[motorhead]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

First question is: why? What would you get with a Chevelle that wouldn't be accomplished better with a Camaro? Don't just say it would look different, because every car looks different. And you can't say it would look better because a) looks are generally subjective and b) we have no clue what either car would look like anyways. If its going to be larger, it would therefore be more expensive, heavier, and slower than an otherwise similar Camaro. Not exactly a selling point, IMO.

So again: why?

If you're replacing the Camaro with the Chevelle, it would have to out-sell it (or at least, profit x sales would need to be bigger), otherwise it would never have the slightest hope of happening. But given the challenges I mentioned above, what are the advantages it would have? More room in the back? So what. Its still going to be cramped, uncomfortable & awkward in the back by virtue of it being a 2 door. Are there a couple hundred thousand people out there who absolutely refuse to buy a Camaro but are more than willing to plunk down 40 grand on a Chevelle? I'm don't believe so.



The best way I can see of getting a larger RWD coupe would be to revive the Monte Carlo. That doesn't eliminate all the issues associated with the Chevelle, but it at least opens up different avenues of approach which would help to distinguish it from the Camaros it would be sold along side. First would be to remain faithful to its 'personal luxury coupe' niche. Give it all the little niceties that people complained that they couldn't get with the Camaro. That also gives GM the excuse to charge a larger premium for it.

Secondly, I think it would be easier to rework a Monte Carlo as a Buick (say Riviera or Grand National). Since the name plate has been around in various forms over the last ~40 years, it is less clearly defined as to how it should look. But with Chevelle, it must look like the cars from the late 60s/early 70s otherwise most of the people who might have bought one would be up in arms (see 2004 GTO) and the car declared a failure.

Now, in my opinion its a stonger case for a new Monte ... but its still pretty weak overall. Fact is, there just isn't much of a market for coupes or performance. Most of what there is is taken up by the Camaro & Mustang. With either the Chevelle or Monte Carlo, even if they were sold along side the Camaro, most of their sales would come from the Camaro. Anything thats left would be just a small incremental gain & probably not worth the billion dollar investment required to make it a reality.


You do understand that the Malibu outsells the Camaro by around 2.5 : 1, right? And exiting the midsize family sedan market would be insane. Besides, killing the Malibu in favour of the Chevelle would severely mess with GM's CAFE scores.

All good points, but sometimes throwing out the rule book is what you need to do. Why build a 707hp family car? Because you can. Dodge themselves have stated that there is no business model for the Hellcat Charger other than to get focus on the brand. I think a car like a Chevelle would be good for keeping the eye on GM. I certainly wouldn't replace the Camaro with it though. I would love to have another two door option. I know it will never happen because if the things you state too.