It’s a good thing the new Camaro is not really going to look like the old one

It’s a good thing the new Camaro is not really going to look like the old, original (’67) Camaro. The other day, on the way back from my hearing aid appointment, I was behind a white ’67 Camaro survivor on the interstate. Absolutely original, with requisite black CA plates. It was probably a 6-cyl automatic, which didn’t help matters. It had a few dents, like the panel under the rear bumper was pushed in a little and the trunk lid was just a bit open. Those plain Jane Camaros are very sorry looking cars from the back. To begin with, the car has no “ass” end. The rear fenders and trunk area are just not adequate considering the bulk of the top of the car. I always intensely disliked those proportions. The trunk and rear fenders sort of swoop inward, reducing the volume back there even more. The tail lights are boring. Even more mundane than ’70 Maverick tail lights. This particular car exhibited that old Detroit look, where the tires are so far under the car (from the rear view) that it is almost cartoonish. I guess I could always accept these Camaros from the grille to the back of the doors. After that, they seemed to vanish (but I could still see them.) Much better were the ’70 Camaros, particularly the one with the split front bumper and Ferrari style grille. With each body change after that they became more and more like those tiny little toy cars (Match Box?) and in the last iteration, with the windshield base over the center of the air cleaner and the 4.5′ front overhang, they didn’t seem to matter any more.

The images below are from Google Images. I hope I’m not violating some copyright by using these pictures but I need to illustrate a point. Or two points. Or three.
1967 Camaro

This is a very nice looking car. It would look great in my driveway. But look at that rear end. The combination of the very large wheel opening and the diminishing mass of the rear fenders is not proportionate to the very correct size of the roof, doors, and front fenders. Maybe with 1957 Dodge fins the car would look more correct. (This is a 1957 Dodge with cruiser fender skirts, which would not be appropriate for the Camaro, of course.) Imagine those fins (the triangles only) sitting atop those puny Camaro fenders! But with the existing wheel wells.
1970 Camaro

This is another very nice looking car, which would also look very nice in my garage. Maybe GM should have based the upcoming Camaro on this style. Every thing is perfect on this design except the rear window (which is very similar to the ’67 Barracuda rear window) and, to a lesser extent, the diminished mass of the rear. Because this style is a semi-fastback, the reduced mass is less of a problem, stylewise. By the way, the rear window design was the result of a gimmick (called destyling) Detroit used back in those years. The car was actually styled with the rear glass that wrapped down to the fenders and created a nice, defined C-pillar. But, that version was saved for later model years and the ’70 and ’71 used the destyled rear glass. Thank you Detroit! We will not dream of ’57 Dodge fins for this style Camaro..
F Body Camaro

This image shows off all that was right with this Camaro style- sleek, modern, clean, racy. But three, actually four, errors mess it up a bit. Let’s start with the integrated outside rearview mirrors. While that gimmick is well executed here, it is unnecessary and detracts from the car’s clean lines. Also bothersome is the exaggerated front overhang. I know they wanted a sloping hood but 4.5 feet of front overhang is too much. Third mistake: The base of the windshield is way too far forward. In fact, if you open the hood, the cowl sits directly over the air cleaner wing nut. Yes, cars still had air cleaners over the carbs when this Camaro was introduced. A less slanted windshield would have been a small price to pay in order to position the base of the windshield correctly (farther back.) Fourth and last, there was no need to stick thtat little black triangle at the base and in front of the C-pillar. Why not just take the leading edge of the C-pillar from right there where the rain gutter meets the top of the C-pillar, which is the current starting point, and run it down to the back edge of the door at the top? Yes, the pillar becomes slightly, yet imperceptibly wider, but the payoff is a much cleaner look. Can you visualize that? Of course you can! And, yes, the upcoming Camaro could also have been based on this style which, as I said, is quite clean.
2009 Camaro

This is a very nice presentation of the concept car. I think it needs, at a minimum, a taller top and a much cleaner grille and hood. but everyone else i have talked to loves this style. Go figure. To me, the design below is what this car really needed. it popped up in Google Images as a 2007 Camaro. If they built this car, I would buy it.