End of Era Near for Camaro, Firebird
Note: This is a story I decided to explore after seeing so many of these cars while doing stories in Eastern Contra Costa County. I thought it would be kind of funny, of course, but also with a strong news hook. I literally would chase after people I saw driving these cars to get the right interviews.
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
March 6, 2002
ANTIOCH -- Mary Negrette's 1975 Chevrolet Camaro is her sky-blue baby, her Rembrandt on wheels.
The 59-year-old Antioch adult-school teacher bought her sweet ride brand new, rolling it off the lot and into an era in which "muscle cars" were wildly popular symbols of power and speed.
More than 251,000 miles down the road, she continues to drive her car to work every day. Some people flinch; others offer to buy it.
"The Camaro is such a nice, sporty car. And you have to have the attitude to drive it," said Negrette, a petite woman wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses. "People always say, 'What do you think, that you own the road just because you drive a Camaro?' Well, yes."
Arrogant? Perhaps. But the people who climb behind the wheel of the Camaro and its closest relative -- the Pontiac Firebird -- are passionate and loyal drivers. They are every bit as quirky as the "screaming chicken" decal that graced the hoods of some older Firebirds.
Nonetheless, the Cambirds, as their legions of followers often call them, will soon vanish into the archives of automotive history.
With sales lagging like Burt Reynolds' career, the racer-styled cars will stop being produced in September when the Canadian plant at which they are built will close.
The startling disclosure by General Motors last year incited a wave of bitterness among fans that rippled across the nation. A Web site, savethecamaro.com, sprung up in cyberspace.
What would these people do now?
"There's been an obvious decline in the sports-car segment over the years and we've seen it happen," said Richard James, manager of corporate communications for GM in Canada.
"Consumers have shifted from these cars to the sport utility segment; the market shifted in that same direction."
Indeed, production of these rumbling relics of 1970s cool have steadily declined since their peak more than two decades ago. Last year, 35,453 Camaros were sold, which was down 16 percent from the previous year. Firebird sales plunged 17 percent, with 25,743 rolling off the plant and into a less receptive world.
The state Department of Motor Vehicles could not provide numbers or locations of registered Camaro and Firebird drivers statewide.
But while the cars may be considered a cultural faux pas in some parts of the Bay Area, they continue to fetch attention -- good and bad -- and seem to thrive in large numbers on the streets of East County.
Even as the region has become increasingly suburban, Firebirds and Camaros remain wildly popular community fixtures here. It's easy to spot a half-dozen or more on a short drive through Antioch.
Even state Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, owns a black Camaro Z28 convertible, which he bought about a year ago. Why?
"The Camaro, in general, caught my eye," he said. "I looked at a super fast one with aerodynamic features -- but it came down to a hardtop versus a convertible, which is more streamlined and sleek, without all the stuff on it."
Fair enough. "Sleek" and "stylish" are words that purists often use to describe the automobiles, which were created in the 1960s to compete in the growing "pony car" market.
The cars were produced in 1966 as 1967 models to challenge the celebrated Ford Mustang, which made its splashy debut at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Their sculpted bodies and high-performance engines -- some powered by V-8s -- attracted a wide range of curious motorists.
"The Camaro was so appealing because of its graceful curved lines as opposed to the straight, boxy lines of the '64 and '65 Mustang," said Brian Birkeland, the state spokesman for the Worldwide Camaro Association.
The Cambirds, however, will forever be linked to the 1970s, during which Reynolds starred in "Smokey and the Bandit." The 1977 film featured a stylish black Pontiac Trans Am, which captivated the minds of young adults everywhere.
"'Smokey' did it for me -- before that I had been looking at a Mustang," said James Prinzivalli of Antioch. "I had even looked at Gremlins. Why? I have no idea."
A year after the film was released, Firebird sales climbed to 188,212, their best performance.
Still, Prinzivalli ended up buying a 1976 Camaro for about $3,200, a car whose lime-green color and houndstooth check cloth interior inspired widespread ridicule around Concord High School.
In 1985, he purchased his first Trans Am, a red 155-horsepower model, and he began to slip into the cult-like culture of Firebird mania.
"After I bought that, I was hooked," said the 39-year-old Web developer and father of two. "I ate, breathed and slept Trans Am."
Soon, he found himself joining the Trans Am Club of America's chapter in Sacramento, a membership-based organization founded in 1969.
A former club president, Prinzivalli now owns two Trans Ams, including a 1993 model, as well as a minivan that he would rather not talk about.
He regularly competes in Firebird shows and races, some of which occur on regular streets with little prior warning.
One of his license plates is a custom-made introduction to rev your engine: It reads V8XLR8S.
One afternoon, he found himself at a stop light at Oak Grove and Willow Pass roads. He looked over and spotted a Corvette. The light turned green.
"I just punched it," Prinzivalli said. "But he wasn't playing. He stayed back. But at one point, when I was doing about 30 or 40 mph, he decided to do a blow-by. I don't know what he was thinking."
Prinzivalli believes that, even if the Firebird never returns, it will occupy a respectable place in automotive history.
"In 30 or 40 years at some car show," he said, "will people get excited about a Toyota Camry? I don't think so."
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
March 6, 2002
ANTIOCH -- Mary Negrette's 1975 Chevrolet Camaro is her sky-blue baby, her Rembrandt on wheels.
The 59-year-old Antioch adult-school teacher bought her sweet ride brand new, rolling it off the lot and into an era in which "muscle cars" were wildly popular symbols of power and speed.
More than 251,000 miles down the road, she continues to drive her car to work every day. Some people flinch; others offer to buy it.
"The Camaro is such a nice, sporty car. And you have to have the attitude to drive it," said Negrette, a petite woman wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses. "People always say, 'What do you think, that you own the road just because you drive a Camaro?' Well, yes."
Arrogant? Perhaps. But the people who climb behind the wheel of the Camaro and its closest relative -- the Pontiac Firebird -- are passionate and loyal drivers. They are every bit as quirky as the "screaming chicken" decal that graced the hoods of some older Firebirds.
Nonetheless, the Cambirds, as their legions of followers often call them, will soon vanish into the archives of automotive history.
With sales lagging like Burt Reynolds' career, the racer-styled cars will stop being produced in September when the Canadian plant at which they are built will close.
The startling disclosure by General Motors last year incited a wave of bitterness among fans that rippled across the nation. A Web site, savethecamaro.com, sprung up in cyberspace.
What would these people do now?
"There's been an obvious decline in the sports-car segment over the years and we've seen it happen," said Richard James, manager of corporate communications for GM in Canada.
"Consumers have shifted from these cars to the sport utility segment; the market shifted in that same direction."
Indeed, production of these rumbling relics of 1970s cool have steadily declined since their peak more than two decades ago. Last year, 35,453 Camaros were sold, which was down 16 percent from the previous year. Firebird sales plunged 17 percent, with 25,743 rolling off the plant and into a less receptive world.
The state Department of Motor Vehicles could not provide numbers or locations of registered Camaro and Firebird drivers statewide.
But while the cars may be considered a cultural faux pas in some parts of the Bay Area, they continue to fetch attention -- good and bad -- and seem to thrive in large numbers on the streets of East County.
Even as the region has become increasingly suburban, Firebirds and Camaros remain wildly popular community fixtures here. It's easy to spot a half-dozen or more on a short drive through Antioch.
Even state Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, owns a black Camaro Z28 convertible, which he bought about a year ago. Why?
"The Camaro, in general, caught my eye," he said. "I looked at a super fast one with aerodynamic features -- but it came down to a hardtop versus a convertible, which is more streamlined and sleek, without all the stuff on it."
Fair enough. "Sleek" and "stylish" are words that purists often use to describe the automobiles, which were created in the 1960s to compete in the growing "pony car" market.
The cars were produced in 1966 as 1967 models to challenge the celebrated Ford Mustang, which made its splashy debut at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Their sculpted bodies and high-performance engines -- some powered by V-8s -- attracted a wide range of curious motorists.
"The Camaro was so appealing because of its graceful curved lines as opposed to the straight, boxy lines of the '64 and '65 Mustang," said Brian Birkeland, the state spokesman for the Worldwide Camaro Association.
The Cambirds, however, will forever be linked to the 1970s, during which Reynolds starred in "Smokey and the Bandit." The 1977 film featured a stylish black Pontiac Trans Am, which captivated the minds of young adults everywhere.
"'Smokey' did it for me -- before that I had been looking at a Mustang," said James Prinzivalli of Antioch. "I had even looked at Gremlins. Why? I have no idea."
A year after the film was released, Firebird sales climbed to 188,212, their best performance.
Still, Prinzivalli ended up buying a 1976 Camaro for about $3,200, a car whose lime-green color and houndstooth check cloth interior inspired widespread ridicule around Concord High School.
In 1985, he purchased his first Trans Am, a red 155-horsepower model, and he began to slip into the cult-like culture of Firebird mania.
"After I bought that, I was hooked," said the 39-year-old Web developer and father of two. "I ate, breathed and slept Trans Am."
Soon, he found himself joining the Trans Am Club of America's chapter in Sacramento, a membership-based organization founded in 1969.
A former club president, Prinzivalli now owns two Trans Ams, including a 1993 model, as well as a minivan that he would rather not talk about.
He regularly competes in Firebird shows and races, some of which occur on regular streets with little prior warning.
One of his license plates is a custom-made introduction to rev your engine: It reads V8XLR8S.
One afternoon, he found himself at a stop light at Oak Grove and Willow Pass roads. He looked over and spotted a Corvette. The light turned green.
"I just punched it," Prinzivalli said. "But he wasn't playing. He stayed back. But at one point, when I was doing about 30 or 40 mph, he decided to do a blow-by. I don't know what he was thinking."
Prinzivalli believes that, even if the Firebird never returns, it will occupy a respectable place in automotive history.
"In 30 or 40 years at some car show," he said, "will people get excited about a Toyota Camry? I don't think so."
posted by Corey at 9:46 AM
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