The center console is what you get when you let Johnny 5:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Johnny+5&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

mate with a GigaTube:
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=gigatube&btnG=Search+Images

Test mules are in final form with the exception of very minor details – it does no good to change a huge piece of the car if it hasn’t been put through the grind. The molds are already cast by the manufacturer – they aren’t going to retool the entire dash board and gauges between this and when the car goes on sale unless the public outcry is enough that they realize they need to change it.

I’d be surprised (in a good way) if they changed it from what you see now.

The revived GTO looked like a Cavalier on steroids, was sold by Pontiac dealers and received virtually no advertising support.

People buying this sort of car want distinctive style, and the Camaro gives it to them.

KixStart: For $39K, you can still get the real thing, in very good condition, if you so desire. $30K for a modern knock-off?

The “real thing” gets terrible gas mileage (in the single digits for the high-performance models), rides like a buckboard, makes a Camry look like a Ferrari in the ride-and-handling department and has safety equipment that consists of lap belts, a padded dashboard, a collapsible steering column and a laminated windshield.

The lack of safety equipment is especially important. There are quite a few people reluctant to use old cars on a regular basis because of the lack of today’s safety features.

KixStart: How many Skystices got sold this year? Something like 2K? How many SSRs were bought?

The Skystices are hampered by the fact there is a better alternative available in this class – the Mazda Miata. The Camaro’s competition is the Mustang, and, while I like that car, I’m willing to bet that this Camaro will be fully competitive.

The SSR was a combination pickup truck, sports car and convertible that couldn’t haul much, didn’t offer great performance and was too expensive. Not a winning combination…

KixStart: Sure, the new Camaro is a little more versatile (I presume it will have a back seat) but it’s still a muscle car in an increasingly Camcord world.

Actually, this helps the Camaro, because once a class of vehicle becomes very popular, people begin to want alternatives. Just as not everyone wanted an Impala or Galaxie in the 1960s, today not everyone wants a Camry or Accord (and GM has the new, much-improved Malibu to compete in this class).

Detroit’s problem has been to view the vehicles like the Camaro as saviors. The Camaro won’t save the company, but it gives Chevrolet something different to appeal to true “gearheads”. It’s built on the worldwide Zeta platform, so GM can spread its costs over a much wider production base.

For once, GM is doing it the right way.

The Camaro is on the top of my shopping list for my next car and the last 4 cars in my family have all been Japanese so for at least one person GM might make a conquest sale. I also think GM will sell many of these as well as more than a few of the new G8.

I’ve also never seen pre-production test mules with interiors significantly different than what goes into production, so I’d bet this is what people are going to get.

To me the interior is as important as the exterior. When I’m driving the car I am not seeing the exterior. I’d never buy one of these with an interior even remotely similar to this one.

“Legion of GM muscle fans?” I find myself wondering how many are in that “legion.” I suspect the failure of the modern, very muscular, GTO foreshadows trouble moving the new Camaro. Yeah, it’s not quite the same but retro is only going to carry you so far. For $39K, you can still get the real thing, in very good condition, if you so desire. $30K for a modern knock-off?

How many Skystices got sold this year? Something like 2K? How many SSRs were bought? Sure, the new Camaro is a little more versatile (I presume it will have a back seat) but it’s still a muscle car in an increasingly Camcord world.

—

FastLane also got some adverse feedback about the Camaro interior. And I noticed this post, by “E.L.” in response to complaints about the interior:

“Calm down people. Bob’s got this one.”

Which caused me to chuckle.

GM knows the fanbase for the Camaro and has been listening to them intently for years to create the latest model. Inside and out they are paying homage to the original legend and including the style and cues that make it unmistakably a Camaro.

I have a hard time picturing the interior of a car like this looking completely different than the original, or dare I say bland and contemporary like a Malibu or Accord.

Center speedometers aren’t my thing, but somehow in the Mini Cooper it makes sense and works. Generally I don’t like hard plastic, utilitarian interiors but a Wrangler with anything else (or styled like anything else) would be horribly wrong.

If muscle cars have never been your thing the Camaro isn’t going to change your mind no matter how nice it drives, what they trim it with or how well it performs. Instead they are giving the people that live, eat and breath this type of car what they’ve always wanted and demanded.

GM had an excellent modern muscle car available just a few years ago, but the legion of GM muscle fans rejected the GTO because it was too contemporary and didn’t resemble the originals. It’s a shame because it was a great car.

This time GM is listening and realizes the imporance of doing cars like this right, perhaps they will be rewarded for it. We’ll see.

Obviously, one expects the makers of the new ‘Bu to sweat the details on the Camaro cabin’s fit and finish. (If they don’t, they’ll be a different kind of Hell to pay.) I’m almost reasonably sure that the muscle car’s helm will get an ace wrapper and the kind of high quality polymers the original never had.

But I can’t see how they’re gong to change the design elements that make this an abomination. As several commentators have pointed out, the square gauges are horrific. The placement of the dials low down on the dash, behind the shifter (which is just plain silly looking), is ludicrous. Etc.

In short, this sucker has bad bones, when it should be b-b-b-b-bad to the done. inside and out.

Still, point taken. We shall see.

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.

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 2 10 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.

We’ll get some of the 99 cent ones that hung from the window track from Murray’s discount auto, and cruise…..