[Chevy454]

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Joe you are right on. IMO the tired style of the 4th gen Camaro hurt sales. They had the same style from 1993-2002 and many buyers became tired of it. GM has the tendency to keep body styles around for to long. Car companies like Damiler Chrysler are on the cutting edge on constant style change. The Ford Mustang continues to put up the numbers like the 79 Camaro did which suprises me because they lack in performance. The 2005 Mustang coming out will be a hit.

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Ironically, the current Mustang basically debuted in '94, a mere year later than the 4th Gen. Camaros, but they both got the same front/rear "updates" over the years. And to top it off, the Mustang rides on the same Fox body underpinnings as the cars that rolled off the line in '79 did...yet they kicked the Camaro's tail in sales. Older underpinnings, less performance, same price...yet the Mustang lives.

Why? Let's compare...

The Z/28 and the SS would run off and hide from the Mustang (and could hang with the Cobras) until the '03 Cobras came out. The cars were priced almost identical, giving the the Camaro the bang-per-buck vote, and they both debuted new body styles at roughly the same time. The lack of chassis update on the Mustang gives the edge to the Camaro which also owns the Mustang in the curves, and even helps when going straight.

So, what REALLY brought down the axe? Marketing? Lack of interest by GM executives? I think the new T-bird is proof that nostalgia alone won't sell cars, as the boys at F@rd would take a kick to the groin to move their new retro toys. I foresee the same thing happening with the SSR.

GM just shot themselves in the foot. By dropping the F-body platform totally, they forced the people that were after cheap thrills to buy Fords, and some of those people will probably NEVER be back in a GM. The GTO and the new SS truck they are debuting aren't gonna fill the voids like they are hoping, because they have 2 strikes against them already: they're both too darn slow and too darn expensive. Why build a "performance truck" that is more expensive, yet SLOWER than something already on the market?! Same thing with the GTO, as Ford has finally figured out performance is "ok" and stepped up with the new Cobra, the Mach 1, etc. For the $35K+ that the GTO will cost, you could step into a new Cobra that will have 390hp and run 2 seconds quicker in the 1/4!! In fact, I read a GM press release pushing back the previous performance numbers on the new GTO to high 14s?!...I'm guessing so they don't disappoint the buyers, or so they don't copy F@rd's fiasco with the Cobra intake.

Ok, "smelly opinion" time. So, exactly WHY DID GM CAN THE F-BODY? I say it's the bottom line...all of the automakers make more $$$ off of the SUVs/trucks than they do any other model. Dropping a car line just forces more people to buy trucks, which makes GM more $$$.

And unfortunately, car guys don't run GM...accountants do.