Why did you buy your Camaro?? Tale of a Mid Life Crisis

[Ruebernard]

Hell, why limit yourself to one midlife crisis? I've had four. I must say, my Camaro has been the most enjoyable!!!!!

[Dave Coyle]

Almost exactly like you, I am 56 (bought my New Camaro Aug. 2009) and when I laid my eyes on this model at the Detroit auto show around 2004 I knew I would have one! I saved every dime I could and waited year after year until they finally said you could order them and I ordered exactly what I wanted! I married at 19, raised a family of 2 girls and one boy, sent 2 of them through college (middle one didn't want to go) spent money on sports, clothes for sports gas to travel all over the state for Cheerleading events, basketball tournaments, baseball playoffs, etc. and never complained about one time! I loved my kids (still do) and gave up everything for them. They had all moved out by the time I bought my "baby" and it was coming close to my 50th b-day so I thought, I owe myself a Great birthday present! Of course my wife thought that if I was going to get such a GREAT B-day present, she should get one too. Soooooo.....I took the money I had saved for the car, added a 20X20 family room with wrap-around deck onto the house for her (I actually like it too) refinanced the house to pay for my Camaro and we both had very nice presents that we both desirved for going without all those years! And THAT is how I got my Camaro.

[Kman13RSSS]

I had an 07 street glide that I wasn't riding much since my daughter came along. She comes to work with me everyday and my inlaws meet me and take her for the day. Toyed with selling it but after a ride would change my mind. I was dicking around online one day and went to build another camaro and found out the IOM color wasn't offered in 14. We went to dealership to look at them with car seats in tow to find out that yes they fit but we were 2 weeks past the ordering deadline for 13's. It had to be the IOM as I have a 67 RS/SS in hugger orange that I wanted to match. My wife said if we get one it has to be convertable. Giving up the bike was worth the vert in my mind. Anyways the dealership found us one in New Jersey and went to get it. I traded them the bike, paid off remainder of wife's 4runner and drove home in our new family car. Now we have a 10 week old to go with the 2.5 year old and come spring we can take it on family trips where the bike would be sitting in the garage if it was still here. And I'm only 32 so hopefully too young for midlife crisis car. That will probably be a vet or Shelby cobra.

[SVThis]

My midlife crisis stated when I was about 18. My first car was a 68 Road Runner. I have owned many cool ass cars over the years, many of which I wish I still had . I'm 60 now and have never regretted a day. I'm not done yet either.

[FloridaBill]

Had been driving Toyota 4x4's for over 20 years.... Fell in love with the throwback Camaro concepts that started making the rounds in the mid 2000's long before the car became a reality. My Tacoma started having gremlin type issues earlier this year and stranded me one night, and the next day I was at the Chevy Dealer.

Never thought about the mid life crisis angle, but the shoe does fit.... I turn 50 next Wednesday.

[Red2014SS]

I've owned the car for a month now and I am sooo happy that I bought it. Mid-life crisis or not, it's the coolest car I've ever owned and I can't wait to drive it every day.

[blackoutVIII]

My story went like this, "Babe you want a new car as a graduation present from college?" The rest is history!!

But now any mention of trading in the 2SS for a ZL1 and it's no, I dont want to start another car payment!!!!

[Chris1SS1LE]

With my age people probably think that, but really I was tired of spending months and years building performance cars from scratch. I built my mustang GT road racer from a roller and my cobra drag car from my ex-daily driver. Having two performance cars meant twice the maintenance and sometimes both have an issue. I spent less time driving then it also took a toll on the family time. So I decided to sell it all and buy a performance car that could to all what I want and just enjoy the drive. The GT was like my kid, we been together a long time and was a lot of first, nothing like building a car and driving it that first time. I remember that way better then popping my cherry as a teen.

I sold the GT at a loss as usual when you build with quality. But I took that money that evening to a chevy dealer and ordered my 1LE to Spec. They told me I had 6-8 weeks till it arrived. Now at home I had the complete driveline including IRS torn apart in the garage. It had to be assembled, tested, sold before the 1LE arrived. But not just thrown together, cause I take pride in my builds. So with help of friends we put it back together, did some test runs and it was great. The camaro was born June 7th and they said it would be two weeks. The cobra been on the ground 4 days. I was starting to think I might have to trade it in, which is going to kill with the mods. So I listed it on a local facebook car sale page friday nite and 8am the next day somebody called and said they would be there today to buy it.

So I sold the cobra for $2000 less then I bought it 5 years and 50K miles ago. Which I thought was good.

I also sold lots of parts and some specialized equipment. So I also got a supplier discount, military discount, and chevy special offer.

I searched for a year from BMW M3, 135 Msport, Nissan 370Z Nismo, 96-98 Porsche Carrera, '08-'10 Z06, '12-13 Boss 302 & Laguna Seca, Challenger SRT-8, Porsche Cayman.

I created a excel file that had each car, cost, mileage, modification cost, wheel and tire cost, broke it down between used car and new car interest rates.

It came down to BMW 135 Msport used, New 370Z Nismo, & New 1LE

all three equally priced, mod cost was very high on the 135 plus it didn't come with a limited slip and CAN'T be installed. They have welded diffs, you have to replace the entire axle assembly just for limited slip and gears.

Nismo was fun with the auto rev match, but to get decent power it would require a turbo or blower and cost was high and reliability low.

1LE - 400+ horse out of the box, handling kit - done, larger wheels and tires - done, recaro race seats - done, exhaust system - done

People do act like I must be spending my whole paycheck on the car, but my car payment is less then what most people spend going out to lunch for a month.

[Scotty D]

Because I wanted a C7 and couldn't afford it . So I see a 2012 ZL1 with 3500 miles and was like hell yea ! Until I turned around and seen my baby staring at me ! A 2014 SS/RS 1le red rock metallic & that was it ! Drove her and I was hooked . I know it dosent have the power of the ZL1 but it will .hehe ... And oh yea . I'm 41 single with no kids . Wanted something fun again

[Quicksilver-SS]

Well, I'm 53 and have never owned a boring car.
I started out with a 72 Firebird, then a built LT1 73 Z/28 M22, 3:73. I then got a 1 of 4629 75 Corvette roadster and then a nice 79 Z/28 t-top car, and later a 86 IROC Z. Next comes a 91 S-10,4.3, black and chrome that I put some performance and appearance up grades to. Next was a S-10 Blazer with the Xtreme package for a short while. I then got a 1 of 1103 Arrival Blue Silverado SS awd that I still miss. I had to get rid of it because of a 90 mile round commute that was forced upon me. I traded that SSS for a Saturn Sky, a pretty rare car as only 12-13,000 were made per year for only 3 years. The Sky is what I traded for my 2014 1SS/RS M6 in Red hot with Silver stripes. Man I love this car and my commute is only 23 miles round trip now.
So, it not really a mid life crisis...just a way of life that I enjoyed at an earlier age and now continue to do so.

[bcthode]

My wife wanted a convertible so we pulled up what was available, Gen 5 caught her eye and I said, well then it needs to be at least 2SS and needs to have the RS package so let's see what is out there. Found a Crystal Red, vert, L99, Airaid cold air intake,ported throttle body, American Racing long tube headers, Borla exhaust and Dynos out at 390 rwhp. Flew from Cincy to ATL Saturday morning and put it in Alpheretta's Cafene and Octane car show on Sunday morning before sunrise. Drove back to Cincinnati that afternoon. Her name is Charlott our little southern bell. She had been a fun ride ever since.

[Huntaholic]

A mid life crisis? HARDLY! LOL. My first car was a 72 Chevelle SS. AFter that we have owned: 84 Z28, 2000 SS, 96 Formula, 06 GTO, and now the 14 SS. I had better things to do to call it a mid life crisis besides buying a car!

[pickwithaustin]

Someone said that to me once, "Midlife crisis?" I thought to myself, "Boy, you sure are an idiot." I have had performance cars all of my life. When I was 16 my dad would only let me buy a Pinto, with money I had earned from working. I wanted something faster, so within a year I'd had the motor pulled and a V-8 inside her. By 18 I had my first Camaro. Since them, around 80 different cars have followed. Other than that Pinto, I've only had one other 4 cylinder vehicle in my life, and that was more recently (Solstice). I'm on my 7th or 8th Corvette (this one is a keeper) and have had probably 10 Camaro's over the years. My wife suggested we get a Camaro again, so we did. Had nothing to do with age or crisis. I have lived every day the way I wanted and feel sorry for those who have a crisis and need something to make them feel young again. I suggest never letting yourself get "old" in the first place.

[jdsblueray2013]

Originally Posted by FloridaBill

Had been driving Toyota 4x4's for over 20 years.... Fell in love with the throwback Camaro concepts that started making the rounds in the mid 2000's long before the car became a reality. My Tacoma started having gremlin type issues earlier this year and stranded me one night, and the next day I was at the Chevy Dealer.

Never thought about the mid life crisis angle, but the shoe does fit.... I turn 50 next Wednesday.