The third-generation Chevrolet Camaro was a badass looking ride back in 1982, and it has a certain retro appeal about it that has carried through to the present day. However, there’s always room for improvement, right? Well, YouTube channel The Sketch Monkey thought it was something worth playing with, despite the host’s professed love for the Europe-meets-America design of the car. His goal was to preserve the overall shape of the third-gen Camaro while bringing the car into the modern day and age.
With Photoshop fired up, it’s time to get going – and The Sketch Monkey recorded the entire process in this video, available below. The host starts with the front end, which has changed considerably in nearly 40 years of the automobile. The third-gen has a NASCAR-inspired front clip with minimal radiator and grille openings, so opening that area up is the first design choice. He places a grille opening between the headlights that is distinctly cribbed from a contemporary 2019 Camaro. Add in the obligatory fanged look to the bumper cover and a smoother hood profile, and that’s the front end design figured out.
Of course, the front end is just one element to a car’s design, and the side profile of the 1982 Chevrolet Camaro lacks the distinct, crisp body lines that one would see on a new car, particularly a modern-day Chevrolet sports car.
The same idea follows along through the doors and quarter panel, which on the third-gen Camaro are all broad, relatively flat panels with little distinction other than the molded fender flare over the wheel openings. A modern muscle car, by comparison, would tuck in down low, near the side skirt, and then flare out at the quarter panel, giving the car much more pronounced hips.
The overall effect is just cool. It looks almost like a revisionist take on the Knight Rider, which was based on the Camaro’s cousin, the Pontiac Trans Am. Our only gripe on this excellent “car makeover” is that we don’t get to see what would change on the rear end of the 1982 Camaro… but maybe time.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Camaro news, Chevrolet news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Ehhh!
Agree, Sco–, err, C8.R.
As for Jake, we’ll have to agree to disagree.
The Camaro, like a lot of Chevy and Ford vehicles from that era, was known as a “bottom breather” and much of the air used to cool the engine, etc. was pulled from ground level, or beneath the car. It was partly for style, partly for aero. It helped that cars weren’t run nearly as hot back then, either, and that prominent grilles were no longer in vogue.
You could actually tell cars apart by looking at more than a car’s headlights then. In fact, all but a few sports cars had “hidden” or pop-up headlights. And the blue light phase didn’t come around until the late 1990s.
A 16″ wheel was actually big. I was surprised when I got next to my dream car back then, a Lamborghini Countach and found that it only had 15 inch wheels. Granted, they were super wide. But by that token, so were the hot Camaro and Firebird’s. Good rubber was not cheap!
As for this guy’s enlarged wheels, did he scale the car up to accommodate them (that would be cheesy), or did he just lose all room for the radiator, bracing, etc?
What this guy has done doesn’t look modern. It looks stupid. And, quite honestly, very UN-professional.
You might look at a photo of the Gen3 Cararo now and think, meh, but they look in great person. I would be afraid to look at this guy’s creation in person.
That is of course largely my opinion. You’re free to feel otherwise.
I completely agree. This rendering is lazy.
On another a related note, I wish GM had used the 1970 Camaro as the inspiration for the 6th gen’s exterior design.
This effort demonstrates someone who lacks creativity as re-imagination would be to strip off all the sheetmetal from the Camaro then build a new design so the end product looks different from the starting point; the guy in Florida who got caught selling a replica of a Bugatti Veyron which started life as a Mercury Cougar demonstrated skill and talent.
Unworthy of internet bandwidth!
This “modern” version looks like crap.
Hope the 4th Grader that did this gets some design coaching.
Ugly swine !!!
Butt ugly!!
No…………………just……………no.
He managed to remove all Camaro cues and made it look like a Dodge.
That’s it, I couldn’t put my finger on it. It’s an old 80’s “dodge daytona”
Looks like an 86 Monte Carlo now. WTF.
Sorry, but completely fugly.