The Chevrolet Camaro was GM’s answer to the ever-increasing popularity of the Mustang, both being all-American muscle cars to boot. When quizzed as to what a “Camaro” was, GM’s Pete Estes, at one of the largest press conferences of the time said that “it was a small vicious animal that eats Mustangs for breakfast.”
Unlike the Ford Mustang that has been nigh well unstoppable, at least production-wise since 1964, the Chevrolet Camaro was taken off the market in 2002 and then reintroduced in a fantastic new avatar in 2009. While it has a dedicated and loyal fan base, it could not eat the Mustang for breakfast with over 10 million Mustangs sold to some 5 million Camaros. Of course, the Camaro arrived late, in 1966 and took a five-year hiatus as well, in case you want to give it an excuse. That said; these 15 pictures are prime examples of what not to do to a Camaro, ever!
15 Too High A Reach For A Camaro Convertible
If the 32-inch Forgiato wheels this poor 2016 Chevy Camaro is riding on hurt your eyes, you have Corey Jones of the Crusader Customs to blame. Other than turning the Camaro into an unrecognizable monster, he admitted that doing this made the ride quality of the Camaro go down, decreased its turning radius and also set him back a hefty sum.
14 A Strangely Treated Monstrous Camaro
Other than putting on monster wheels and a roof-mounted light bar on a Camaro and making it more muscular than ever, the owner put on a strange patina on this one, more akin to video game cars than real life. The Internet is split on whether this is a vinyl wrap or a Copperfaux paint treatment. Either way, we pass.
13 The Camaro That Leaves Four Rubber Stripes
In case you are wondering as to why this peculiarly bedecked Camaro seems to have an extra fat behind, it's because (surprise, surprise) it’s a dually. Meaning, instead of the traditional two rear wheels every car has, this one has four, apparently for extra traction and also because it is owned by an extra rich UAE Camaro fan named Abdullah Al Ali.
12 Far Too Much Bling On One Poor Camaro
We understand the need to go flashy when one is finally able to achieve their teenage dream of the ultimate car, but do they have to go the gold way on any car, let alone a Camaro? A Camaro is a good looking car and muscly enough to catch eyes. Wrapping it up in gold is just overkill.
11 A Popsicle Car To Ease The Summer In
The first thing that comes to mind when you see this Camaro is a popsicle, in flavors of raspberry, orange, and lime. The second thing that strikes you is what in heaven’s name is going on with the rims? And the final thought is why would anyone kill their Camaro by doing such unspeakable things to it?
10 Couldn’t Decide Between A Truck And A Camaro
The owner of a two-door Chevy S-10 truck wanted to have both a Camaro and a Vette. So, disturbingly, he added the front end of a Camaro and the back end of a Vette, to the S10 itself. With far too many wings to make any sense, he tried to sell it for $10,000. Unsurprisingly, he found no takers, but his Camaro-Corvette S10 is now the butt of some a million Internet memes.
9 Presenting, The Camette
Considering the Camaro reinvented itself in 2009 and was a big draw, custom car maker Caccia Ghepardo decided to jump into the fray and present a Corvette-Camaro blend at the SEMA 2009, and its burned on our eyeballs forever. Strangely though, it looks like something from a Cadillac line up.
8 The “Hot Wheel’d” Camaro
This is what happens when little boys are given too many Hot Wheels to play with. They grow up (kind of), buy a 1969 classic Camaro, and kill it by making it their version of a performance car. Finally, they end up painting/wrapping the car in flames all over to make it exude the maximum amount of machoism, without realizing how ridiculous it looks.
7 A Camaro For The Monster Derby Lovers
Once upon a time, there were monster trucks, which were trucks, mind you, running on the most massive of tires. Then someone decided to make monster cars as well, and it all went topsy turvy. Here’s a prime example of a 1987 I-ROC Z28 Camaro being killed off in the name of sport, on unspeakable tires and too bright a yellow.
6 The Very “Swift” Camaro In Purple Neon
Sadly, whatever good looks this ‘90s Camaro had have been ruined by the psychedelic purple paint job, those neon pink seats, and those massive wheels. The perfect way to ruin a Camaro for good.
5 Another Wacko Paint Job That Does Nothing
As we said before, we understand the excitement people feel when they finally get their hands on a dream ride. But we still do not get paint jobs like these, where there is too much happening altogether for anyone to make sense of the chaos. To do this to a 1989 I-ROC Z28 Camaro is blasphemy.
4 Started Right But Gone So Very, Very Wrong
We do love the candy apple paint on the Camaro here, and it has been done pretty well. But post that, the butterfly doors with the anchor ropes and points in place just killed the car for us, as did the stripes and badges piled on as an afterthought. What a way to ruin a convertible Camaro.
3 A Camaro That Very Badly Wants To Upgrade
Take a Camaro and put in a Bosozuko kit on it, replete with side panels that look sporty but do nothing for the performance of the car. Give it a decent paint job. Realize it still looks like a Camaro and put on Lamborghini badges and a Murcielago emblem on it. Hang your head in shame for doing this to a Camaro.
2 Again a Very Shiny If Sorry Camaro
Just in case plating this Camaro in gold wasn't going to get enough attention, this resourceful owner also put it 30-inch Forgiato wheels, which are also in gold for good measure. Overkill, much? Maybe they realized it was, so they put in an eye-popping teal interior to further overstate their point.
1 The $333,000 Camo Camaro
Hats off to West Coast Customs for making this car and auctioning it off to charity for $333,000. The proceeds went to Operation Mend, a charity targeted to better the lives of U.S. military personnel wounded during their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we still really hate the Camaro in its three-hued camouflage, despite the message behind it.