Chevy Camaro

Terry Z. Voster asked:


Some auto and sports car enthusiasts will insist and swear on their life that the sports car that got it all going in America was the Mustang. After all the Ford Mustang was fast cheap and popular and got the whole “Muscle Car” era going. On top of that they may insist that if there were no mustang there would have never been any Camaro or the other whole host of “Pony Cars” It may well be true that buyer demand in the muscle car market segment had been and was created largely by the Mustang car but actually this had all started long before the Mustang ponycars arrived on the American automotive landscape.

Interest in sporty ,close-coupled compacts that could seat two comfortably as well as four in a pinch goes all the way back to 1956. That was the first year when Studebaker fielded its first “Hawks” - nimble, fast road machines that looked different and performed considerably better than the average family sedan. Then later in 1958, Ford punched out its two-seat Thunderbird out to a four-seat configuration which also introduced a radically new body design that met with overwhelming acceptance. To the response, the dominant American automotive manufacturer replied with the Pontiac Grand Prix in 1962 as well as the stunning four places Buick Riviera the following year.

Similar concepts followed in the wings such as Oldsmobile’s Tornado in 1966. The race was now fully on and underway.

Until Mustang however, four seat “personal” cars had been mainly upper-price luxury models which were not affordable by the masses of car buyers. This was especially true for young men just starting out with their work careers or working part time after school. However it was not only Ford that was eyeing and evaluating of what became the Mustang’s appreciative and enduring target market. Stylists, engineers and the marketing crew were thinking about some car product in the lower-price segment and class a good six years before the Mustang made its entry and debut in 1964. In the end the fly in the ointment of this project to bring a similar automotive product to market was a lack of real corporate interest. Talk about opportunity lost and not seeing the trees from the forest - or in case the highways and interstates from the roads.

Interestingly enough G.M. had missed the boat when it failed to notice the excitement by the general public of its accidental development of an inexpensive “Sports Car” to the American automotive market. It can be said that the first low priced “personal” car was the Chevrolet Corvair. Chevrolet had subtly introduced bucket seats to its Corvair sports coupe in the 1960 model year. Compared to its other lineups in its stable the Corvair sports coupe sold like hotcakes. The expression regarding the sales of Mustangs was they sold like donuts, Corvair sports coupes sold like hotcakes. The offering was a hot product - a real eye popper. These cars were offered in color-keyed interiors, the trademark comfortable vinyl bucket seats and in the 1961 model year the option of a fast four speed gearbox.

The marketing message may have eluded General Motors and their top executives but it sure was not lost on their competitors. Ford and Chrysler, both taking the cue rushed to equip their similar products in a similar way. For the Ford Motor Company it was time to dress up their “compact “car the Ford Falcon. In the case of Chrysler the Valiant line got the treatment.

The Mustang was not the first of the “Pony “muscle cars. Indeed Ford was even the originator of the concept. The concept and market did not originate overnight. While it took time for fruition it was Ford’s fortune of both bringing the product to market. The lessons may have been lost to others but Ford was both focused enough and nimble enough to accomplish the task. In terms of absolute cars sales the Ford Falcon based Mustang cars sold 100,000 units in their first month and a full million cars in their first year. What an auto sales record and accomplishment.



Brenda

Skyler asked:


I’ve had my camaro for a few years now, and decided to strip it out, barebone. I also wanted to change it from an automatic to a standard, and I wanted to know the cheapest , most efficient, do-it myself way. I know you can buy a shift kit for a camaro, but is it possible to just go to a junk yard, find an f-body camaro and interchange the manual transmission? Any ideas, helpful hints and links will be amazing.

Justin

sportdude2317 asked:


I am thinking about buying a subwoofer enclosure from someone who had a 95 camaro for my 94 trans am. Should the box fit my 1994 trans am model? I know I have seen the custom enclosures for 93-97 trans ams/camaros so if anyone knows any help would be appreciated.

Christopher

darlk asked:


The 5th gen camaro will have near top speeds of the corvette, but be at 1/2 or even less of the corvettes price. So who would actually buy a corvette anymore once the 5th gen camaro comes out?

Vincent

achavezz@sbcglobal.net asked:


I’m writing a book that would feature one of the cars. I like the Camaro that is shorter and not as long in the front.

Travis

WTF? asked:


I need to get into my 95 camaro but the doors are locked and all i have is the ignition key. I’ve tried to “slim jim” the locks with a clothes hanger but that failed miserably, i also have a small enough crack in the window to stick the hanger in and i have tried to hit the power locks but the hanger will just bend because it’s a piece of crap. I havent tried anything else on it though but if my sister is right she says the locks wont work with the car off because they are power locks and the battery is most likely dead do to inactivity. If anyone has any ideas on how to get in this bitch let me know

Jeremy

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


Hot Wheels is a brand of die-cast toy cars that was launched in America by an American toy manufacturer named Mattel in the year 1968. A Die-cast toy is any toy or collectible item manufactured utilizing the die casting method. These toys are made using metal and plastic. The metal most commonly used is ZAMAK, which is an alloy of zinc and aluminum. Initially, these cars were designed to on a 1:64 scale and were used on Hot Wheels track sets. However, in 1970 a series of Hot Wheels cars were designed on a 1:43 scale. This new range of cars became adult collector series vehicles that were replicas of Formula One and NASCAR cars, which were extremely successful. The Hot Wheels logo was designed by Rick irons, a Californian Artist who worked with Mattel.

Elliot Hander, co-founder of Mattel, wanted to manufacture a range of die-cast toys for boys. He wanted to dominate the toy cars industry which was once upon a time dominated by Lesney, a British company with their Matchbox cars. Even though, Hander’s executives thought it was an awful idea, the toy cars became a major success. In 1968, Mattel released nearly sixteen castings. Eleven cars were designed by Marry Bentley Bradley. The first one manufactured was an elegant dark blue Custom Camaro.

In 1968, Hot Wheels introduced the custom-built Volkswagen, which was one their first cars. Some of the other cars they released in the same year were: Beatnik Bandit which was designed by Ed Roth, Custom Barracuda, Custom Camaro, Custom Corvette, Custom Cougar, Custom Eldorado, Custom Firebird, Custom Fleetside, Custom Mustang, Custom T-Bird, Custom Volkswagen which was designed by Ira Gilford, Deora, Ford J-Car, Hot Heap, Python which was designed by Dean Jefferies, and Silhouette. All these cars had colourful paint work, bearings, redline wheels, and working suspensions.

In 1969, Twin Mill was one of the most popular and accepted Hot Wheel cars. In 1970, the famous Sizzler, the rechargeable electronic car was made. In 1985, the Hot Wheels Torino Tornado was one of the most renowned cars. In 1995, the Hot Wheel cars were differentiated into specialized series i.e. the Model Series which was later renamed First Edition, and the Treasure Hunt Series. In 2000, a new range of Hot Wheel Cars came into the market. These cars had exquisite paint jobs, and functioned like their original counterparts.

Over the years, Hot Wheel cars have not only been collected by children, but it has become a collector’s item for many adults too. There have been estimates that over 41 million children have collected Hot Wheels toys throughout their childhood years, and an average collector has over 1,550 cars to his collection.

The Hot Wheel range of toys include many different kinds of tracks, accessories, different kinds of vehicles like the ‘Sizzlers’ the rechargeable electric cars, ‘Hot Line’ trains, ‘R-R-Rumblers’ motorcycles, and ‘Hot Birds’ aeroplanes, but they have always been most popular and well known for their collection of small scale free-rolling models of custom hot rods and muscles.



Cindy

Jimmy asked:


I have researched the average 0-60 for a 2002
trans am=5.0sec
camaro ss=5.2sec

These cars have the same engine (ls1) with the same horsepower. Why the difference in the 0-60 time?

Patrick

Rote asked:


I had a terrible time re-installing the rear caliper on a 97 camaro. What is the trick on these things? It was not a piston compression issue.

Ann

nightoftheblackmoon_68 asked:


I want to make a sleeper out of my 1993 Camaro. I have a 3.4l V6 and I want to get roughly 400 hp out of it w/out doing a whole lot of modifications to it if at all possible? What is the best motor to go with or what can I do the the motor to increase the horse power?

Brett