[6sigma]

Originally Posted by random155

I'm curious about what made you buy your camaro? My story is: I'm a car enthusiast, always have been always will be. My family loves cars and we do a lot of our own work on them. Grew up with a 68 GT350 in the family, 69 Mach 1, 68 Z28, among other vehicles. So here I am, 38 years old with wife and 2 young kids. Loving life, but would really like a "fun" car. I have one leased vehicle and one paid off truck. I can afford another car payment but every time I get close to closing a deal, I back out because I feel selfish for spending this much money on myself. I feel like I will regret the purchase down the road. I currently have a small loan for a pool I put in the for the family 2 years ago, but other than that and a mortgage thats all my debt. So what made you get your camaro? Daily driver, weekend fun, any other? Let me know, Im actually very interested to hear your story.

Like you, I've always been an enthusiast. I've usually had some kind of toy car, sometimes a DD, and sometimes a toy only car. My kids are teenagers now, and I got the Camaro (V6 manual) which is my son's first car and also a fun car for us to work on together.

I've always thought that a fun car is good for the experiences it can provide. Whether it is used for road trips, clubs, track or drag racing, project car, show car, whatever floats your boat if it is something you can do with family there is benefit from it.

I'm actually considering trading my DD truck for something more fun, although less practical

[DaveC113]

Originally Posted by boosedep3

ChildhoodMuscle, what are your thoughts of the SS compared to the Evo X. I had an Evo X on ohlins and that car was amazing, miss that car and how it handled. I sold that car to try something else and now have an STI, really kind of disappointed with the handling and performance compared to the Evo. Been thinking about throwing Ohlins on the STI but have recently stumbled across a 2018 1ss 1LE and have been thinking about making the switch to the Camaro.

I had a '16 STi. It's amazing on snow and dirt, but the AWD system sucks down the gas and it's pretty slow and understeers on pavement compared to modern cars. It also doesn't take cargo very well, as in weight badly effects power, fuel economy and handling. The engine is a ticking time bomb and unless you don't mind throwing away the warranty and running E85 all the time I'd definitely sell it.

No ragrets selling it for the SS 1LE... It doesn't need to be modified right off the showroom floor like the STi. 150 more hp and about the same fuel economy, in fact a lot better on the highway. You can achieve close to published 0-60 times without severely abusing the car. Handling is night and day better, it's a chassis designed for big power vs an economy car chassis with some bracing. Overall, I enjoy driving it a lot more vs the STi.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by Zboy136

My car is a tribute car, even though I was always a Mustang guy, my brother loved Camaros. After he past away I wanted to do something that I know he would like, and something that would make me feel closer to him. So I got the 1LE, and have enjoyed every second I have had with it. I entered it into the last car show I took my brother and got 1st place last April, had it modified at HPA because I know how much he liked what I had done to my previous cars.


Thats also where I got my name on here, as it was his email address, because he loved camaro z28's.

God bless your heart, Sir.

[PoorMansCamaro]

I bought mine as a Happy Divorce Day gift to myself.

[detamble13]

I always wanted something fun to drive. My Dad is a mechanic and at car shows he would always talk about the cars he used to have. There was also the story about having saved up to buy a C3 Vette but begrudgingly spent that money on his wedding. Growing up I always thought "we" were close to getting a Vette, or a Chevy II because he had one of those. Never happened.
When it was my turn to save up and buy a car it had to be more than just an appliance.

[Cake's Z]

Originally Posted by DaveC113

I had a '16 STi. It's amazing on snow and dirt, but the AWD system sucks down the gas and it's pretty slow and understeers on pavement compared to modern cars. It also doesn't take cargo very well, as in weight badly effects power, fuel economy and handling. The engine is a ticking time bomb and unless you don't mind throwing away the warranty and running E85 all the time I'd definitely sell it.

No ragrets selling it for the SS 1LE... It doesn't need to be modified right off the showroom floor like the STi. 150 more hp and about the same fuel economy, in fact a lot better on the highway. You can achieve close to published 0-60 times without severely abusing the car. Handling is night and day better, it's a chassis designed for big power vs an economy car chassis with some bracing. Overall, I enjoy driving it a lot more vs the STi.

Same boat here! Just traded my 14 WRX hatchback for an 18 ZL1. Loved the Subaru but was always worried about rod bearings an ringlands.... the ZL1 is on another level, handling is amazing and tons of power.


Got the Zl1 to replace my 4th gen Z28 that my mother helped me purchase when I was a kid.

[pyroguy]

My story starts with going to car shows with my dad and sister as a kid. I always knew about classic cars and which ones I thought were cool and how to tell the difference with some years of certain types. For the longest time I was determined to buy a '59 or '60 Impala. Gotta love those big fin cars!!

Well going to high school I loved the late 4th gen Trans Am's especially with the WS6 package. I dreamed of owning one and almost bought one around '05, a '98 or '99 WS6 SLP 6 speed car. If I could have afforded the payments and insurance my '84 Caprice Classic would have been kicked to the curb in a heartbeat.

Fast forward to '12. My wife and I are deciding on what car we want to get. It's between an Aqua Blue Metallic Camaro or a Pontiac G8. Believe it or not we bought the G8. We thought in a few years we might be ready for kids and so the 4 door muscle car would be fun for me and practical for her. We both loved that car. I had fun playing around with some people and doughnuts on Christmas Eve in a snow covered parking lot. She had fun going to work one day and some kids in a Jetta or something like that wouldn't let her back over so she looked at them as they tried to egg her on and she said "yeah right" and punched it leaving them with their jaws on the floorboards and confused as to what happened.

Here's where the story takes a sad turn. March 20, 2013 my wife is driving home from work around 6:00 pm, this is a Wednesday. She sees enough to know the driver coming at her isn't quite right. She gets hit by this drunk driver who is just under the legal limit an hour or so after the accident when they finally are able to test her B.A.C. The insurance people quit counting the damage at $20k. If it wasn't for some divine intervention my wife would not be here today. The inside door panel on her car was perfectly intact, not moved one bit where the door behind her you could see about 4-5 inches of ground between the door and her.



After the wreck we went looking all around for another G8, again because we loved that car. Not a one was anywhere near as nice as the one we had just lost. They all had been beaten up and kind of trashed. The ones that weren't beaten up were way overpriced. So in a bit of frustration I searched for an Aqua Blue Metallic Camaro and found one within about 10 minutes from us. My wife said that she wasn't going to be ready for kids for a while after the wreck and that she wanted to have fun living since she had been in such a traumatic accident.

A week or two later and we brought home our Camaro.



We've enjoyed it and had some frustrating times with it too, almost exclusively with other morons on the road. The car has been incredible and I'm glad to still have it today. It is a car that I will pass on to my kids one day, God willing. She goes in for some winter mods in a couple weeks and I couldn't be happier.



One day I'll add another Camaro to the stable. A Fifty Anniversary edition would be nice. I have another boy on the way now so one Camaro doesn't split two ways very easily.

[Cgocifer]

Why? For fun. Chose the SS 1LE for bang for the buck. Drive it maybe once a week during nice weather periods. I've always had at least one fun car or motorcycle in addition to the daily drivers. Gear head.

However, I kinda regret it. I barely drive it and the depreciation is horrible. In retrospect I should have bought a used one or a decent rat rod or hot rod for a fraction of the cost. I've lost so much $ over the years on depreciated fun cars, customs, and etc that I could have paid off my house already. But, the car bug wins every time; the curse of being a gear head yet not wealthy because if I was, it wouldn't matter and I would have a massive collection of cars with zero guilt. Lol

Go with your gut, invest the extra cash and retire early. When the kids are gone and the house is paid off, get whatever car or cars you want!! It will feel better. My guess is that once that initial high from that new Camaro smell wears off and you realize that you dont really need the toy, you'll regret it. ;-)

[SteevK]

Why did you buy your Camaro?

A combination of related factors: 8/9/17 I went to my doctor's office and collapsed. I'm told he saved my life from perforated ulcer. 67 days later - after 6 week coma - I checked myself out of hospital, and my 2008 G37 wouldn't start (I didn't know , and nobody told me, how long I had been away)

I had it towed - less than a mile - to my local mech shop, where he charged the battery and re-synched the windows. Meanwhile I went back into hosp, on advice from my neighbor - she's a retired ER doc - for another 9 days. From then on, for 7 months I had battery probs, when he finally replaced the battery (I bought it from him ~10 months before it was drained)

I had been following a near perfect (for me) 2013 G37xS - a rare combo - especially one with adaptive cruise ctl and body-color spoiler, but I waited too long and it was sold. I was gonna put a Stillen SC on it - guys on MyG37.com cautioned against FI with RWD, and how Infiniti AWD doesn't kick in until rear tires are spinning - perfect for racing! But, once I checked into the Stillen cost & Inst, downtime, car rental, etc. didn't look so good a deal.

Also started shopping Camaro and Mustang. Challenger was out - too big, sloppy handling, so many variants, each with its own scoops, stripes, blackouts. I've never owned a ford (or a MoPar) After 3 1967 Olds 442s, 1982 Z/28, 1985&87 Iroc-Zs, 1986 Buick GN, I drove Japanese cars - 4 AWD turbo Eclipses (OK, third was a Talon), 2003 G35, 2008 G37 for 28 years, I was yearning for American V8 muscle.

The 455/455 of the Camaro was about the same as Stillen SC on a stock VQ37, but Camaro has this out of the box, and will hold me until warranty is gone, so I can mod.

So, after near-death at 63, I guess YOLO...

[CamaroBody]

the best color available,
the engine,
black accents,
quad exhaust with modes,
bose audio,
heated steering wheel,
cooled seats,
hud,
24 color interior lighting,
apple car play,
blind spot monitoring,
cross detection,
does not have a horse logo,
wanted a gen 4 and gen 5,
built a blue camaro model as a kid,




.

[Emoto]

I guess the story starts a long time ago when I was about 6. My cousin was in the navy and he bought a used 1962 Corvette convertible, black over red with the 350hp(?) 327 and a 4-speed. He would visit my parents on weekends sometimes and he's take me a for a ride. This was the first car I went 100 mph in. I LOVED it. It was the coolest car ever, to a 6-year-old. I started reading everything I could about cars, and Corvettes in particular, which at that age mostly meant magazines.

Looked like this, but usually had a hard top on it.


The next year, when I was 7, he visited one weekend, and when my parents were not around, he asked me if I wanted to learn to drive. Of course I did! So, we hopped into the Corvette and drove down to a large office park. Unlike today, it being the weekend, the place was a ghost town. So, we changed places and I got behind the wheel. I had not driven anything before, but had read all about how to do it, and had watched how other people drive. So, after a small amount of instruction from him about how to do it, he had me put it in first and start moving. To my surprise, I took off smoothly without any bucking or stalling and began to drive around the office park roads. He coached me on smooth braking and shifting and whatnot. I thought it was just the best thing I had ever done. At no time did I do anything dangerous or frightening, nor did I lose control in any way. I probably didn't go over 40 mph, but it was still super cool, and has been one of my most cherished memories for my whole life. I don't know how he knew he could trust me - a seven year old - not to wrap his precious car around a pole, but he did, and I did fine.

Fast forward. All through school I never really had any spare $, so a nice car was not in the cards. I was more interested in camping, hiking, and all things outdoors than anything else. Then I got into motorcycles (ironically because they were fast, but I couldn't afford a fast car) and have had motorcycles continuously for well over 40 years. My cars were all cheap beaters, as I hopped from one kind of job to another and never really earned a lot of $ so had little to spare.

Eventually, I stumbled into IT and found steady employment and better pay that gradually increased over time as I advanced and I bought my first nice car in 1992, a Nissan Pathfinder. An SUV before everyone had SUVs. I needed reliable all weather transportation and that was it.

More time passed and I passed the age of 60. The older generation of my family died off. Funerals were the most common family event. Same with my girlfriend's family. My own mortality began to seem real. Those kinds of things make you pick up your head and look around and take stock of your situation. I realized, much to my surprise, that at this point, I could actually afford a fast car if I wanted one, and that if I didn't get one now, when would I get one?

So, in 2015/16 I started researching performance vehicles. It had to be new. I know that economically speaking that is unwise, but I wanted the whole experience and wanted the car to be mine from the start, and properly broken in, etc. Still having a soft spot in my heart for Corvettes, I researched them and found that the C7 was a pretty amazing car, and pretty darn pricey if new. Back around 1980, when I was only able to afford rice a beans a lot, and I needed a car, someone had given me a 1969 Camaro with the ato and 6-cylinder engine. The car was a roach. It had been in a multi car accident and repaired crudely. The front was still caved in, some body panels were from a '67, so didn't fit right, etc., but it ran ok. I drove it for several years and liked it a lot. So, I began to look at Camaros. I was aware of the 5th generation, but they looked too bulky and didn't quite do it for me. Then the 6th gen came out. Wow! Better (to my eye) styling, lots of power, and excellent handling. Hmm.

So, I took a test drive and was hooked. I wanted 2SS with the mag ride and fancy exhaust. Of course, being extremely frugal, I looked at my available resources and made a decision about what I wanted to pay for such a car, and proceeded to try to buy one in the spring of 2016 for about 16% off of MSRP. None of the "fair deal" prices on any of the car web site that allege to show what people were actually paying were anywhere near that low. But, I persisted, and visited, emailed, and called dealerships all over, mostly in MA. I visited I don't know how many shops in MA and proceeded to twist up their salespeople as hard as I could, without success. They told me things like "nobody can sell you one that cheap!" and acted insulted, LOL.

Eventually, I found a salesman who said yes. I had to spend a LOT of time with him and various managers, but it was the end of the month and they needed the sale to hit their numbers, so... I got REALLY close to my price. Only about $200 off. This was acceptable to me. Done. Took delivery in April of 2016. LOVE the car, which is tucked safely away in a heated garage until spring. I cannot get over the power and handling. Just amazing and so much fun! I still love Corvettes and may still own one some day, but the Camaro is the most performance for the money you can get, or at least seems that way to me.

[ChildhoodMuscle]

Originally Posted by boosedep3

ChildhoodMuscle, what are your thoughts of the SS compared to the Evo X. I had an Evo X on ohlins and that car was amazing, miss that car and how it handled. I sold that car to try something else and now have an STI, really kind of disappointed with the handling and performance compared to the Evo. Been thinking about throwing Ohlins on the STI but have recently stumbled across a 2018 1ss 1LE and have been thinking about making the switch to the Camaro.

I think the SS is a chassis with much better potential than the Evo. I have no doubt that the 1LE is heads & shoulders above my moded Evo. I definitely believe my 2SS with the 1LE suspension kit will out-handle the Evo.The Evo is front heavy so there's only so much you can do for balance. And for a daily, the mag ride on the SS is a great combination of comfort & handling both at the same time (in track mode). My Evo feels raw, and though I used to daily it, it's uncomfortable compared to the SS with mag tide.

There is something wonderful about having the torque low down with a turbo engine though... I do enjoy that when I drive the Evo.

[18ss376]

Because I've always liked '69 Camaro's best looking car ever made & for drag racing.

[mdhopt36]

Living in TN at the time.
Bought an F100 with a 300-Inline 6 which was a gutless wonder.
(sorry guys, that's a FORD)
With valve train trouble 3 times in ~35k miles, I pulled the plug.

Got wind of a 400 V8. which had the same displacement/bore that the 300 inline 6 had.
Found out the 400 would bolt up to the same bell-housing, and work with the same clutch.
No - brainer.

A weekend, and a night's loss of sleep, had the 400 bolted up to a steel bell housing to a pickup I bought -NEW- for $2800 to a 3-speed-on- the-tree-

The SWB stake-side truck with that engine would accelerate faster than any THP patrol on the carpet with the Chrysler Diplomats at the time.
Would walk right up on their a$$. Pronto.
*****
Lesson-
Anything that outpulled with my 400 CID would put THP to shame.
-PERIOD-
At that time, end of story.

Was fun while it lasted......
Those were the days.