AN "OLD" GUY RELIVES THE CAMARO LIFE STYLE

My "NEW" 1994 Camaro - May 2005

This is my "new" 1994 Camaro that I bought in January 2005. At least it's new to me! It's the second Camaro I have ever owned.

This web site will serve to show that no matter how old you get, you can still act like a little kid and have fun. I am proud to say that I have never had a problem with accomplishing that level of childishness! It just comes naturally to me - even at age 50+!

So read on and learn about an OLD guy who decided to relive his "younger days" - and who was harrassed - and humiliated - and laughed all the way through it!

Larry Matthews

I also discuss the history of the Camaro, and its possible future, at the bottom of this web page.

ABOUT MY OLD '69 CAMARO!

The car pictured above is exactly the way my 1969 Camaro looked. I had to borrow this photo from a certain source because any photos of my old car have miraculously disappeared over the years. (Musta been due to the divorce years ago).

I really loved that car and it has to be the only car I have ever owned that I wished I had never sold. (traded it in during a fit of insanity for a 1974 Chevy Vega. Now THAT'S insanity!)

I bought the "69 Camaro in the spring of 1973 for $1,900.00 in Oroville, California right after I got back from 'Nam the second time. I had actually been looking for a '71 Plymouth Barracuda but could not find one. Fortunately I found the Camaro and I have never regretted it.

It had no air conditioning and wasn't that high powered. It had automatic transmission, so you could not say it was a real hot rod. But it was really a lot of fun for a single 22 year old to cruise around the San Francisco Bay area and later Butte County, California. A real nice car that I kept until about 1978.

Two things caused me to sell the car. One was my dad, who was an auto mechanic and he told me that even though it looked great, it needed a lot of engine work. The other was an incident in the Summer of 1975 when the Camaro was rear ended on Highway 99. Fortunately I was not hurt but the crash ended up smashing both the front and back end of the car.

I had been stopped at a construction zone for the new Butte College overpass and when I was rear ended by a white Valiant it drove me into the back of a Cadillac. Needless to say it ended up shortening my Camaro by about a foot! After reconstruction, mechanically the car worked fine, but it rattled a lot. A few years later I broke down and traded it in for the unfortunate, previously mentioned, Vega.

So from 1978 to 2005 I missed that great car. I even saw one at Yuba City High School a few years ago that looked just like it. It was driven by a 17 year old high school student and the sight of it ticked me off! Look at that spoiled brat, who's father probably bought that car for him, driving MY car! So you can see I had some issues left over!

So it took until 2005 for me to really look for another Camaro and I think I picked a real good one!

The '94 near the Sutter Buttes in Sutter County, California.

WHAT IS THIS? MY 5TH "MID-LIFE CRISIS"?

No, it's not a "Mid Life Crisis" that I decided to buy a Camaro at my age. What it's about is that I always wanted another one and the time seemed right. Unfortunately, EVERYBODY at work, most of my "friends", and even my wife have given me nothing but hassle about this. "Oh look! Larry must be having a mid life crisis. He must be having to make up for some "lack" or he wouldn't have bought that racy car!"

How wrong they are! I just like the way it looks and it does allow me to relive some automotive excitement.

As an example of the hassle I have had to endure, I received the following "greeting" card from my friends Scott and Judy:

Yeah, and the guy looks just like me too, right!?

ABOUT THE '94

Here's the Camaro the day I got it back from the paint shop! Could not be happier with it!

I bought the '94 Camaro from Darryl, a "Motley Crue" fan from Magalia, California. He sent me several photos of it via e-mail. One showed the car with about a foot of snow on it.

He brought it down one Saturday night in January and I fell in love with it. It has everything that the '69 did not: It's the right color - red - plus it has a 5 speed. It also has a decent sound system. Unfortunately, I recently found out that the car needs a new air conditioning condensor. The cost of replacement is not worth it so I will just have to "grit my teeth and enjoy the warmth" during summertime.

It also had some other problems: the paint was not real perfect under the front end cover plus there were a few areas where the clear coat was wearing off.

During the first month I had the car I added new seat covers, mats and new sun visors. I also fixed some problems with the power windows and lights.

Then on February 23rd I decided to dump the old, worn out Wolf front end cover and had a new coat of paint put on the Camaro. Now, essentially, I have a new car!

In the Fall of 2005 I decided that I really liked the look of a front end cover on the car so I bought a new LeBra. Looks great!

All in all, it's a great car - fun to drive and great to look at - and it's great to be back in the "Camaro Lifestyle".

Even our cat Sammy loves to ride in the Camaro. I have NO IDEA why she is sticking her tongue out!

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CAMARO AND THE PENDING FIFTH GENERATION

The 1967 Rally Sport Camaro.

The Camaro was in production for the years of 1967 through 2002. The first 1967 Camaro rolled off the line on September 29, 1966.

During its 35 years of production there were 4 different "generations" produced; The first from 1967 through 1969. The second from 1970 through 1981. The third from 1982 through 1992 and the fourth from 1993 through 2002.

I had the luck of owning Camaros from what I consider to be the best generations; the first and the fourth. The second generation I consider to be the least attractive. I was shocked, in 1970, to see such a drastic change in the Camaro. I consider the 1970 through 1977 Camaros to be rather ponderous looking; much less sleek than the first generation. I did see an improvement, however, beginning in 1978 and lasting though the rest of that generation. Certainly the last half of the second generation was much sleeker looking.

I consider the third generation as being a good looking series of automobiles. But the fourth really came out and stayed looking modern and sleek and a bit more like the first generation.

Size wise, how did the Camaro change? For example, the dimensions of the 1969 Camaro were as follows: Length - 186.0 inches, Height - 51.1 inches, Width - 74.0 inches and Wheelbase - 108.0 inches.

The dimensions of the 1994 Camaro are: Length - 193.2 inches, Height - 51.3 inches, Width - 74.1 inches and Wheelbase - 101.1 inches.

Inside, the Camaros are about the same, size wise. However in the 1969 Camaro you were lucky to get a spare tire (and a six pack of beer) in the trunk. In the 1994, which is a hatchback, there is a lot more room. Looks like the designers made good use of that extra 7 inches!

Production wise, there was a big difference: There were 243,085 1969 Camaros produced and there were 119,799 1994 Camaros produced.

1969 Camaros were built in Van Nuys, California and Norwood, Ohio.

1994 Camaros were all built in Ste. Therese, Montreal, Canada.

Selling price for a 1969 Camaro was around $2,800.00.

Selling price for a 1994 Camaro was around $13,500.00.

I am proud to own one of what I consider to be the greatest American sports cars ever made.

Recently a Camaro Concept Car was unveiled. I have heard it may be produced in 2009. It looks pretty good but who knows what types of changes will occur between then and now:

Several years ago another Camaro Concept Car was proposed. I actually like its style better:

Whatever General Motors finally produces, it is inspiring to know that we will someday again have NEW Camaros cruising across the landscape.

However, any new Fifth Generation of Camaros has big shoes to fill.