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Hindsight Is 20/20: Chevrolet Teased 2019 Camaro With Updated Bumblebee For “Transformers”

Following the reveal of the 2019 Chevrolet Camaro this past Monday, it became apparent the brand clued the public into the car’s design direction years ago. We’re talking about Bumblebee, one of the star Autobots from the Transformers film series. Specifically, the 2017 Bumblebee Camaro bears a striking resemblance to the production car.

2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS Coupe exterior 001

Director for “Transformers: The Last Night,” Michael Bay, debuted the 2017 Bumblebee Camaro in 2016. The Autobot featured a reworked front fascia with, guess what, a blacked-out bar across the grille with a Chevrolet badge stuck in the middle. The look is nearly identical to the 2019 Camaro.

In fact, aside from the more radical front spoiler, the fascia is almost a mirror image. The headlights also wear similar LED accents lights, and extra LED lights found on Bumblebee’s front bumper also match the 2019 Chevy Camaro. Furthermore, the refreshed Camaro’s heat-extracting hood was also found in the 2017 Bumblebee Camaro.

The Transformers films have somewhat of a track record for depicting future GM vehicles. “Sideswipe,” another Transformer, debuted as a Corvette Stingray concept in 2009 and served as a precursor to the C7 Corvette Stingray.

Former GM Authority staff writer.

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Comments

  1. So the Bumblebee look is clearly a marketing negative amongst the cashed-up adults who can actually buy this thing. So what the hell did Welburn and now Simcoe get out of this? Is it the chance to hang out with Michael Bay and hopefully get “introduced” to Weinstein? Dang! Design us a freakn ADULTS Camaro, please!

    Reply
    1. You mean real people don’t want crappy looking cars made for horrific movies?

      Reply
  2. I was worried when that movie came out. But when the 2016 model was unveiled, I was relieved.

    I apparently still should have been worried.

    Reply
  3. The Transformers 2 Bumblebee was very positively received (the movie sucked, I know, but the car looked really good when they revealed it). So it makes sense that the 5th gen ZL1 was also seen as being a great looking car when it was revealed. There’s a video of Al O. speaking to a crowd of people around the 5th gen ZL1 and he says something along the lines of, “You see how the front end kind of looks like Bumblebee? We’ve had this design in mind for a while now.” (That’s not an exact quote)

    The Transformers 5 Bumblebee was VERY negatively received by pretty much everyone…and that opinion never changed. So…what did Chevy expect was going to happen here?

    Reply
  4. “Transformers: The Last Night,”. You got this wrong. The correct title is ““Transformers: The Last Knight,”

    Reply

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