The Camaros and Firebirds are now officially dead

[Gimli]

The production line at the Boisbriand, QC GM plant has permanently stopped as of yesterday, Tuesday August 27th, 2002.

All that remains are about 500 maintenance and vehicule repairs employees who will be laid off tomorrow, Thursday.

:crying:

http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id={5596FBB5-9897-403C-A250-5C7B3AA655A6}
http://www.canada.com/montreal/story.asp?id={58B05437-5457-4372-AE8F-C6B773B49A3B}

[GrandAmGT99]

Very, very sad. At least we have the GTO, and the Remodeling of the Grand Am and Grand Prix to look foward to....mmmm 6 speed.

[SnM]

I was watching a news thing, CNN maybe, and the reporter guy has his mom on because when he was younger and his mom went out shopping for car by herself, she brought home a Camaro. He was expecting her to bring home a BMW or something and he was kinda embarrased that she brought that home. What a little stuck up focker!

anyway.....Sometime I wish I would have gotten a Black WS6 instead of my GP....oh well, i love my car!

[Macleod52]

Originally posted by SnM
I was watching a news thing, CNN maybe, and the reporter guy has his mom on because when he was younger and his mom went out shopping for car by herself, she brought home a Camaro. He was expecting her to bring home a BMW or something and he was kinda embarrased that she brought that home. What a little stuck up focker!

anyway.....Sometime I wish I would have gotten a Black WS6 instead of my GP....oh well, i love my car!

Can I beat his ass please? Thanks! :nono:

http://users.erols.com/wwasem/2005_Camaro_SS.jpg

Could this be the new Camaro? Hmmm

[MidwestJosh]

I like that pic. It looks more like a muscle car than a sports car like the current ones do.

[Gramp's GT]

It is not only very sad for the workers but it is very sad for the automobile community not having any more new camaro's and birds on the road.

[Wilkyman]

yeah its to bad that they are gone, now its just the mustangs (boo).. that 2005 camaro looks sweet though

[GT2003]

Are they going to still have like anniversary editions like I have hear like the 35 anniversary or 30th I don't rememeber, but I heard they maybe doing a old camaro SS like a 70 model. I dunno if this is just a rumor or what. But I wish I had the money to go get a WS6 right now.

[01SilverGAGT]

I personally think that we will see them back in some way shape or form. For example when they canned the GEO name what happened we got the Chevy Tracker and the Chevy Metro..... When the canned the GEO they really didn't lead on to everything switching to chevy. I also think Oldsmobile is going to be incorporated in another GM line. I say that because in G.R. Michigan oldsmobile does huge sales, if GM totally cans the Bravada, Intrigue, Alero, Aurora, without somehow mixing them into another line, I think they will take a hit. Maybe they won't come back as a firebird, or as a camaro, but somehow, and someway they will be back, whether they look totally different or not is beyond me, but the 5.7 liter V8 is a sweet a## engine to let go to waste. Plus those are the sweetest 2 sports cars there are (reffering to raw stock power) Just my .02 cents

[qwik99gt]

I have to say I'm sorry to see the F-body tradition die after such a long run. My GM faith has been renewed though, thanks to gearhead Bob Lutz. I know the replacements for the F cars will be great, and equally good at making Mustangs look slow. Anyone who thinks GM is headed in the wrong direction should check out the CTSi, Caddillac's wicked-fast LS1 based sport coupe. I don't think we'll be without the Camaro and Firebird for long. As for that 2005 Camaro pic, its just a mediocre (and wavy~~) PhotoChop of a current Camaro SS. Oh, well. Thank goodness for hipo trucks (Lightning, SRT-10, and Silverado SS) or we domestic lovers wouldn't have anything new and fast to tinker with anymore:D .

PS: some Olds cars will become refaced Buicks, such as the Bravada becoming the Buick Renier. The GA SE's look a whole lot more like Aleros now that they have no cladding, too.

[Black Z28]

what a sad day. i think that gm should have kept producing those cars untill they came out with the next generation. just to keep the names going. i know that the new ones probably won't be quite the same. they might be as fast, but the body style won't be the same. they will probably be more passenger oriented. but i hope that they do bring the name back, and soon.

[Jason E]

To respond to a few comments...

1) GM could not continue the car for '03, as it will not pass side impact standards. To make it pass, GM would have had to redesign the entire sides of the car, thereby necessitating pretty much an entire reskin of the car...something they are not willing to do on a 10 year old chassis that isn't selling that well.

2) Don't expect a new 'Bird, period. Word is the only way we MAY see a new 'Bird is if the GTO flops...it will not flop.

3) The earliest we can expect to see a new Camaro is '07. There is word a new RWD Monte and Impala will debut in '06...a Camaro derivative would come from this in about a year...

4) I sold 29 Firebirds this year, and still have 7 in stock...all of them I ordered myself. Its been a bittersweet end for an F body enthusiast like me, but at least I can take solace in the fact that I brought a total of 36 of them to life...my sales manager never wanted me to order one, but the damn things sold like hot cakes!!!

5) That concept '05 is hideous...even I don't know if I could stomach that car, and I've owned 3 F bodies and would never be without one!!!

6) As for anniversary editions, if they have a car to make one out of, sure, they'll have it. People like them...as you can see by my sig, I do :)

[SilverGA2001]

Originally posted by Gimli
The production line at the Boisbriand, QC GM plant has permanently stopped as of yesterday, Tuesday August 27th, 2002.

That's why we bought an '02 Formula 3 weeks ago. :D


Originally posted by 01SilverGAGT
I personally think that we will see them back in some way shape or form. For example when they canned the GEO name what happened we got the Chevy Tracker and the Chevy Metro..... When the canned the GEO they really didn't lead on to everything switching to chevy. I also think Oldsmobile is going to be incorporated in another GM line. I say that because in G.R. Michigan oldsmobile does huge sales, if GM totally cans the Bravada, Intrigue, Alero, Aurora, without somehow mixing them into another line, I think they will take a hit. Maybe they won't come back as a firebird, or as a camaro, but somehow, and someway they will be back, whether they look totally different or not is beyond me, but the 5.7 liter V8 is a sweet a## engine to let go to waste. Plus those are the sweetest 2 sports cars there are (reffering to raw stock power) Just my .02 cents

Few differences though. Geo was a venture between Toyota and GM. As a division, Geo was axed off. Their cars were incorporated into the Chevy line. Oldsmobile will be deleted also from the GM lineup. The Bravada will be replaced by the Buick Reinier (spelling?). Alero will be gone, Aurora may, big may, go to Saturn to become their fleet sedan. I believe Intrigue will not survive. And the Siluotte (again spelling) will bite the big one. As for the F-Bodies, it's much easier to chop a single car from the lineup then to kill off a division like Oldsmobile. The GTO will bow in for the Firebird soon, which has the 5.7 liter V8 in it's Australian version already. Chevrolet has nothing to replace the Camaro with, except possibly the SSR, set to debut soon, which I believe has the 5.3 liter vortec. Replacement? No. GM has already said there are no plans right now for a new F-Body anytime soon. They haven't found a platform robust enough for their purposes. The niche Camaro and Firebird filled will be left empty for awhile it sounds like. At least Pontiac will still have a V8 5.7 powered rear driver.

[SHawk670]

Thank God for the GTO, a friend of mine said that Chevy was planning on bringing back the "Nova" which we all know is one of the baddest street machines ever made. I'd still rather have a new GTO over a new Nova.

[tshboy]

i knew i should have donated some organs and taken out a few loans to get the 30th anniversary TA in 99. waaaa! my fav car is no more!