We Owe the Chevrolet Camaro an Apology

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Table of Contents

• We Owe the Chevrolet Camaro an Apology

• The 5 Coolest Gear Selectors Ever to Grace a Cockp …

• Tesla's "Affordable Models" Could Be Dead on Arriv …

• In an Era of Automotive "Sameness" It's Time To Br …

• Spy Photos and Renderings of the Week

• Do You Like GameSnacks? Too Bad!

• The finish line

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We Owe the Chevrolet Camaro an Apology

By: Sergiu Tudose

When the sixth-gen Camaro was unveiled, I saw its design as overcomplicated and too Transformer-ish. But lately, something changed. Maybe it’s me. Or maybe it’s the fact that the Camaro, as we know it, is gone.

This is making me look back at the final ZL1, realizing it wasn’t just the best Camaro ever made, but something that quietly outgrew the muscle car stereotype altogether.

In its final years, the Camaro quietly became the most complete American performance car of its kind, and its design started to look disciplined in the best way possible. Its lines no longer feel like “random aggression”. There’s a purpose to the tension. And again, I think this is 100% me, because you guys (at least some of you) probably felt this way since day 1.

Where the Challenger leans on nostalgia and the Mustang constantly reinvents itself, it’s the Camaro that reached a point of design evolution that feels... resolved. Like a season finale on Dexter, instead of Only Murders in the Building.

By all means, don’t let me off the hook for this one. When I first dismissed its design, I was comparing it to what I thought a Camaro should look like. Yet, in an age where cars look increasingly more sanitized and digitized, the sixth-gen, or the ZL1 in particular, stands out as a reminder of why I fell in love with cars in the first place.

Today, I look at a ZL1 the same way I looked at an IROC-Z back in the 80s. It feels like the proper continuation. Aggressive yet articulate. Oh, and you want to know what else is cool about the ZL1? It made the sixth-gen Camaro infamous by getting itself temporarily banned from California and Washington with more extreme prejudice than Kramer got banned from Joe’s fruit store. What was it again? Mangoes? Plantains? And plums... with the red inside?

The ZL1’s sale ban occurred due to its high-performance brake pads containing too much copper. A January 1, 2021, law stated that brake pads used in new vehicles sold in California can’t contain more than 5% copper by weight. Washington state adopted a similar regulation. Actually, I think this may have impacted the SS version too.

GM eventually re-engineered the brakes to be more copper-compliant, and the sales hiatus was overturned the following year. Nowadays, if you fancy yourself as a driving enthusiast, a collector, or both, then bidding on a used late model year ZL1 with low miles should be a top priority, assuming you’ve got the funds. Ideally, you’ll want a 2023 or 2024MY car. A Collector Edition would be wonderful, as would a Garage 56 Special Edition, but those are very rare and expensive, especially the latter.

If it was my money, I’d look for something like this 2023 ZL1 1LE Coupe that sold for $81,000 (plus a buyer’s fee) this past summer. Technically, it never got around to losing its value (the original MSRP was $82,585), and unless you’d rather have a manual gearbox example, I think you’re getting “peak Camaro” with it.

Note: please continue reading the full article on our site.

The 5 Coolest Gear Selectors Ever to Grace a Cockpit

By: Alex Oagana

Before drive modes, paddles, and software updates made shifting gears a background process, gear selection mattered - not just mechanically but spiritually. The gear shifter wasn't just a piece of hardware; it was the nerve ending that connected the driver to the drivetrain. You didn't 'select' a gear. You earned it.

You learned its weight, rhythm, and resistance when the transmission oil was cold and clicked home when warm. You could feel the car breathe through the lever - every notch, vibration, and heel-and-toe downshift was a small ceremony in the religion of motion. Nowadays? We live in the age of the shifter delete.

Modern cars have reduced the act of changing gears to tapping plastic paddles or pressing 'D' buttons shaped like piano keys, or using rotary knobs that look like kitchen appliances, and stalks borrowed from minivans. It's efficient, sure. But it's also soulless - another analog joy digitally euthanized in the name of progress.

Which is why some of the coolest shifters in automotive history feel like relics of a lost world. They weren't designed by ergonomics committees or UX departments. They were extensions of personality, each with its own quirks, risks, and rewards.

Take the gated manual of a Ferrari. It was a polished steel orchestra that turned every shift into a performance, each click resembling a gunshot echoing through the cabin. Everyone should experience the rally-style dogleg in a Lancia Delta Integrale - offset, unintuitive, and absolutely perfect once your muscle memory caught up. You didn't just drive those cars; you developed a relationship with them, sometimes adversarial, but always intense. 

• Ferrari's Gated Manual (Every Proper Ferrari, 1960s–2012)

• Pagani Utopia: The Shifter That Belongs in a Museum - or a Church

• Citroen DS 'Hydraulic Wand of Mystery'

• Jaguar's J-Shifter: The Gentleman's Gear Selector

• Spyker C8: The Machined Cathedral of Motion

 For the full story on these amazing gear shifters and the cars they belong to, please continue reading on our site.

Tesla's "Affordable Models" Could Be Dead on Arrival

By: Cristian Agatie

Tesla had promised to launch more affordable models for years, but was never quite comfortable with the idea. Even as the Model 3 was in development in 2016, Elon Musk announced a $35,000 variant that never was until the EV tax credit made it possible. Closer to our times, Musk promised a $25,000 EV, which in its best form should've been a compact EV built using the revolutionary "unboxed vehicle" manufacturing process.

Then, Musk started breaking things, fired people left and right, and canceled all new vehicle programs to chase the elusive autonomous driving dream. Last spring, Reuters reported that Tesla canceled the affordable EV it was working on alongside the Cybercab. Musk was furious and called Reuters reporters "liars" before announcing the Cybercab unveiling event that also backfired spectacularly.

If it wasn't clear from the start, the launch of Tesla's affordable models as stripped-down trims of the Model 3 and Model Y proved Musk was in fact the liar, not Reuters reporters. To make things worse, the recipe for the Standard models unveiled on Tuesday has been tried before and has proven an utter failure.

In the case of the Cybertruck Long Range (RWD), Tesla went deeper with cost optimizations, removing almost everything that makes a truck a truck. That included gutting the suspension to the point that made off-roading impossible. Despite removing those features, it kept the price almost unchanged compared to the fully-specced AWD trim.

Unsurprisingly, the Cybertruck RWD did not sell and was canceled after five months. It appears that Tesla is following the same losing strategy with the Standard variants of the Model 3 and Model Y, more so for the latter. This shows that Tesla very much wants people to buy the Premium trims of the Model Y, although it's not so sure about the Model 3.

We analyzed what Tesla removed from the stripped-down Model 3 and Model Y Standard and came up short, considering the selling prices. There are positives to be fair, but not enough to offset the deep cuts that Tesla made. To make things worse, other companies decided to cut prices of their competing EVs or launch more affordable models. This makes the Standard models even less compelling.

So far, the main targets for the stripped-down Model 3 and Model Y trims seems to be fleets and Tesla's own Robotaxi service. The $5,000 discount would likely weigh more than the removed features for these companies. However, private customers would get more for their money when upgrading to a Premium trim. This means that Tesla won't get much sales form the Standard models, which could go the way of the Cybertruck RWD.

Note: for the full article, please continue reading on our site.

In an Era of Automotive "Sameness" It's Time To Bring Back Packard and Studebaker

By: Benjamin Jacobs

Homogeneous is a term I never thought I'd hear myself using about the current state of the automotive industry. But over the last half-decade, especially, it's hard not to feel that way with how things are going. In a four-wheeled landscape that once had almost limitless variety, OEMs struggle not to all build the same crossovers and SUVs again and again.

Call me a dreamer, a utopian, or just ridiculous, but I think we're long overdue for a new renaissance in the American automotive sector—one that rids itself of the "functional sameness" that plagues us now. If it were up to me, it would start by reviving two iconic American marques from the golden age of domestic automobiles. Between them, I think Studebaker and Packard deserve a second chance at life more than any other from the pages of history.

Before now, pondering bringing back either of these brands in any serious capacity would've gotten you laughed out of a room if you broached the idea. But if you want a prime example of an automotive space as varied as the day is long, you'd be hard-pressed to find better than when Studebaker and Packard were at the height of their influence.

From the dawn of Motown until roughly the mid-1960s, the established big three American automakers, GM, Ford, and Chrysler, couldn't rest on their laurels every few model years. With a plethora of smaller, independent American automakers all vying for whatever slivers of the market the big three left behind, how could they? 

How could the brilliant engineers at Ford, who designed the ground-breaking flathead V8, ease their feverish rate of R&D with a price-to-performance juggernaut like Studebaker chomping at their heels? How could Cadillac bring anything other than their A-game when Packard was pumping out advertisements simply pondering "ask the man who knows one."

Antiquated marketing techniques aside, this pressure was altogether different for Detroit's Big Three than the international competition it faces in the present day. Without vast oceans on either side, insulating American OEMs from the hulking mass of its foreign rivals, one can only assume the pressure to succeed is effectively doubled.

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

Spy Photos and Renderings of the Week

By: Mircea Panait

Germany's most famous of sports car manufacturers isn't done perfecting the Neunelfer. Following the introduction of the 992.2-phase 911 Turbo S with electrified turbos and one permanent magnet synchronous electric motor, the Zuffenhausen-based automaker has been spotted testing Turbo-derived prototypes with unusually clean sides and rear ends.

Whether they preview the base Turbo or a Turbo-specific Touring package, it remains to be seen. What is clear is that Porsche retained the front styling and the centerlock wheels of the Turbo S, but switched to a discreet active rear spoiler out back. What's more, both side intakes have been taped off. Intriguing changes, for sure, and even more so if a manual box and rear-wheel drive are coming to the rear-engined thriller.

While Audi may be a bit late to Merc's and BMW's full-size luxury sport utility vehicle party, the Q9 is coming with three-row seating. Due in 2026 for the 2027 model year as the Ingolstadt-based marque's response to the GLS and X7, the Q9 rides on the MLB Evo-replacing Premium Platform Combustion. This architecture is derived from the MLB Evo, yet was designed with a greater focus on electrification.

Even though Euro 7 is edging closer to reality, Audi Sport will offer a go-faster specification with twin-turbo V8 muscle. Tentatively called SQ9, the performance-oriented family hauler looks eerily similar to Audi Sport's next generation of the SQ7. Neither is going the plug-in hybrid route, but nevertheless, we may be presented with the MHEV Plus 48-volt system introduced by the A5 and Q5.

Having mentioned the SQ7, pixel artist Nikita Chuicko has masterfully rendered the redesigned Q7. The renderings are faithful to near-production prototypes, right down to the peculiar-looking door handles. Also based on the Premium Platform Combustion, the smaller model adopts a front fascia that is evidently inspired by the all-new Q5 and the smaller Q3.

Its rear fascia has a little Q5 and Q3 to it, plus a little A6 Avant for good measure. In any case, this big of a stylistic development from the outgoing Q7 will be much appreciated by prospective customers, especially those who are new to the four-ringed automaker.

Do You Like GameSnacks? Too Bad!

By: Bogdan Popa

It's not easy to be an Android Auto user, and people who've been using the app for more than a week certainly discovered this the hard way. This time, the GameSnacks game collection went missing, and while some people don't want games in their cars, others enjoyed playing an arcade title while waiting to pick up the kids from school.

If these people want to see the glass half-full, there's good news on the Pixel front. Google has confirmed that it's working on another critical fix for Pixel 10 users. If Android Auto fails to load in your car, the company may address this bug in upcoming updates.

Google is also preparing bigger changes in cars running its software. The search firm partnered with Mercedes to showcase Gemini's capabilities in the new CLA. The video is a bit cringey, but it still proves that Gemini is something else, especially when comparing it to Google Assistant and Siri.

Otherwise, CarPlay has received a new widget, but users continue to question Apple's design logic, especially in cars with rotary controls.

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