[jlagman]

It was an "itch I had to scratch" and thought it was a good idea to get "out of the way" while I still had the freedom and lack of responsibility to do so.

I think that ever since I started liking cars, I was a muscle car guy at heart. But being young(er), living in Canada and having high insurance rates at the time due to age and location, it seemed ludicrous to me to own a two vehicles, one of which would only be enjoyed half the year. So as such, in my late teens, early twenties, I gravitated towards the rally-inspired, AWD, turbo 4 cylinder cars.

This past year, just entering my thirties and having much more disposable income coupled with a lack of financial responsibilities, I realized that while the rally-style cars were a great compromise of performance and practicality, I still found myself purchasing a beater truck for hunting, which I continued to use in the winter. The much lower insurance rates of my new home province and my financial situation just basically made me think to myself, "why not?"

And now, here I am.

[DFW1LE]

I have not owned performance oriented cars for many years, but was a street racer as a kid and a road racer as an adult. So what got me interested in a Camaro? Well it was three things:
1) ZL1 video from the Ring, and the 1LE's performance on the Lightning Lap comparison test.
2) Retro 60s looks, back in the day always wanted a 69 Z28, but couldn't buy one because I was in the service, while my friend bought a 427 Nickey Camaro which made me jealous. Also, missed my Motion Performance 67 SS396 Chevelle.
3) Test drove a 2SS, and loved the feel of the car.

I've been a chevy guy since a kid, but once GM killed the power, except for a 75 Camaro, stayed away for many years until the C5 Vette came out. Since that Vette, have owned several other foreign performance cars, but nothing since around 2007. Suspect I may be one of the oldest guys on this forum at 67yo.

[biggjonn]

My story goes like this ... I had to lay my earlier project (Clone Buick GN"X") aside for marriage .. kids .. new job .. new life (things kinda fell like dominoes). I was up for a new car and the Mrs asked what I wanted to do. I wanted to pick up where I left off but she pointed out the fact that I really didn't have the time nor space for all of that .. so why not buy something (not really my kinda thing ... but) I started looking at my various options and came across the 2015 Camaro. While at the dealer, I got word about the new 2016 which had a new body, more HP, sexier look . . . . so I waited.

While waiting, I got wind of the 2017 being an Anniversary car so I waited to see that one . . . . . AND FELL IN LOVE!!! I got on the list and made the order for mine. I kept in touch with my dealer then got a phone call in July saying that it touched down at GEORGE MATICK CHEVROLET in Detroit, MI. and it was still in receiving. I asked for pix of the new baby ... then was told all was good and it was ready for pick up. I then considered having my new baby shipped from the dealership to my home and when I was told how long it would approximately take, I then decided to travel the last week of July and I took a short flight to Detroit from Maryland. The dealerships in this area would not have this vehicle until October / November and I couldn't wait. I didn't want to wait, so I drove it home from Detroit. The car is very comfortable ... I am a 6'4" 300lb big guy and had no issues or problems.

The first week of August I was the only "FIFTY" in the state of Maryland. I have driven it to various places and cruise-ins and people absolutely love it. Pictures are nice but doesn't do the car any real justice (seriously).

Now I'm Hooked!!!!

[slick3]

I had a 2014 S197 5.0, fun car, easy to mod and tons of stuff availible.

Interior was lackluster, even with the Recaros, I did so many modifications to that car and turned it in to an absolute blast to drive. Full boltons, wheels, tires, full suspension etc.

I over did it though, it rode terrible, sqeeked and rattled because of all the bushings and frankly the ass end of that car always scared me. It never felt planted and was always a bit sketchy (it got better with some of the stuff I did to it + 305's)

I wanted to take the car to the race track as the ultimate goal and carve it up but just never had that feeling of a drivers car... Yes they are fast, yes they can hang with the best if they are setup correctly but I just never FELT like the car was right.

I sold it with intentions to pick up a 1LE. Something that was ready to rock from the factory. Customize it a little to make it my own and maybe upgrade the exhaust to get the sound and tone I wanted. Go pick up a helmet and drive the hell out of it.

Modding is fun, but the factory is just so much better at make cars that are fast AND livable.

Last note, it was Black, never again.

[SRSTAdam21]

I grew up in a Ford Family. Daddy worked for a Ford Dealership and restored mustangs. His pride and joy was a 1969 Mach 1 428 Cobra Jet that won so many damned trophies he ran out of room. He also had the 1970 with the 351 in it in beautiful white with black stripe. He is a meticulous restorer and has been paid quite a bit for his work, which he stopped doing several years back.

Granddaddy had more Fords than I could count, most recently a fully redone 1971 Mach 1 and his 2010 GT (how's that for an 89 year old who goes dancing 3 times a week?).

My first car was a 1986 Ford Ranger. My favorite car was my 2004 GT. I grew up cheering for Elliott and Davey Allison. David Pearson is the greatest driver to touch a stock car steering wheel, and my favorite race team off all time was the Wood Brothers. One of my first sentences as a child was "Have you driven a Ford lately?" from some old Ford commercials. I have been a loyalists for 33 years, even after dad moved on to a Chevy dealer several years back.

I was dead set on a new 2017 Mustang. But to be fair I wanted to rate it against something. I drove a Challenger Scat Pack. Beautiful car in and out. It was too big though, and they had 2017's on the lot with several 2015's brand new still sitting there. I drove the Stang. Awesome car. Beautiful car. Refined. Almost Euro.

Dad asked me to come down to the dealership before I bought anything. I had been dogging him about Chevy. He said he could get me a good deal. He is dad and I'm not a teen anymore so I listened.

Love at first sight my friends. Wearing my #21 Wood Bros hat I climbed into a 2017 SS and felt that spine tingling joy I felt the first time I strapped into a racecar. The body lines, the power (holy torque batman).

All that rambling to say, I bought the Camaro because it changed my mind. In this class, it is hands down the best.

[Bosse'sBoss]

I missed my 5th gen Camaro ZL1. The Corvette C7 Z51 gave me to many headaches it was very unreliable. The 6th gen Camaro is the best Camaro ever with that nimble handling of the Alpha platform, lightweight and very close in performance to my previous amazing ZL1.

[Sorange]

My 2018 ZLE is my first ever Camaro. I've had Corvettes since I turned 18 and I stuck with that because I enjoyed the car itself and loved the Corvette community and culture. I've had 2 C3's. and LT4 C4, C5 Coupe and my last one was a 650whp C5Z06. With the C5's I got into HPDE's and I've had the opportunity to get in the deriver seat on track of a C7 ZR1 a couple times. The grip and handling that thing had over my C5 was amazing. So i stated looking at C7Z's and doing research. I quickly read over and over about the overheating issues they had. That led me to the ZLE. Lap times are within a couple seconds of each other and the ZLE did not have reports of overheating. And I also think the ZLE is a much more aggressive looking car. The track focus build of the ZLE really captured my attention and I couldn't get it out of my mind. and it's cheaper! That's what lead me here and I don't have a single regret in the direction I chose!

[s346k]

alpha platform

[Seniorrs]

Bought my 16 focus st new,sold it with 94k miles. Got new RS v6 manual January 1 for 29,400 out the door.Focus 27 mpg premium, Camaro 25 mpg reg. Fuel cost about equal.Very happy with Camaro.

[LT4Greg]

I too sometimes miss my 2010 2SS LS3 that was modded but when I get in my 2017 ZL1 that all changes. I had a 2016 2SS after the 2010 that I traded in on the 2017. The 2017 is by far the best Camaro I have owned since I bought my first one, a new 1982 Z28!

[Fraxum]

[QUOTE=
So, what inspired you to get a Camaro..
[/QUOTE]

Interesting Post.

As for me I had owned Mustangs and Camaros but then wound up with a '97 WS6 TA. I loved that thing but if you spent a good deal of time in it, it was a releif to park it.

At the time the Coyote just came out and so a GT was my front runner. But no dealer would give me more than $3K for the TA. Until a Chevy dealer offered me $6K for the TA. And they happened to have a black M6 loaded SS. I drove it and was sold. I think they thought the TA was an LS1 car. I did not argue.

It did not handle all that well but I fixed that with BMR parts. Driving that car around in those days you were a rock star. Once I realized the LS3 and later the LT1 were both better overall street motors along with a superior chassis, I was hooked on Camaros. My LT1 is my sixth Camaro in 10 years. Bury me in this one. GM built it just for me.

[Fraxum]

Originally Posted by Richard0nee

My friends buddy did the same, trading his 2013 ZL1 M6 for a 6th Gen SS M6. He mentioned that the power was very comparable with a slight edge to the ZL1.. from a roll the ZL1 has the advantage. No regrets from a performance standpoint and with a lighter weight, interior, etc.. he didn't miss the 5th Gen ZL1 at all lol

Interestingly My 2013 SS 1LE M6 (with a CAI and LTs, no tune), my 2015 stock M6 ZL1, and my 2016 M6 SS stock all ran 12.3s at Atco. As I remember the ZL1 made the best MPH. My LT1 is faster than all of those Camaros.

As much as I liked my 5th gens the 6th gen is my favorite car ever.

[Arizona_Droptop]

For me, I always drove basic economy cars. I actually only really started to get into cars when Teslas came out. I started to read every article about electric cars, and really got into all the different developments in the technology associated with them. However, I started to get turned off by some of the trends that were occurring in that space. Automated driving, no gauge cluster, one touch screen for everything. Electric vehicles were not just a revolution in the powertrain, but also a revolution in ancillary technology that seemed to obsolete the driver. And the more I read about this, and how electric cars were obviously the future, I felt like I needed to experience one last ICE car that was a true drivers car. Enter me getting into muscle cars.

I figured I needed to get one final ICE car that ticked all the boxes. Lots of horsepower, an amazing exhaust note, needed to be a stick shift, and ideally a convertible.

So, the Camaro 2SS became the manifestation of this dream. I needed the complete, ideal driving experience and this ticked all the boxes. What can be better from a driver's experience then a NA V8, stick shift, convertible, dual mode exhaust, mag ride, and a heads up display? Nothing really. That's as good as it gets. So I got a camaro about 6 weeks ago and my god, what an incredible machine. I cannot imagine a vehicle that tickles as many senses as this car does.

[Seniorrs]

Originally Posted by Arizona_Droptop

For me, I always drove basic economy cars. I actually only really started to get into cars when Teslas came out. I started to read every article about electric cars, and really got into all the different developments in the technology associated with them. However, I started to get turned off by some of the trends that were occurring in that space. Automated driving, no gauge cluster, one touch screen for everything. Electric vehicles were not just a revolution in the powertrain, but also a revolution in ancillary technology that seemed to obsolete the driver. And the more I read about this, and how electric cars were obviously the future, I felt like I needed to experience one last ICE car that was a true drivers car. Enter me getting into muscle cars.

I figured I needed to get one final ICE car that ticked all the boxes. Lots of horsepower, an amazing exhaust note, needed to be a stick shift, and ideally a convertible.

So, the Camaro 2SS became the manifestation of this dream. I needed the complete, ideal driving experience and this ticked all the boxes. What can be better from a driver's experience then a NA V8, stick shift, convertible, dual mode exhaust, mag ride, and a heads up display? Nothing really. That's as good as it gets. So I got a camaro about 6 weeks ago and my god, what an incredible machine. I cannot imagine a vehicle that tickles as many senses as this car does.

Smart fellow!