I was over at nethirdgen.org and I noticed that some1 posted this http://sptimes.com/News/092801/Colum...o_dated_.shtml

I've never heard any1 sound so stupid in my life. Just little things like this

"Young drivers -- if they've heard of Camaro and Firebird at all -- are too busy shopping for trendy Volkswagen Passats or Honda Civics with decent gas mileage to worry about how much rubber they can burn getting from zero to 60 on I-275"

and this one really gets me

"Ever since, it's pretty much been a slow downhill run for two very dated, gas-guzzling sports cars."

I dont know about you but I'm not going to buy an SS Camaro because its good on gas.




------------------
1988 Sport Coupe 305 TBI
K&N
Flowmaster 80


Daily driver:
1988 K1500 5.7 4x4 shortbed flowmaster cat-back gutted cat.
AOL: RyanNH84

 

I'd really like to whip out a piece of old 2X12 from the basement right now and beat the dog schitt out of that guy. What a tree-hugging, panty-wearing, dookey-eating, spineless, ballsless, lame-a$$ mamma's boy wimp. I'd rather GM "nurse" the Camaro and Firebird along than have to "nurse" some mickey-mouse car around since I can't buy one with some size and power anymore. And I'm getting damned tired of all these "intellectuals" (e.g. - automotive writers) bashing GM in general, when most of them probably don't know an oil filter from a Crescent wrench.

Sorry, but this bubba's gotta vent !

Non-tech, lock it before I preach again!!!

------------------
1990 IROC 350
Mods: Too busy trying to make it run right to mod it.
Airfoil, Dynomax cat-back, MSD coil, 180 t-stat, Bald Eagle tires,
Hypertech fan switch, Accel 23# injectors, Holley module, ported plenum,
Ported Daytona Yellow stock base, Moroso valve covers, other stuff,
Streetdampr, Ruger P95DC, hot wife, new oil filter, !cats, !TBC, !AIR.
18.0 @ 85MPH since I'm one big-a$$ MF
"It's better to have and not need than to need and not have."

 

I think I will e-mail him with a piece of my mind, I think everyone should join in, if we just let people like this make fun of the F-bodies then Gm will never have them return.
Authours e-mail
trigaux@sptimes.com


------------------
1987 Black 305 TPI 5spd IROC, seems to be fully loaded, but can't find RPO codes.

AIM: IROC 5spd
http://www.geocities.com/chevy5spdiroc/87Roc.htm

 

I already E-mailed him

 

An email I've sent to the author:
--------------------------------

Hello Mr. Trigaux,

I have a few questions and comments regarding your article published on September 28th, 2001, concerning the production halt of F-Bodies announced by GM.

Your article references GM's "tendency to nurse along yesteryear's models," yet I'm wondering why you neglected to incur that same false-logic when you cited that the F-Bodies direct competition, the Mustang, can also be just as appropriately be called a result of a nursed model from yesteryear?

I would certainly believe that your calling the cars dangerous has little, or more like nothing, to do with the cars themselves, but more with their class. You did have the insight to state that the death rates "reflect both the performance capabilities of the sports cars and the risk-taking characteristics of many of their drivers," but your editorial could also have benefited from a statement on where the Mustang falls into that, as well as the Corvette, and any other car that falls into the sports or performance car class. The elimination of that class will, in my opinion, never happen, as there will always be demand for performance. I have to believe that the "hiatus," as GM calls it, of the F-Bodies is more inline with the marketing efforts that Ford has put forth with their Thunderbird (another very successful seller from yesteryear), which has also been yanked from, with plans to be brought back to, production.

And as for the age of the drivers, I can tell that the age of drivers of these cars spans about the same demographic range as that of milk-drinkers. I bought my Trans Am at 18 and still own and love it (some years later). And I'm equally interested in the more 'modern', economical car that you seem to favor in your writing. People, regardless of their era or age, enjoy weekend (or weekday) recreation. The older (and wealthier) might opt for the Ferrari, but the root of the interest is certainly the same. Once a car lover always a car lover …

Cheers!

------------------
'89 TA - 5.7 TPI (L05, was originally a 305TPI), T5-WC, 3.08 Posi (Drum)

 

Well i wasn't that nice...Here is my letter:
______________________________________
Dear Mr. Robert Trigaux,

As a huge GM fanatic and the owner of a 1987 Camaro, I found your column despicable. To bash two of the biggest American automobile symbols like you did was very ignorant. I figure that you are probably the one driving the "Explorers, Jeeps -- and yes -- Chrysler minivans." while the original hot rodders of the 60s and 70s still have their prize possession. Ever been to a Hot Rod Power Tour? Plenty of elderly people driving Camaros, Firebirds, Impalas, and other older cars, not those HIGHLY DANGEROUS SUVs like you mentioned. To touch on a few subjects:

"The more modern reputation of the Camaro and Firebird is far less nostalgic. For years, they have had the highest death rates of all sports cars in single-vehicle crashes. The Camaro's driver death rate during calendar years 1992-96 was almost three times as high as the average. The single-vehicle death rates, including high rollover rates despite low centers of gravity, reflect both the performance capabilities of the sports cars and the risk-taking characteristics of many of their drivers, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "

Excuse me, but have you not figured out there are far more stupid people in this world than bad cars? To blame a car for somebodys own stupidty is downright wrong. The Camaro never failed on the guy who drove the speed limit to work, and it never failed to the people who had enough common sense to not drive like idiots. To say that the Camaro, in other words, is an unsafe car that is a gas guzzler, and then to not comment on the trendy SUVs, is ignorant. How many rollovers are on the Ford and Dodge line of SUVs? After all, the Dodge Durango was voted last year as the most unsafe SUV. So, you tell me. Would you trust a Dodge Durango or a Chevrolet Camaro in going in the handling department?

I believe that before you write an article bashing a symbol such as these GM products, you should look a little more closely at the subject. In 2004, when the Camaro and Firebird do come back, I hope you are alive to see this event, because the name, nor the car, will never die. So please follow the standard of behavior:If you have nothing good to say, don't say nothing at all.

Sincerly,
Justin Tyler
______________________________________

I hate stupid people.

------------------
1987 Camaro Sport Coupe 305 V8 LG4-rebuilt-All Stock.

 

Hey Guys, how do you thnk I feel, I live on the West coast of Florida, and get the St. Petersburg times. I read that article in the paper the other day. That guy is a Human Life Sized Sphincter. I am glad that you all wrote to him. He just wishes he had had a F-body instead of the Isuzu he is driving.
later
Mike

------------------
Check out My Car Pics http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/Albu...667&a=13599419

Gran Turismo Americano "The Ultimate Firebird"
Smokin 1989 GTA- Bone stock except for exhaust. (no catalytic-stainless pipe into Flowmaster 2 chamber) & AC Delco Rapid Fire Plugs

 

nice to see all these letters

 

I emailed him last week. It's been posted on several boards already, I'm sure this guy has had an earload. But hey, give him more, he doesn't know what the truth is.

------------------
'86 IROC 5-speed
305 LG4
edelbrock performer rpm intake
edelbrock 600 cfm carb
msd pro billet hei distributer
'95 3.23 rearend
hotchkis rear suspension
PST front polygraphite suspension
"speed kills. buy a f@&d, live forever."

 

I sympathize, but this discussion should really be moved to NEThirdGen.org, since it isn't truly technical. Besides, we can swear...

Incidentally, you'll find my letter there...

------------------
Later,
Vader
------------------
Justice and Freedom will Prevail
Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

What the hell? I'd rather walk twenty miles to school than drive a ***** or VW. Uphill both ways, and in the snow with no shoes. I really don't appreciate that generalization about us young people. Yeah, I've heard of a Camaro, and no I'm not trying to be trendy - I'd rather fly past the VW's and Civics while I'm getting 5 mpg in my CAMARO than be "trendy." Maybe he's just pissed at young people in general because some punk in a supra beat him at a light.

 

I suppose the movie 'The Fast & The Furious' and the beloved term 'ricers' escaped his keep perception,,, hello.

And I'm certainly ashamed to own my gas guzzling 36mpg highway firebird when all those gas thrifty SUV's are running around.

Some people are just don't need to talk about cars.

I shall leave you with some food for thought from autoextremist.com now....

"General Motors. GM announced the closing of the Ste. Therese, Quebec, assembly plant one year from now - which means 2002 will be the last model year for the Camaro/Firebird at least for the foreseeable future. GM blamed the demise of the two "pony" cars on a 53 percent decline in the sports car market since 1990, and said that the popularity of sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks were ultimately responsible for the decision. Of course, we all know that's unmitigated bull****. GM hemmed and hawed and waffled their way into a self-fulfilling prophecy about these two great American cars and systematically killed them off all by themselves. Sales got soft, yes, but instead of buckling down and reinventing the two cars like Ford did so well with the Mustang, GM, in typical, fashion blamed the planets, sun spots, the Japanese and you name it for the Camaro/Firebird demise - everyone and everything but their own inept and clueless management "expertise" - while systematically choking development money off from ever reaching these two most deserving cars. We know because we were there. We watched as the marketing money for the Camaro dwindled down to nothing - and then listened as managers chastised the car for being "dead in the water." A sad end to a glorious chapter in automotive history and one of the most glaring pieces of evidence as to why GM finds themselves in such a sorry state today."

------------------

• my Formula Homepage
• Collision P/Ns & Diagrams (Nearly complete now!)

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach
you to keep your mouth shut."