New Camaro's Interior is Hideous

by Robert Farago

Published: January 3rd, 2008

"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?

Robert Farago

More by Robert Farago

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 67 comments

S is for Supra on Jan 04, 2008

While I’m not in love with the interior I think it works in this application. The center stack will get prettied up and I’d be surprised if redundant info like fuel, oil and temp are not also on the digital display between the Speedo and RPM (having them below the stereo is a bit of nostalgia like the mini). You can’t see it in the spy shots but you can in the concept. Also who is to say that the production interior won’t end up like the concept or pretty close once it’s complete? If you look at both they are very close it’s just that the materials used on this pre-production mule is poor. As I would expect them to be. I really think everyone is making a mountain out of a mole hill on this one. If you look at the photos closely you’ll notice that the front seats are different. One is power and one is manual. Should we jump on GM about that too? 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.

Like Reply
Geeber on Jan 04, 2008
KixStart: 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. 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.

Like Reply
Orian on Jan 04, 2008

Looking over the images of at Autoblog, about the only thing that can change between this and the final version is the display above the radio. 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.

Like Reply
SexCpotatoes on Jan 05, 2008

It's obvious that the steering wheel is a new safety feature that makes airbags obsolete! You have your extra padded steering wheel that, in the event of a smash-up, tilts down to cushion the most vulnerable part of your body; your beer gut. 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

Like Reply