"All in all, it appears that the production Camaro will retain more of the concept's flair than we thought, so kudos to GM for seeing it through." All in all, Autoblog is either deep in GM's pockets, completely bereft of taste or legally blind. Their spy pic demonstrates that the only thing more ghastly than the Camaro concept's interior is the production mule's interior. I mean, seriously, this has got to be the Pontiac Aztek of automotive interiors; a cabin so self-consciously designed yet so overwhelmingly cheap that I'm worried that this pic will turn TTAC readers to stone. Make that "stoned," and, as Frank remarked, it looks like a '69 Camaro on a bad acid trip. I love cars with stupid amounts of horsepower and serious exterior cool. But this… this makes me empathize with Oedipus Rex. In fact, one of our commentators recently remarked that he was waiting for the day when a member of the automotive press would boldly demand "WTF were they thinking?" Well, today's your lucky day. WTF were they thinking?
67 Comments on “New Camaro’s Interior is Hideous...”
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Same thoughts exactly. U-G-L-Y
That pic is for real? This must be a joke. Right? I hope? Not that I was going to buy one, but c’mon…
Here’s a crackpot conspiracy theory: Since Camaro lovers and ponycar enthusiasts are gonna want one anyway, and b/c the car isn’t mainstream, maybe GM sent their old “fugly” interior designers off to do the Camaro to distract them from ruining their strategically important interiors, like the Malibu.
Suddenly, it’s the 1960’s.
Yeah, that’s gotta be one of the worst one’s I can think of. A quadrant of engine gauges seem to be below the radio and in front of the shift lever, an unusual placement. Who’s idea was this?
From what we’ve seen of the new Dodge Challenger, it seems that Chrysler has the upper hand on styling in this match-up.
The only thing missing here is a 1000 Watt Kraco EQ dangling by speaker wires from underneath the dash.
That picture is some sort of mock up, the final production one can’t be that bad, can it?
This title is not strong enough. Problem is, I'm not sure a word exists to describe how truly terrible that interior is. WTF was GM thinking?? Which focus group approved THAT?
Please tell me their designers are blind or the bean counters designed it. If that is what the finished project looked like after I designed it I would most certainly gouge my eyes out so I couldn’t do that sort of damage to anything else. Christ that is going to get the trophy for ugliest dash ever. TTAC should send them a plaque.
N85523:
A quadrant of engine gauges seem to be below the radio and in front of the shift lever, an unusual placement. Who’s idea was this?
The round gauges in square holes and four smaller gauges under the dash are updated styling cues from the 1969 Camaro dash. Some “classic” designs should be allowed to die a quiet death.
Oh, come on this IS a pre-production interior! While not the best ( I dont think anyone of us thought it would be) design I can see that once it is cleaned up in real production trim it will not be so bad.
GAWD… That looks like it came from Woody Allen’s “Sleeper” school of design.
Unintentionally hilarious.
That picture makes my eyes hurt.
“The second thing we do, Let’s kill all the stylists”
-Shakspeare
Come on I thought TTAC was more insightful than Autoblog.
I’ll paraphrase what I commented on page three on AB. This is a prototype out testing. The quality of the interior is not going to reflect the production unit. You should know this. Does the G8 and Malibu interior look like crap? No, so don’t expect the Camaro to. Honestly did you expect to see a complete production interior in a powertrain/chasis mule?
Its a bit retro I admit so it will be polarizing but I can’t say it looks bad. Looks better than a Mustang interior IMO but then that isn’t hard to do.
At least the concept has decent materials. This looks like rental hard plastic crap.
I think it’s beautiful.
a few thoughts:
1) no cupholders for open cans of Busch
2) electric door-open button instead of a mechanical lever ensures death to the dude who ends up at the bottom of a lake after losing control of his Camaro while holding his Busch, because there’s no damn cupholder
I’m with Frank. The original Camaro’s dash was one of the most awful of the all the pony cars. Who at Chevy thought it would be clever to put the ancillary gauges (including the fuel gauge) down on the console where no one could see them except children crammed in the back seat (“70 psi, Daddy!”) is unclear, but they did it on the Nova, too, so someone must have liked it.
It was common (though not on Camaro and Nova) to cram the tach down on the console, too, the stylists apparently considering it to be a decorative item, not a functional instrument (which, given the accuracy of factory tachs of the period, was not far wrong).
We’ll see in a week or so if the Photoshopped beauty pics validate the concept, of if the Emperor’s Camaro is showing.
When I saw the article on Autoblog I thought, I thought the same thing. Then on second thought, this has got to be a “controlled leak”. No security? The photographers got to crawl all over it and shoot interior pictures? I’m hoping the real production version looks nothing like this.
It doesn’t matter if this is a test mule or not it is still horribly designed. So unless they plan to redesign the entire interior and take into consideration ergonomics, functionality, and style before going into production this is what you are going to get. The fit and finish may or may not be better then what you see because if they couln’t get the parts you see right the parts in back holding it together are probably worse. Good old GM interior magic.
The only thing missing from the General’s abomination are bits of hair, skin tags and toe nails from Jeff Goldblum. I can’t wait to Photoshop an arm holding a shotgun to the speedo…
And I was hoping this car would do some good for GM
GM Fastlane Blog: No More Camo on the prototype Camaros
It’s simply not possible that anything close to this ugly would be approved. Is it?
No, I refuse to believe it.
And somewhere, an Audi interior designer is having a toast…
Robert, you accidentally posted a picture of a ghetto blaster.
I like it. I think it looks great and I applaud GM for staying true to the concept.
And I’m also delighted to see the phasing out of the bland, rectangular “black tie” radio that found its way into everything from Cobalts to Suburbans.
The interior had a lot of promise during the “Concept” phase of development:
http://www.carbodydesign.com/archive/2006/01/10-chevrolet-camaro-concept/2006%20Chevrolet%20Camaro%20Interior%202-lg.jpg
Just that, once the space-age concept-like stuff is taken out, something gets lost in translation.
During the holidays, I was unfortunate enough to have paid to see Alien vs. Predator in the theatre. With that movie still fresh on my mind, when I look at the Camaro’s center stack, with the ugliest head unit known to man protruding from a gaping aperture that would make even Jenna Jameson feel timid, I am reminded of the slimey little alien bursting through a person’s belly once their gestation is over.
Steve_S: Its a bit retro I admit so it will be polarizing but I can’t say it looks bad. Looks better than a Mustang interior IMO but then that isn’t hard to do”
IMO the Mustang interior design is pretty easy on the eyes and pretty functional—-its the cheap materials (especially in base form) that earn demerits (especially upon touch) and the radio head unit.
I really hope the new Camaro interior is not as pictured—there simply is not anything to like design wise.
Actually, the original (or at least the ‘67) Camaro dash wasn’t all that bad, if a bit austere… but, then again, cars didn’t have quite so many widgets in them back then. It might be difficult to reproduce the ‘67 dash style, given airbags and the other things that we find up front, nowadays.
The ‘69 dash… yeah, that’s pretty bad. So’s the new one.
And why did they leave the slots for your spare 8-track cartridges out of the new one? If you’re going to do a thing, go all the way with it.
Since this car isn’t intended to be practical, I’m more concerned with how it looks from the outside. The Camaro should be turning heads (not away) and to get full value for this car, onlookers must be impressed. In that respect, I’m not pleased.
They’ve gone to that pillbox-height window motif that Chrysler introduced on the 300s (ick) and the butt is way too big; flares too much and sticks too far up into the air. The original Camaro, while it had a longer-than-normal hood and shorter-than normal tail, still had very graceful proportions.
The new one somehow already looks like it has the drag slicks on it, even though it doesn’t, and it’s not attractive.
However, I noticed the fanboys are high-fiving GM over on Fastlane. Perhaps GM will sell a few.
I trust we’ll see some G78-14 tires on it too?
The radio breaks new ground in being unfriendly to aftermarket replacement. Maybe regular sedans don’t get updated with aftermarket radios but the camaro is probably going to be owned by young-ish people that want to change out the impossibly hard to understand GM radio for something that says Alpine on it.
The speedo and Tach are god awful. I would need special glasses just to see them.
The seats look normal, wonder how they feel.
The gauge pack isn’t all that bad, but having it in the dash with the speedo is preferable. At least the speedo isn’t in the center of the dash.
Visibility out of the windows looks tight. That’s a problem with the Dodge muscle too.
Overall I think the retro craze may be waining a bit. This car is about 4 years late to the party dominated by the mustang. Engine options better include vette motors and transmissions that allow you to row your own.
At first glance, the guages near the shifter on the console along with the dashboard gages are from a 1967 era Camaro.
Interior actually looks pretty interesting. As far as the exterior, it is outstanding. Car should be a huge hit.
Dealer Installed Options:
Fuzzy Dice (Blue, Green, White, Black)
Bandit-era CB Radio with stretched cord
8-track with Air Supply, Billy Joel, Alabama, and The Carpenters (the pre-mentioned 1000W Kraco is pre-installed!)
Pre-cracked vinyl seating area and dashboard top (pay a little extra for the cracks large enough to swallow an M&M)
Naked Lady mudflaps
“Carter ‘76″ bumper sticker with a case of Billy-Beer in the trunk.
There are certain eras of cars that should never return. This is one. If Chevy does this to the Camaro, what does this meen for the El Camino? (shudder…)
I wasn’t a big fan of the new Camaro’s looks from the start. The idea that the interior pictured above is what we’re getting only cements my feelings even though I’m swimming against the tide. IMO, the Challenger is far and away a better retro design of a classic muscle car.
Come on, folks. GM’s recent products have been nothing less than stellar in every way. I am sure that when the production version of the car is released, the interior will have good graining, upmarket appearance, and excellent fit and finish. The recent Malibu’s interior proves that they know how to get the job done. Throughout the industry, (not only at GM), it is very common for pre-production cars to have interiors that do not have the graining or surface detail that you’ll see in production. I say, give them a chance, and see what it looks like when the car hits the market. Even better, try sitting in one when they become available, and find out if the switches, knobs etc are difficult to reach or use. It might just be an enjoyable place to spend time. Sort of like the interior of my 2008 Honda Fit, which is definitely weirdo in design, but nicely made, nicely finished, and comfortable. In the end, it endows the car with the most elusive trait of all in the modern car market – character. I know that if I were a Camaro buyer, I would rather step into real muscle car character.
I like everything except for the round knobs/features on center stack. Its so different (but not Mustang retro) that it stands out from the crowd in a good way. Camaro buyers will be proud to own the anti-Toyota, and here it is.
I’m gonna go out even further on this limb and PRAISE the Camaro team for having the balls to make a distinct design (with good fit/finish) while every other American brand (sans Mustang and Challenger) is more concerned with chasing the latest Euro-Asian design.
This kind of design independence was needed to make cars like the Five Hundred, Impala, GTO, Thunderbird (and any other American car with a semblance of ironic history) to make a lasting impact on the market, both in perception and actual sales.
Again, fix the bubbly stuff in the center stack and you have a serious hit on your hands.
I’m not a fan of the generic Euro-dash look, either (I appear to be the only one who thinks the new Cad CTS interior is blah), and some distinction, some retro style, a little flash, in principle these things do not sound bad. Still, I think ergonomics need to come first.
Any way you slice it, this is a misfire. The old Camaro’s interior was a wretched-looking ergonomic nightmare, and reinventing it with cheap modern plastic is not a selling point. If I’m shopping for a noveau Camaro, I want it to be like I would have always liked the original to be, not how it was, in all its warts-and-all imperfection. It’s like re-encountering a beloved childhood toy and realizing it really looks like crap.
The only thing missing here is a 1000 Watt Kraco EQ dangling by speaker wires from underneath the dash.
Oh what memories, nocaster! :-)
Retro? As in Pontiac Sunbird retro?
This interior makes me feel ill.
c’mon….even the circa 2019 hoons deserve better interiors.
this is not the final interior version. as you can see it is still missing many parts like digital screen and its panel. decorative moldings on dashboard , buttons on steering wheel, plus many parts are still not aligned properly. the final version will be much better. hope they don`t leave the a/c control knobs so primitive and without a seperate digital screen. Chrome door handles? remote gas cap? foldable side mirrors? remote trunk? halogen lens lamps? top version with leather dash? Hope they won`t have saved on it…..
Cupholders? We doan need no stinkin’ cupholders!
We’ll get some of the 99 cent ones that hung from the window track from Murray’s discount auto, and cruise…..
You can say that the fit and finish of the final production product will be better and that there are some pieces that are obviously going to be added to the production models, but that doesn’t change the ridiculous gauge cluster on the center stack or the squares outlining the gauges in front of the driver. It’s just plain bad, and I don’t mean that in a good way.
Even a cursory glance shows that the IP pictured is incomplete (it appears the entire top section is missing). And as such, any assessment of its ultimate appearance is pretty pointless.
I took a second look and decided to add some constructive criticism:
1. Ditch the steering wheel. I know what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to recreate that 60’s look of the thin steering wheel with thin spokes. It doesn’t work when you have a massive airbag in the middle. It just looks like something more appropriate on a bumper car. If you can’t repackage the airbag to be smaller, make the spokes bigger so it doesn’t stick out so much.
2. Ditch the aluminum theme, unless they’re going to use real aluminum. If you try to plasticize it, you’ll be taking GM interior design back
210 years.3. If you’re going retro, keep the console gauges, ditch the shifter. The shifter designs for the ‘68-69 Camaro would be better to use, not that sphere-on-cylinder thing.
4. Something’s gotta be done about those HVAC knobs. They scream ‘Cheap Plastic!!!’ a mile away.
5. Narrow the center vents, it throws the proportions off.
Sajeev is absolutely right, the overall styling is nearly perfect. The interior is just as stylish and retro as the exterior and uniquely Camaro, which is exactly the way it should be.
I for one am thrilled to see GM has kept the car faithful to the concept and the original Camaro. 1960s cues like the dual-pod/cowl and aux gauges on the center console are still there, as they should be. It’s unique touches and details like that help make cars like this really special. Can you imagine a Mini with a bland, oval, contemporary interior? I can’t either and it wouldn’t be right.
I’m also amazed that this car has it’s own unique steering wheel, radio face, HVAC unit, steering column and other parts. When was the last time GM ever went through that kind of trouble on an affordable, mainstream car? Or any mass market automaker?
Also remember this is an engineering mule. The interior trim doesn’t have it’s final production color, graining, fit and finish. Many materials will likely change between now and then. Those with a sharp eye can also see that they’re using a set of cloth seats out of the Holden Commodore SS to make these test cars tolerable to drive.
Expect the details and the trim to change for production and the seats to be styled like the concepts. The ambient interior lighting will also be excellent as it is in the new CTS.
It’s a mistake to write this car off based on spy photography of a dirty mule interior. You can bet by the time this car is unveiled and we see the finished product in it’s glory it will make an entirely different impression.
GM knows their audience for this car and they know how much of the brand’s image is riding on it, they will deliver a quality, world-class muscle car for the masses in the new Camaro.