The 2019 Chevrolet Camaro has a storied history, but the brand hasn’t tapped into it too much. Meanwhile, rival Dodge continues to exploit the Challenger’s heritage and plans for a dual-snorkel hood for the 2019 Challenger Hellcat model.
That had us wondering, should Chevrolet begin introducing retro or throwback packages for the Camaro? For us here at GM Authority, the answer is a resounding “Yes.”
Chevrolet has introduced a handful of special editions in recent years for the fifth- and sixth-generation Camaro, but none of them evoke yesteryear. In the muscle car/pony car segment, buyers bank on the rich history of nameplates. Camaro means something to most buyers, and retro-inspired packages would certainly amplify its appeal.
Furthermore, Chevrolet has been quite focused on building the Camaro’s track-star reputation. That’s not a bad thing, but it certainly leaves a void for customers looking for old-school thrills and light-to-light performance. We’ve spoken of this divide multiple times in the past.
As for the Challenger Hellcat’s new hood, it’s meant to recall high-performance cars from the 1960s and early 1970s. Dodge also said in the announcement that the hood “provides maximum air intake” to the Hellcat’s supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8. With the new hood, the pseudo-headlight intake will go away as well.
We’re not sure what Chevrolet could bring back to create some sort of retro package for the Camaro, but we know there are plenty of choices. Even heritage-inspired badges may be enough to stir up buyers. What say you? Vote in our poll and talk to us below.
Comments
T-tops… nothing more heritage than that.
Yeah, then folks can have the real throwback moment of having them stolen every couple of months!
Only the ones dumb enough to not lock them.
Take if from me those locks were worthless. Thieves would smash out the side window and be off with the hatches in 2 minutes or less. My dad had a 79 Corvette with the regular fiberglass hatches, nobody bothered those. After he was t-boned at an intersection in that car he got an 81 with the glass hatches and despite any sort of lock had 3 sets of them stolen off of it.
You are seriously comparing tech from the late 70’s to today??? I had an ‘01 Firebird and there was NO WAY anyone was taking those tops if they were locked. The plastic handle would snap before they would ever give up the ghost.
“As for the Challenger Hellcat’s new hood, it’s meant to recall high-performance cars from the 1960s and early 1970s.”
…but instead looks like the hood on a ’69 Trans Am…
(Loyal GM customer-Owner of both ’17 Cruze RS/5th Gen Camaro SS Convertible)
Well, the ’19 is a refresh year and GM has decided to fug it up with the hideous “split-grill-type-thingy” and bug-eyed taillights, so any type of throwback isn’t happening anytime soon.
Look, the 6th Gen has been a disaster from the get-go. I’ll say it again: The 6th Gen is nothing more than an evolution of the 5th Gen, instead of being a completely new vehicle. Place the 5th/6th side-by-side and the resemblance is uncanny. The 2nd Gen was a complete departure from the 1st Gen. The 3rd Gen was a complete departure from the 2nd…
The 7th Gen can’t come soon enough in order to get the Camaro back on track.
I agree with everything you said besides the 6th gen being a disaster. I think the true disaster is this new refresh thats coming.
The 6th Gen’s horrendous sales figures speak for themselves.
The six gen Camaro is a completely new car. You just cannot tell by looking at it.
Here is the reality of the situation here.
Cars and Coupes are dying and they need to find a new way to lead on in life.
The retro thing is limited to 50 and older people in North America and no where else. To live on these cars need to find a new way to appeal to a global market.
Living in the past is fun for a while but at one point you need to move on.
Ford has already started to move to sell the Mustang to a global market as a lower cost GT like coupe.
The Camaro is moving to go over seas but they need to also address the RHD.
Dodge at this point is struggling to retain their car. They have worked six ways to Sunday to make it relevant but it too will run out of time.
All these cars need to sell at least 100,000 to make it reasonable to keep them around. North America can no longer support that and is putting them all at risk.
Ford has already pulled cars from this market accept the Mustang. The Challenger is on borrowed time and the many ideas Dodge has pitched has not moved along. There is a risk they may just pull the plug. The Camaro needs to find new buyers.
it is not just styling or this or that personal complaint it is the fact this segment is dying in North America.
It is time Chevy needs to stop taking the easy way out and take the risk of going all new. Yes it is a risk but as it is now Retro is a path to slow death.
They need to find a car that is relevant globally and one that breaks new ground. Lets face it no new cars no new classic. Imagine if GM has stuck to the 54 Chevy and did not risk the 55 Model? Or stayed with the Corvair and never went to the Camaro.
You can add all the HP and fake scoops you like but unless you reinvent these cars they will die. Don’t think they won’t just look at history as all three have died at some point. No the Mustang II was not a real Mustang.
It is time we all open our minds and let them try to find a way to save this segment. It will take a global effort to do so and that will mean some of the things we treasured in the past may have to go in some cases. But where some things end new things can come to us.
I lover old performance cars and make my living with them. But it is time to let them evolve or you will lose them.
I find it funny that todays cars are so much better than the past cars but yet some want to force them to look like the crude and slower past models. Let them have their own identity.
The Buick Avista show car could have been a new Camaro if they did not have so many people stuck in the past. If they had let go of the need to make it look old the Avista could have provided a new design and a new Classic Camaro. One that not only would have done better here but one globally would have been embraced.
In a way the ones who are killing these cars are the same people who never want them to grow up and cry for old designs, old scoops and old t tops.
Time to let go or you will kill what you love.
yes, true.
whatever GM/Chevy need to do to the Camaro to keep it going.
Scott3, I hear so many of these people nitpicking the 2019 refresh on the 6th Gen Camaro. it’s ridiculous, the Camaro was already killed off in 2002.
as long as it is RWD and a Coupe it’s cool with me.
this segment is dying.
Many miss the hard business side of this and if GM or any MFG can not find a way to make more money or larger sales of their coupes they will be replaced by something that will provide a greater return on investment.
A 70,000 yearly volume of a coupe could easily be replaced by a CUV that sells 200.000 plus yearly volume at a higher ATP.
This market is tough and those who fail to make a larger profit on investment will fail.
The largest MFG in the world were generally built on totally boring vehicles and sadly that is in play.
Toyota has built mostly automobiles for the last 30 years that are basically appliances.(minus maybe the Supra and Celica), but they dominate in sales.
People complaining about the Camaro’s minor flaws (and they are minor as I own a ’16 SS) do not know the numbers when it comes to what these Crossover vehicles are selling.
It’s telling when the Ford Fusion sold over 200,000 vehicles a year and yet Ford Co. is still gonna phase it out along with the other Sedans.
yeah, thats why Chrysler keeps going retro with their performance cars, seems to work for them and I wouldn’t trade my camaro for a hellfire or anything else they build…
“The Camaro is moving to go over seas but they need to also address the RHD.”
There is a place in Australia called Elizabeth that is quite capable of dealing with the RHD issue. It has a plant available with a history of producing low volume, high quality V8 performance cars in RHD that have also been produced in LHD and exported to countries like North America.
Yes Rob conversion are being done on the HSV models now. But the added cost makes it even more expensive and does nothing for the other RHD markets.
Cadillac needs RHD too so we should see it added at the platform update.
Conversions can add 10,000 dollars or in many cases much more.
In short, yes. In the absence of Pontiac, I would love to see GM do a lot with the Camaro, a hot small block Z/28 V8 5.7l v8, a COPO 427, YENKO-427, and a a Baldwin Motion Camaro along with a Berlinetta turbo-4 and more retro colors on the cars. Honestly I think it would be cool if GM took the Camaro’s LT1 6.2L up to a 6.4L 396ci V8 w/ 495hp and equal torque. I mean why not? So think about it, you would have
Camaro Berlinetta: Buick level comfort, seating, laminate glass, quiet interior, 275HP I-4 turbo w/ ATS all-wheel drive
Camaro 1LE LT 2.0 Turbo boosted to 320hp, heavy duty brakes, current LT 1LE suspension
Camaro RS: 410hp 3.6L Turbo V6, 1LE package should equal the SS 1LE package suspension system, Recaro, alcantara, etc.
Camaro SS-396: 495hp/495tq w/ 1LE equipment standard, 4″ single piece rear lip spoiler, Alpine stereo system, Comfortable and supportive Recaro seats, dual mode factory option Borla catback exhaust system,
Camaro Z/28: Supercharged 5.7L V8 530hp, DSSV suspension, Z06 Carbon brakes, well appointed interior w/ Recaro seats, lightweight in compared to standard SS V8 Camaro, more aggressive, flared fenders, side splitters, front lip rear diffuser, 5″ 3PC rear lip spoiler, more mid-length header design (tri-y), tri-mode exhaust (dual mode mufflers & valve activated unrestricted side exit)
Camaro Yenko-427: 7.0L 560hp N/A with graphics, appearance package, Yenko Interior package, Alpine stereo, comfortable interior, full options, Brembo brakes, magnetic ride, Borla Stinger factory exhaust system, Z/28 style headers, chrome 20×9.5″ wheel and tire package,
Camaro COPO 427: 560HP 7.0L v8, Z/28 body, lightweight, street legal race car (like demon but with all four seats standard) AM/FM w/ single speaker
ZL1: current ZL1 w/ 720hp. The end.
Along with those car models, we need the retro colors back as well. A Baldwin Motion SS appearance package would be pretty cool as well.
This post is all about small volume, specialised vehicles (even in the US) that won’t save Camaros or their ilk in the long term.
See what FoMoCo is doing with the Mustang in international markets outside the US. They realise that V8 pony coupes have a death sentence but they are trying to stall this by making it a more relevant 2-door sport car with other engine options – an international car in other words.
You do realize everything you state here adds to the price and would just make things more expensive and low volume.
You need to sell more regular cars or find a way to do so not make it more complicated and expensive.
These limited cars were even limited back in the day as few people could afford them. Charge me too much and I just move to a grand sport with better resale.
The 2019 model year is the 50th anniversary of the ’69 Camaro so why not do a retro style model? Yes, we all know the Camaro was born in ’67 and this is where I believe Chevy has missed the boat because they could have done retro models of each year of production. They were all unique in their own body style AND powertrains.
My favorite for ’69 was the RS/SS package, cowl induction hood with the hideaway headlights and ducktail spoiler, not a wing and of course, a 396. So give me a modern version of that and not the God awful front bumper and lame wing. If GM did this they may actually be building future collectibles. A 396 would be a simple change to a 3.82 stroke crank and appropriate rods and pistons. As for a 427 COPO, we all know that could be done with updates of the LS7 to LT specs .
The problem here is like movies. The sequel generally is never as good as the original.
Like Smokey and the Bandit a remake would never work because of the timing and the people involved.
You can remake the best things in life but they always will be compared and pail.
Retro is a cool thing to a point but too often it becomes the easy way out for decision maker or styling staffs not talented enough to be original.m
GM has some of the best designers. Time to put them to work and show what they really can do.
Agreed. GM should have been the leader in moving into the 21st century with the Camaro. Instead they refined and sharpened an excellent design. In my opinion the 2016-18 is head and shoulders a better looking driving and performing car by far.
But it was definitely time for a major change to shake up the segment. I don’t even think GM should have looked at the 2cnd to 4th gen cars. They should have done a bottom up completely fresh exterior and interior on the new alpha chassis. A little heritage here and there would’ve been okay. But the overall theme should have been forward, not backward.
Knowing how fickle the market is, this would not have been a garuentee of explosive class leading sales. But it would have addressed at least one of the 6th gens main faults…being solidly obscured in the appearance of the 5th gens shadow.
Frankly all of the cars in the segment are borderline cartoon caricaturs of the legendary originals. Sure that may appeal to those who missed the glory days (although cars now are far better in every way…even in looks in many cases) I believe this retro stagnation of the pony cars has far more to do with design lazyness and fear of failure on the part of manufacturers.
One car proves my point. The Dodge Charger. It was reborn as a bulky, tall 4 door sedan, but somehow managed to get the basics right, and then evovled into a completely new and 21st century decendent of the original.
The Camaro needs to do the same (minus the extra doors of course).
And the Challenger proves your point even further. Gm needs to learn from this.
https://www.torquenews.com/106/dodge-challenger-beats-ford-mustang-chevrolet-camaro-february-sales
Hardly, the Challenger is the most Cartoony of the tree, and all around worse in every way from build quality, weight management, to handling Dynamics. A big motor and some stickers, while literally photocopying your not so greatest hits – remember, the original Challenger was no sales or performamce success either.
Don’t get me wrong, I like all three, but it’s time to jump into the 21st century with BOTH feet. Trying to recapture the past with copycat styling and engine and sticker jobs ain’t gonna cut it. At least GM and Ford are straddling the fence in that regard.
Dodge is just navel gazing. Fortunately for them, the tooling is paid for and it doesn’t hurt their bottom line to throw incentives at the Charger and Challenger as if they were giving em away.
“Hardly, the Challenger is the most Cartoony” Not sure what planet your on but I believe most here will agree that the Challenger is the LEAST cartoony of the three and the 2019 Camaro is the most. The Challenger is the most accurate to it’s original design. It’s not my choice but the sales report proves there’s a market for it and the Camaro is the most lacking of all three. Yes, Challenger has some great incentives and has it own issues as does the Mustang and yes, the Camaro. I’ll also point out that right now you can get the R/T with a 375hp 5.7l V8 and manual gearbox, delivered, after incentives for only $29.6K. Regardless of any flaws, there are people looking for entry level muscle, and that my friend, fits the bill. The SS is the most expensive entry level of all three with V8’s, the most controversial in design as proven here on these forums so people do notice, and it does affect sales. Oh, and I’m so sick and tired of seeing those damn Dodge commercials but they obviously work which is something Chevy, even with a superior product, has yet to learn.
It’s okay (he uses bath salts and said cartoony) while the challenger is the slowest of the three per price it offers something neither the crapstang or the camaro offer, versatility and comfort. Chevy is without argument the best of the three, the dodge is the most comfortable, most practical and most true to form. The mustang is a continuation for ford’s bullshit.
DeCode. good post.
I
Yep. Make the Avista Concept the next gen Camaro. Make it RHD/LHD so it can be marketed internationally. Make it with 4, 6 and 8-cylinder variants ~~ hell even make an electric version for the Green public.
If GM really want to be cutting edge make a hydrogen fuel cell version.
They really need to make a point that shows vision and stop the retro, acid, flashbacks. Anyone under 40 will appreciate some go-forward.
We’re in the 21st century which means if the air scoops add function like a cold-air induction system which improves engine overall performance with an increase in output and mileage then it’s something to definitely consider; but if it’s just for looks and even worst add weight then it’s out.
If the Subaru WRX can have a hood scoop, why not the Camaro? You can even get one with a wing spoiler, reminds me of a modern Charger Daytona/Superbird.
Because the WRX has a large intercooler.
Scoops today need to be functional or not at all. Cold air can come in from the grill as it does noe and wil much less drag on the car.
Even with a scoop that is functional most are worthless in real added performance due to drive by noise restrictions that killed them in the first place.
Now like on the Corvette the oil coolers did and brakes are cooled by them.
Wings on the street worthless but on track they can work with some cars.
If they can be tastefully done fine but not tacked on.
I looked at a 488 Ferrari Sunday and it showed what is right with the world if you do the hard work and really style it even with wind tunnel time.
Functional or not, the scoop and wing look good on the WRX. You want functional, buy a Camry, even the Camaro sometimes misses the “that’s cool” factor.
Looks good is subjective.
Generally if the car is styled properly you do not need to add on all the make up.
In the case of the Subaru it needs them to hide its true look.
Most cars a simple spoiler would due if the car is done right.
The segment is tanking. The Mustang and Camaro is down and the Dodge is up to just a bad number from where it was due to more marketing than Ford and Chevy.
This is a very sick segment and only a revamp in how they design, market and sell these cars can save it.
The only other way they live at lower volumes is get more expensive and no one wants to see this.
If we as buyers want to keep this segment we need to be more open to change like it or not.