely limited.




The reason GM will cite -- whenever the company
makes its formal announcement -- for the end of
the Camaro and Firebird after runs of 35 years
will be a matter of simple sales arithmetic.




Only 42,131 Camaros and 31,013 Firebirds were
sold last year. Ford sold more than twice that
many Mustangs -- 173,676.




But the deeper question is why combined Camaro
and Firebird sales have been so abysmal.




Since performance is the historical appeal of all
these so-called pony cars -- the Mustang created
the genre when it debuted in April 1964 -- the
Camaro-Firebird demise is all the more puzzling.




In straight-line acceleration, all models of the
Camaro and Firebird are usually slightly faster
than corresponding Mustangs. Camaro-Firebird
handling also is usually similar to the Mustang,
though the Mustang's slightly smaller size makes
it feel more nimble.




Horsepower aside, the Camaro and Firebird have
not benefited from the ongoing development that
Ford has done on the Mustang. The Mustang has
also enjoyed icon status at Ford, while GM has
not spent a lot of money promoting its pony cars.




GM also hasn't spent a lot of attention on fit
and finish. Rattles are not uncommon on Camaros
and Firebirds, and for such large cars there's
not a lot of interior room.




Still, it's troubling that General Motors seems
intent on shedding brands and models that over
the years gave the corporation some much needed
cachet.




Oldsmobile is on the way to the scrap heap. The
Buick Riviera -- once the GM styling leader -- is
history. The Impala, a sedan with a long
performance history, is now a bland front-wheel-
driver. Gone too are Chevelles, GTOs and 4-4-2s.




When the Camaro and Firebird go out of
production, another once-valuable piece of GM
will be gone. Only the Corvette will remain as a
GM flagship performance car with a strong history.




The names Camaro and Firebird may come back
someday on different vehicles, but they won't
have quite the same patina as the cars that are
being phased out.




So Camaro and Firebird fans should adjust their
finances so they buy one over the next 18 months -
- and there certainly will be special farewell
models of both cars.




But come the 2003 model year, the F-Body era will
be over.

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