[DC5]

I would eliminate the openings above the exhaust outlets---it's too reminiscent of the C5 Corvette. I also think the front end is too tame and needs to be more aggressive.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by DC5

I would eliminate the openings above the exhaust outlets---it's too reminiscent of the C5 Corvette. I also think the front end is too tame and needs to be more aggressive.

Is that a bad thing? I always liked the C5; thought it was a pretty good looking car. My only complaint (and this isn't specific to the C5) is that GM has this obsession with avoiding sharp edges. They always want to round down edges and corners so that they look like a padded vinyl couch. It looks cheap to me. It's like they don't want anyone to hurt themselves by looking at a sharp edge. I want to give it some edge; makes it look more distinctive.

I can make the line across that opening above the exhaust black which makes it look slightly less busy, but if I remove the opening completely, that leaves an awful lot of empty space from the middle of the bumper down.

Here's a couple of shots with the line, and with it blacked out:




When you say the front "needs to be more aggressive", what do you mean exactly? Have anything specific in mind?

I think the front looks pretty classy as-is:



What would you like to see changed?

[DC5]

Originally Posted by Doc

Is that a bad thing? I always liked the C5; thought it was a pretty good looking car. My only complaint (and this isn't specific to the C5) is that GM has this obsession with avoiding sharp edges. They always want to round down edges and corners so that they look like a padded vinyl couch. It looks cheap to me. It's like they don't want anyone to hurt themselves by looking at a sharp edge. I want to give it some edge; makes it look more distinctive.

I can make the line across that opening above the exhaust black which makes it look slightly less busy, but if I remove the opening completely, that leaves an awful lot of empty space from the middle of the bumper down.

Here's a couple of shots with the line, and with it blacked out:

Attachment 975902
Attachment 975903

When you say the front "needs to be more aggressive", what do you mean exactly? Have anything specific in mind?

I think the front looks pretty classy as-is:

Attachment 975905

What would you like to see changed?

As the former owner of a 2002 Corvette coupe, I have no complaints about the styling of the C5. In fact, I think it has aged quite gracefully. Your update to the rear fascia, as shown in the second rendering, looks much better.

Concerning the front-end styling of the vehicle, I'm not quite certain what it needs. Perhaps it could benefit from being lower and wider with a larger lower grille opening. The visual mass of the front end is too "light" (i.e., narrow and tall) compared to the rear end, which is visually "heavy" (i.e., wide and muscular---a good thing). Regardless of my opinion, your renderings continue to improve with each revision, so keep up the great work!

[Doc]

Originally Posted by DC5

As the former owner of a 2002 Corvette coupe, I have no complaints about the styling of the C5. In fact, I think it has aged quite gracefully. Your update to the rear fascia, as shown in the second rendering, looks much better.

Concerning the front-end styling of the vehicle, I'm not quite certain what it needs. Perhaps it could benefit from being lower and wider with a larger lower grille opening. The visual mass of the front end is too "light" (i.e., narrow and tall) compared to the rear end, which is visually "heavy" (i.e., wide and muscular---a good thing). Regardless of my opinion, your renderings continue to improve with each revision, so keep up the great work!

After your comment, I now realize what's been bugging me about the front. It's the ratio of the upper grill opening compared to the lower opening. The upper is bigger which visually throws it off-balance. Here's a corrected version. I made the upper opening shorter, and the lower taller, as well as reshaping the lower and rounding it out a bit. I think this has a better look to it.



Now to do something about the hood. I'm also entertaining the possibility of a heat extraction vent on the side behind the front tire. I think that would visually help give it more 'aggression'.

[DC5]

Looks great, Doc! Perhaps you could add some sculpting to the top of the front fascia, hood, and roof to make it a bit more aggressive.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by DC5

Looks great, Doc! Perhaps you could add some sculpting to the top of the front fascia, hood, and roof to make it a bit more aggressive.

Thankyou. Not sure what you mean by sculpting on top of the front fascia. As for the roof, personally I'm not a fan of funky roof styles; I prefer something clean and sleek like what you'd see on a jet aircraft.

As for the hood...

Here's the latest.

On the front I did the following: Removed the vertical piece of DRL in the brake duct so it would be more of a brake cooling duct. Put fog lights in the outer corners of the lower grille opening.

Hood has a cooling/intake piece on top. This was a style I vaguely remember from way back when, like back in the 60's or 70's. Not sure what it was on, but it was something like this which I think works for this style hood.

Put heat extractor vents on the sides of the car behind the front wheels.



And just for fun... I don't usually use dark colors like this (especially black) because the light room set I'm using doesn't provide the kind of environment where a dark color lets you see much. In an outside environment the darker colors will work well on this car.

[Doc]

Trying some different things with the front fascia, as well as the headlights and DRLs. Does this look a bit more aggressive?

[Doc]

At the request of a forum member, I flattened the roof a bit. I also stretched out the DRLs in the front so the angle would match the angle of the ends of the upper grille intake. I've also done small bits and pieces of detail work that I fix/adjust as I come across them.




I did some detail work on the rear diffuser area, as well as making the rear window more realistic as far as size and shape. When I get the interior done, window openings all around will reduce due to interior pieces being in place.

I'd like to come up with something for a rear spoiler, but I haven't figured out what I want to do yet.

[F1FTY]

could you lower the door handles below the belt line? it would be hard to open the doors in their current location.

[TMReich]

I read the forums, hoping to get a Camaro when my daughter graduates college. Your concept is one I would buy.

[samurai]

I used photoshop to rework the car a bit how I think it could be improved.


Changes:
- Changed frontend to a more classic muscle car look with 2nd gen inspired headlights
- Tried to make lines one the frontend between upper and lower grille more flowing

- Also 2nd gen inspired bulks next to the frontwheels on the bumper
- Extended the hood lines to the frontend
- Made the side more interesting by adding integrated sideskirt lines

Upper one is the original, lower one my version

[Norm Peterson]

I keep thinking 'Jaguar XKE' when I see how high up the bottom of the door is. That's a lot to be stepping over, and while I could probably still cope with that well enough I'm even more sure that my 5'-1 wife would refuse to.


Norm

[DC5]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

I keep thinking 'Jaguar XKE' when I see how high up the bottom of the door is. That's a lot to be stepping over, and while I could probably still cope with that well enough I'm even more sure that my 5'-1 wife would refuse to.


Norm

I had the same observation prior to reading your post. It definitely needs to be addressed.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by F1FTY

could you lower the door handles below the belt line? it would be hard to open the doors in their current location.

A reasonable request; done.

Originally Posted by TMReich

I read the forums, hoping to get a Camaro when my daughter graduates college. Your concept is one I would buy.

Thank you! This was exactly the target for this concept in the first place; a car that the 98% who didn't buy the Camaro as is, might be attracted to as a car for their high school/college student, or a third family vehicle.

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

I keep thinking 'Jaguar XKE' when I see how high up the bottom of the door is. That's a lot to be stepping over, and while I could probably still cope with that well enough I'm even more sure that my 5'-1 wife would refuse to.
Norm

Originally Posted by DC5

I had the same observation prior to reading your post. It definitely needs to be addressed.

Excellent points. Door handle location and bottom of door fixed!




As for Samurai's version, that's not so easy to do. The tops of the fenders going down to the headlights are quite curved, and cutting back into them won't produce a straight line above the headlight the way he drew it. It would require a complete rework of the entire top of the front half of the car which is way more work than I want to put in for that. Nice idea though.

Just so you know what I'm working with, here's a pic of the wire mesh. I hid the wheels and interior.



With regards to the lower part of the front, that's more doable. However if I straighten out the lower edge of the upper grille opening like he drew it, that starts to go back to a retro design, almost 5th gen-ish. Which isn't necessarily bad; that's the gen that sold the most, but I've been trying to do somethiing different enough to not be a retro design.

I'm making a conscious effort to not go too aggressive. As I stated above, this concept is supposed to be more friendly towards the 98% of the market that are not Camaro owners. If GM could capture just 10% of that group, that would add thousands of car sales a month which would go a long ways towards keeping the Camaro alive and in production. Side skirts and such could always be an aftermarket add-on, but wouldn't be a standard item.

Ideally I can come up with something that's in the middle; aggressive and edgy enough to appeal to the enthusiast crowd that they can then modify, but still conservative enough to not put off a parent from buying it as a third family car. No parent wants to buy a car for their kid that they feel looks menacing or dangerous, yet that's exactly the look the enthusiast crowd wants. Finding the middle point between the two is not an easy task.

Everyone's observations and constructive feedback are more than welcome however! Some of you are focusing on some very fine details, but that's good!