We had a pot-luck at the office that day and I walked in with the food that I had brought with me. Everyone in the big hall was smiling, eating and having a good time as we were heading towards the end of the year. We were all quite happy with our work and so was my manager Mr Smith. Raj was standing a few feet away from me and Mr. Smith walked up to him and said – “So when did you get your new car”, he replied “yesterday” and Mr. Smith congratulated him and walked away. I knew my manager too well and he wouldn’t be impressed by just about any new car and I wasn’t quite expecting Raj to buy something exotic, so what was this mystery after all?
I walked up to Raj and said “Hey, did you get a new car?”, polite as he was he said “Yes” with a smile and of course I had to know what he’d bought, he said “It’s a Chevrolet Camaro” and I couldn’t believe it. In the past three years that I had worked with him, he was hitching a ride to work with fellow workers; the young lad was actually saving enough to get his dream car – the star of the Transformer movies and a stunning machine to look at.
As much as the Camaro was the star in many Hollywood movies, it also had a special place in my heart as I loved American muscle cars and I couldn’t wait to grip the new Camaro’s steering wheel. I told Raj, “I don’t care if you like or not but you have to let me drive your car today, after lunch”. He smiled and gladly agreed. Raj was a thin person, very polite and always with a smile but the car was the exact opposite; it was big in bright yellow with black stripes, the front head lamps looked mean on either side of the menacing grill and the tail was as flashy as that of a tiger. The Camaro is a sports coupe which means it is wide, has big tires and low ground clearance, this helps the sports car to have more grip and less roll when cornering at high speeds.
Raj and I were examining the car, I had the keys in my hand and I walked around the car a couple of times to admire its beauty. By now Raj was already in the passenger seat, I opened the driver’s door and slipped into the low seat, shut the door and put my hand on the steering wheel and for the first time I was a bit disappointed to say the least. Being a BMW veteran and a lover of cars, I was a bit let down by the interior of the Camaro. The seats at the front were not very comfortable, the roof was so low that there wasn’t any head room(and I am not a very tall man), the visibility was poor as the windows were small and the seating position did not allow to get a good idea of the length of the bonnet. Rear visibility was much worse. In order to keep the car beautiful, it seemed as though Chevrolet ignored everything else that makes a good car.
I didn’t say anything to Raj at the point; it was his dream machine after all. There were some really good features too in the car like a head-up-display. A head-up-display projects the Speed and the RPM on to the windshield of the car, it is a really neat feature as the driver does not have to take his/her eyes of the road to check the vehicle’s speed while driving. The steering wheel in the Camaro is a bit smaller and fatter than other cars; this is the norm in sports cars as I have seen similar steering wheels in Mustangs. The controls for audio, cruise and real time data such as – mileage, range, trip meter are comfortable placed. The Speedo and Rev counter look very modern, they are in rectangular pods as opposed to the usual circular pods. Since my test drive was during the day time, I cannot comment on the brightness of the lights.
I was also a bit disappointed to learn that his car was an automatic and not a manual, the real feeling of driving a sports car comes only with a manual gear box but that was the least of my gripes as I was really looking forward to my first test drive of bumblebee. I engaged the drive mode and set off the parking lot at an easy pace towards the main road. Once I hit the main road, I pushed the gas pedal a bit harder and the beasts in the engine started screaming before cutting lose. The drive was good, the acceleration was OK but not superb. His Camaro had a V6 engine and not a V8(SS/ZL1 version has a V8) so it didn’t have the muscle of a V8 motor. Although Chevy say that the car makes over 300hp(2010 model), I doubt if all of that power actually reaches the wheels. Since I didn’t drive above 50mph, and it being a new car, I did not get a chance to test the brakes, the steering was a bit too tight and if I remember it right there was a slight play in it but it was so little that it could be ignored. By far the most accurate steering wheel I had every laid my hands on was that of my grand old BMW.
After a couple of runs in front of the office, I returned the car to the parking lot and thanked Raj a million times for his good grace. I stepped out with mixed feelings of utter amazement at the car’s beauty and a bit of disbelief at the way it went.
The Chevrolet Camaro is a wonderful car to look at; a definite head turner and the ladies love it. Once you get inside the car, things are a bit different. Performance is OK and I felt as though Chevy could have done much better given that they make the Corvette and have all the engineering and technology at their disposal to build a great car.
In many ways I found the Camaro a bit impractical in today’s world where driving long distances is becoming more and more ubiquitous. It is OK to have this car in a garage that already has a sedan, but it may not be very prudent to make it an everyday commuter or a long distance GT car for the following reasons
1) The driver seat is not very comfortable
2) The visibility is sub par
3) The ride is stiff
4) The power is less than expected
5) The steering is fat and lazy
6) The trunk is too small
7) And finally, there a lack of the X-factor that separates ordinary from extra ordinary.
In the world of muscle cars, the Camaro may never out shine the Mustang but it has made a place for itself. The car would be a good buy for a moderately rich businessman who just needs a car for short weekend drives to the golf course or a bachelor looking to impress a beautiful lady. Whether you want to buy it or invest the same money in something more practical is totally up to you. The big question is - has the Camaro got a soul? I think it does, but it is hidden somewhere.
Drive Safe!