Generation Yuck

[djcfuzz]

3rd gen is my least fav, then 4th. I am older so I remember before the 3rd gens were released there was tons of hype and then I saw one and I remember that feeling of being very disappointed in the styling. Love the 1st gen and of course the 5th gen because it goes back to the 1st.

[Jazzzed]

Yes, I'm also down on the 4th gens. I had a Mitsubishi 3000GT at the time, and was laughing at the Camaros.

[Gearheaded]

The new ones. They look like a cross between a camaro and a Mitsubishi. Doesnt do it for me.

[JCunningham]

if i could have any Camaro it would be a 69 SS or a 70-73 SS RS split bumper then the 5th gen 3rd 6th any of the others id pass on.

[christianchevell]

You have to look at them in the historical context youngsters....LOL at the time the fourth gen looked killer compared to the econo-box squared off turd of a fox body mustang with bull dog nose eventually because their taste is MER.....

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...+pic&FORM=IGRE

Aero was in the fourth gen, its a split between some third and fourth, the fourth had nice treatments when it came to the firebird not so much to the Camaro which the SS was a SLP add on and for years z-28 meant stickers, and a sway bar...LOL ANYWAY:
I was seriously pissed that GM in their douchebaggery made the z-28 the ls7 and not the namesake a zl1, still think it was a big mistake but hey they want to re live when it was a DZ 302 destroked road course car for trans am etc..... well good for them, just wish they would make pull their head out with reusing nomenclatures; I know lets name a car a engine and not put that size engine in it........ Same kind of douchebaggery with Hollywood no original ideas just rehash old movies and criticize anything conservative.

Compare those ugly dog mustangs to these out at the same time......

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...bird&FORM=IGRE

Remember there is always something worse...

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...3-13&sp=-1&sk=

[49North1LE]

The highest "yuck factor" for me goes to the Gen4 (but I did dig what they did with the left over underrated LT4 engines in a limited run of 1997 30th Anniversary SS's). Then the "awkward" euro styled Gen 6, it's faster, lighter, smaller but is a confusing collection of retro & Euro new. Fav's go to Gen1 & Gen 5! With a don't mind at all some Gen 2's and I always thought the Gen3 looked muscular as a Z28, I just hated the plastic dash. But I can say the same for the current Gen6, Gen4/Gen3 and late cycle after 78 Gen2's. It seems Chevy just never choose to go the extra distance to produce a quality classier dash/gauge cluster. That's how I see it anyway. And yes I know others in the day too didn't hurt themselves giving the best to the market in terms of a dash layout, just need to look back at the 87-93 Fox Mustang dash.

[69 SS 350 5 Speed]

The First Gen will always be my favorite. I was in High School when I saw my first one at a dealership and knew that someday I would have one. My first Camaro was a co-owned 68 drag car that we built in 1974. I sold my half when Uncle Sam reassigned me to Germany.

My next Camaro was a 75 that I built into one bada** street machine. I got rid of the LO PO 350 and put in a built 402 and a Muncie M21 with a 4:10 12 bolt. It was fast, fast, fast. Kept it for 22 years and traded it for a 69 Corvette Roadster.

In 2000, I finally found the 69 SS that I had wanted since they were new. The wife really wanted one too so, we bought the car (which was in terrible shape) and I did a complete frame (sub frame) off build, which included a lot of sheet metal, wiring, engine, trans, rear, paint, interior, etc... I know where I was on 9/11. I was at the body shop reassembling the car after it was painted (We still have the 69).

In the meantime, I bought a 93 Z28, MN6 and drove it like I stole it. Sold it with 110,000 miles on it and it was still tight. Bought a 94 Z28 and drove it for a couple of years when we switched to Vettes. Besides the 69, we had 99 Convertible and still have a 13 Grand Sport convertible.

We recently jumped back to the wonderful world of Camaro and bought a 15 2SS RS Red Rock Metallic convertible for the wife because she doesn't like to drive the 6 speed Corvette around town.

The only Gen that I have not owned is a 3rd Gen. I was never too hooked on the styling with the exception of the IROC. However, I have friends that drag race them and they are a great platform.

If it says Camaro on it, I like it!!!

P.S. Not sold on Gen 6 yet.

[EmeryZ28]

I think a 4th gen Trans Am, especially a WS6 from 98-02 is one of the best looking vehicles EVER, with that said, the 4th Gen Camaro just couldn't hold a candle to it.

I love the other gens, 67-69 speaks for itself, so does the early 2nd gen. My father had a mint silver/blue 79 Z28 so I have a soft spot for those cars and my first car was an IROC. I was a kid in the late 80s early 90s and nothing was cooler than an IROC-Z! I have to say 4th gen is my least favorite by far, love my 5th Gen, it is for sale and I consider the 6th gen to be the same, appearance wise. It would be like splitting the 4th gen cars at 97/98 IMO

[Rocky1974]

To each his own, but I'll put my .02 worth in.

1st Gen, I like the 67 and 68, especially the RS versions, but I really love the 69, RS or not. 69 was the year that the Camaro came into it's own. A 69 RS-Z/28 with a Cowl Induction hood is about as good as it gets.

2nd Gen, I like the early and late 2nd Gens, but I don't have much love for the ones with the big aluminum battering ram bumpers in the middle. My favorite 2nd Gens are the 70-73 versions, especially the split-bumper RS models. All 2nd Gens HAVE to have a rear spoiler to be passable and I prefer the 70-81 tall 3 piece spoiler over the 70-71 short 1 piece spoiler, but even it looks 100% better than no spoiler. A 71-73 RS-Z/28 with front and rear spoilers is hard to beat.

3rd Gen, I like the 3rd gens, but only the Z/28 and IROC-Z models. I think these need the ground effects and rear spoilers to be passable.

4th Gen is my least favorite. I've been using the "Geo Storm on steroids" line since 1993 and I agree with the people who don't like the way the front fenders flare out to the mirrors. If I just HAD to have a 4th Gen Camaro, it would be a 98-02 SS.
Like a lot of other people on here, I really like the 4th Gen Firebirds, especially the 98-02 WS6 Ram-Air and the 99-02 Firehawk versions.

5th Gen, back to one of my favorite Gens, especially the SS and ZL1 versions. There's nothing wrong with the LT versions, but I think they need the RS package to really look good. And I prefer the 10-13 models over the 14-15 models.

6th Gen, I really like what all the testers have had to say about the performance characteristics of this Gen. As far as appearance, I prefer these over the 14-15 models, but not the 10-13 models.

[Orange skid mark]

To look at the 4th gens makes me sad.

[gajagfan]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

Of making evolutionary improvements on the 3rd gen.

I always liked the 3rd gen - it was head and shoulders above the Mustangs of the same years as far as cornering performance and handling were concerned. Probably the only reason I never had one was because I couldn't make it fit family needs as an 'only' car and we weren't well off enough to add it as a 'me' car.

I actually got to drive a 4th gen Firebird at autocross for a few runs. A really easy car to drive quickly, with no surprises. But I'd hate to have to do a plug change on it, or deal with the Opti-Spark.

I don't really have an "unliked" generation, though as a corner-carver I really don't care for the leaf-spring suspensions under the 1st gen. The 2nd gen being heavier seemed to cope better and a suspension parts aftermarket was starting to develop.


Norm

Did multiple plug changes on the on the '93 Z/28 as we were developing the first nitrous plate for the LT1 engines. Turned out the ignition system was too weak to jump the gap with the increased cylinder pressure from the additional N2O and fuel in the cumbustion chamber. Solution was to close the gap a bit, or use an MSD box. On that car yuo got some from the top, and some from the bottom. '01 WS6 change took about 7 hours. 4 that night doing the left bank and 3 the next morning doing the right bank. Thank god for YouTube videos! in either case, you nailed it.....IT SUCKED!

[Rocky1974]

Originally Posted by gajagfan

Did multiple plug changes on the on the '03 Z/28 as we were developing the first nitrous plate for the LT1 engines. Turned out the ignition system was too weak to jump the gap with the increased cylinder pressure from the additional N2O and fuel in the cumbustion chamber. Solution was to close the gap a bit, or use an MSD box. On that car yuo got some from the top, and some from the bottom. '01 WS6 change took about 7 hours. 4 that night doing the left bank and 3 the next morning doing the right bank. Thank god for YouTube videos! in either case, you nailed it.....IT SUCKED!

I'm assuming you mean 93 Z/28......

[gajagfan]

Originally Posted by Rocky1974

I'm assuming you mean 93 Z/28......

Ummmmmmm, yeah! My bad! Fixed it now!

[gringo]

Originally Posted by djcfuzz

3rd gen is my least fav, then 4th. I am older so I remember before the 3rd gens were released there was tons of hype and then I saw one and I remember that feeling of being very disappointed in the styling. Love the 1st gen and of course the 5th gen because it goes back to the 1st.

Disappointed in the styling? What were they supposed to look like then?

The 3rd gen fit exactly within the context of the early 1980's. They were leaner, sleeker, more aerodynamic, interior looked like a jet fighter/lear jet cockpit and they had a slight wedge shape in profile that everyone copied for decades to come. The 3rd gens were definitely a refreshing change by that point.

The 1st gens were actually a compromise. The designers had to use the taller X-body front cowl section from the Nova introduced a year later. They tried various styling tricks to make the car appear lower and sleeker than it actually was. It wasn't until the 2nd gen came along that they able to get that low cowl section they had originally wanted on the 1st gen.