Quote:
Originally Posted by Number 3
No criticism here, what you've done would be great for a refresh and I like the thought that went into it.
If you are looking to fix most of what's wrong with the Camaro styling though, you haven't changed the underlying car very much.
On the current car the belt line is toooooo high, the roof tooooooo slammed. The fenders are too high and the rear is toooooo ummm big. It's just hard to maneuver as those styling attributes make the car drive even bigger than it is.
Your proportions indicate no change in the size of the car, just a rework of the current car. And again, that looks great!
If you (like 99% of the rest of the people here on Camaro5) want a 3500 pound Camaro, it has to get smaller.
Love all of your details, I'd just like to see them applied to a car with the hoped for smaller proportions and less of the elements that have hindered the current design.
My predictions for the next Camaro is it will be a much more livable car. It will have better visibility, more refinement and be a much better car for the non V8 crowd. And then when you put the V8 in ........ magic will happen.
I believe that short of some of the technology and Full Time AWD the next Camaro will be much closer to the Audi A5/S5/RS5 except much lighter. The Audi A4 platform with AWD is pretty much a pig. My S4 weighs abut 400 pounds more than our new ATS.
I am very curious to see how far they are willing to go from the heritage styling. Look at the new Corvette and you have to look pretty deep to find much heritage there other than the configuration of the chassis/frame.
|
Thank you for your feedback; all good and valid points. The problem is the Camaro has such a strong identity and the 5th gen was such a roaring success, that trying to depart from the heritage styling puts you on real thin ice. I can do all kinds of things but does it look and feel like a Camaro? It's real easy to slide into the exotic euro car look, or the Japanese concept car look, or make it so futuristic it doesn't look like anything people would recognize as a Camaro. Just because there's a badge on it that says Camaro would people accept it? You saw the reaction to just the 2014 refresh elements.
The other problem is the side view. The roof and window line of the heritage style is so iconic it's extremely risky to abandon that.
Here's a different style that's more futuristic but keeps the side view identity.
I know if I could do a perspective drawing it would be much easier for people to visualize this look but so far that's eluded my drawing skills.
I could lower the belt line and raise the roof level as you suggested but then it starts to lose that hunkered down muscle look. I don't know the mechanical dimensions of the new platform so it's hard to guess at what the limitations are for proportions. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Camaro designers and the enormity of the task they're facing at doing a redesign. If they spend all the money to do a redesign, roll it out and the customer base starts blowing chunks, that's a hell of an expensive oops.
I really appreciate the constructive feedback; everyone's thoughts, reactions, ideas are welcome. I'll try to incorporate as much as I can with each revision.