I'm drawing these by hand in Adobe Illustrator so it's purely by eye. The renderings you posted are done in a 3d program that can calculate angles, shape, surfaces, lighting and reflections so they look more real.

If by modern you mean extreme, then yes that's what you see there in those renderings. I'm not a fan of that kind of look myself but I know others are. Those kinds of designs tend to have exaggerated shapes and sizing which don't really lend themselves to practical use or manufacturing. It might look interesting at a show but you probably wouldn't want to drive around in something like that; especially as a daily driver.

I'm trying to come up with a design that's reasonably practical and capable of being produced in a manufacturing assembly plant. It's not going to be extreme looking but then I don't think the Camaro was ever that kind of style anyways so what I'm doing is more in line with what is generally accepted as the look of a Camaro.

I do appreciate everyone's participation, comments and efforts though! Here's an updated rendition of the perspective view but with some depth detail in the front cutouts.
Attachment 543198

If I could put this design in a 3d program and knew how to create this shape in it then you'd see MUCH better images of what this should look like.

Here's a version with long light bar running/turn lights in the front to echo the light bar theme of the fog/DRL lamps below. I also made the round headlights a touch bigger and moved them up slightly so the very top is under the hood line.
Attachment 543213

I know it's not traditional; the Camaro never used bar lamps like this but I kind of like it. Has a more "futurish" look.

I like the direction you're going in, however I'm curious...

Do you think future cars are going to have softened body lines or do you think manufacturer's will make body lines more angular and pronounced?

I tend to believe that a good cue to base your concept off of would be the Corvette.

C5:
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/aut...5-Corvette.jpg

C6:
http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-20...e-1280x960.jpg

C7:
http://www.autotribute.com/wp-conten...de-profile.jpg

You can see how the body lines progressed from soft curves to hard lines. I have a feeling the Camaro will follow suit, and you'll see many more details pop up in the 6th Gen Camaro's side profile than there currently are.

http://blog.al.com/engine-block/2009...%20profile.jpg

For instance, I could see the door handle going away completely and something similar to the Corvettes being introduced. I think the fender arch over the front wheel may be exaggerated a little more. And I can easily see the lines from both the front and rear fender arches being projected into the door. Just some ideas...

:thumbsup:

Attachment 543294

The trend is "extreme"; extreme shapes, exaggerated lines, jagged, slashy, pointed.... basically Japanese Anime seems to be the inspiration most designers are influenced by. Everybody is trying to do shapes that are "edgy". The problem with that is, if everybody is doing the same edgy looks, it doesn't look edgy anymore; it just looks trendy. And trendy quickly becomes dated.

In order to create product shapes that extend their appeal out over long periods of time you can't do too much trendy. The 1956-57 Chevy, and the 1967-69 Camaro...those cars to this day still turn heads on the road and still look good. If you took a look at cars that were about 50 years old in 1956 or 1967, you'd be looking at a 1906 or 1917 car. They were not "in fashion" in 56 or 67.

Looking at the C7 sideview you posted, the one thing about that design I DON'T like is that over-large, slash vent behind the front wheels. To me that looks gimmicky and out of place. I like that they took the rear fender line and let it glide down to the front bumper height on it's own. That effectively creates a separate visual wedge shape apart from the front fender line. Nice trick that works.

I am deliberately trying to avoid creating a 4 door Vette with the shapes I'm working with. Certain design/style elements are pretty solidly identified with certain cars; like the door handles on the Vette. I want to come up with designs that respect those kinds of things. The Corvette was always the wild child; it's able to get away with more dramatic shapes and details than say, a Camaro.

Looking at the side view of my design below the current 5th gen up above, you can see how far it actually departs from it. I'm right on the edge of it not looking like a Camaro anymore. The rear fender line extends much further towards the front and makes for a more continuous shape with the front fender. On the 5th gen the front shape stops at the rear edge of the door. The back of the car is a separate visual shape. On mine the entire body is one organic shape. The top of the windshield on mine is tilted farther back and the bottom of the windshield is farther forward. Overall mine is a more refined look, the way the 1970 was compared to the 1969 style it replaced.

You made great points though and I don't know what direction the designers are going in. Hopefully they avoid trendy gimmicks and go for a more timeless look.

I like the effort. I actually see a little ferrari in the design. I would like it more muscular without wrecking your clean design. Kudos!

I still think the hood scoop needs to come up more. It's in perfect semetry with the rest of the hood.

Okay I knew there was something wrong in the front with the perspective view and I figured out what it was so that's fixed now in this render. I also added some shading detail.
Attachment 543411

Based on some of your guy's feedback I've done a variation on the side view with a vent behind the front wheel and removed the side groove in the body. Not enough? Too much? No good?
Attachment 543403

I say no on the front side vent, it just does not flow with the design.

Another update with the wheels this time.
Attachment 543571

Have you considered raising that style line up from the middle of the door to the top of the front fender to emulate the 69 Camaro look a bit? That might reduce that '90's look I referred to and give the thought process more room to develop interesting what if's from as the line goes rearward. I also think the rear fender needs more "hump". You could dive that line back into the aforementioned line...just thinking out loud...

I agree, but time will tell which "trends" will just be a passing fad and which will become iconic and timeless.

The Vette images I posted were more to show the evolution of the design and sharper edges than to illustrate what I think should be carried over to the Camaro. The vent behind the front tire on the C7 would never make sense on a Camaro, but it makes total sense on the Corvette for two reasons; there's always been a vent there (at least for the past few generations) and this new Corvette is the "Stingray" and they somewhat resemble gills.

But if you compare your profile drawing to, say, a third gen:

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/stagi...rofile_Web.jpg

I can't help but feel that the rendering is regressing (minus the T-Tops) and not progressing. Does that make sense? :iono:

Okay I see what you're saying. I'll try both; moving the center line up and trail it off from the top of the front wheel well, and give the rear fender more height on the top and feed that line forward to the top of the front wheel well. That might be an interesting look.

Yes what you're saying makes sense and I do understand your point. However keep in mind that if I do a style that looks and feels like a Camaro, that's going to mean it carries forward styling hints from previous generations. I don't want to completely abandon the heritage and start doing something totally different from anything before. I guarantee if my design were made in the flesh and sitting next to that third gen, you'd immediately see how much sleeker, more refined and more powerful my design would look.

It's difficult to decide which style elements to pull from the past and yet do something that's new enough to look like it's new. After 55 years of low, swept and swoopy shapes from just about every car company on the planet it's pretty near impossible to do a design that doesn't in some way have a hint of something done before. When you're doing something based on a car with such an incredibly strong identity as a Camaro, that task is even more difficult.

I'll keep working on it. I can eliminate the side groove and make the difference in the curves between the front and rear fenders more pronounced to help beef up the look. Right now it's sleek and aerodynamic; it's a blue-nose dolphin and people seem to want a great white shark.

Overall I appreciate all the work you put into it so you're giving constructive feedback instead of just being one of the trolls in the general discussion area saying they think the 2014 rear looks like a prelude, but IMHO these renderings are too 5th gen and not enough 6th gen.

yay or nay to this vent for front quarter? http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/...pseb0c66a7.jpg

Too high up but I can certainly move it up some; I'll give it a try.

Based on some of the feedback here's the latest. The one on top labelled "old" is the previous version I posted earlier. The one below it labelled "new" has quite a few revisions. I moved the centerpoint of the fender body line "waist" forward quite a bit. Lowered the front fender line. Made the rear fender beefier and moved that line a bit forward. Revised the side window lines including moving the break point at the bottom forward from above the door handle to about the middle of the door. The side groove is gone; the line you see there is just the body line.

The base of the windshield and the lower front edge of the side window was lowered; I left the side view mirror where it was originally so the gap you see underneath the mirror shows how much everything was lowered. Compare it to the "old" image.

Wheels and wheel wells are slightly smaller. The bottom "point" of the nose was moved back a bit and I raised the front of the lower front spoiler up slightly.

The back 3/4 of the side view has more of a wedge-look moving forward now.

Attachment 543686

Something like this?
Attachment 543689

Try loosing the gills. Then keep the vent top at the same position but make the bottom go lower and then extend the vent lines across the body.

This?
Attachment 543709

I don't hate it, but it just looks like an updated 5th gen. I really hope they make more changes than that, otherwise its not a new generation, just a refresh. I mean think about it, did the 2nd gen look anything like the 3rd? Not really. Sure they could be kinda similar, like the 1st-2nd gens, but they still made a LOT of changes, and even someone who doesn't know the car could tell the difference. Basically, I want even someone like my mother (whose idea of describing a type of car is "yellow") to be able to tell the difference between the 2. Just my opinion :noidea:

If you think of the 5th gen as the 1967, then the 2014 refresh is the 1968 version, and the 6th gen will be the new body style like the 1969 was compared to the 67 and 68. It wasn't until the 1970 model that they completely changed the look.

But I'm paying attention to everyone's reaction and comments. Considering there's almost 3,500 views but not that many people commenting, that tells me what I've shown hasn't sparked enough reaction for all those viewers to comment. It looks like people are wanting a revolution, not an evolution.

Back to the drawing board. :)

Ah varia niiice.

Actually you could add the gills starting from the top line of the vent and make them slimmer and longer. It might be too much but maybe not.

The Mustang redesign for 2015 is said to be revolutionary instead of evolutionary, so I personally would expect no different from GM for the 6th gen Camaro. But this is your design idea - go whichever direction you want. :lol:

I've put my opinion here quite a bit lol...I think what your doing is fun and maybe GM will take note of some of the opinions here. Of course, by now it may be getting a bit late in the design stage....who knows.

Anyways, I felt like the front was coming together nicely, but the side profile is still not doing it for me. I feel it has got to have a futuristic muscle feel. The shoulder lines look too soft to me. The current Camaro has a short swoop in the rear, and then from the door handle and up, a longer swoop. I wonder If that can't be exaggerated a bit more? Your design softens up on those swoops. If that's how you see the 6th gen, well then that's just fine. This is your creation after all so I have no problem with that but I want those defining lines.

I don't think everything has to be edgy these days, but I sure do like it (much of the time). I also feel the greenhouse is still too short...its shorter than the current car...at least it looks that way.

For me, I love the hard edges of the current Camaro and I'd like to see that carried into the next gen. From any angle, the way the sun, or whatever light source there is bounces and reflects off the body just really gives you something to look at.

I don't really lean one way or the other on a revolutionary, or evolutionary design.