More coverage from the LA Auto Show. Our ongoing discussion of two new or significant options in most every category.  In this case, we visit the segment we’re shocked can grow in our hybrid buying, global- warming obsessed world:

MUSCLE CARS:

CAMARO SS: While we aren’t big muscle-car fans, we love the new resurgence of this long-forgotten segment.  It’s been a long decade since the Camaro went away, and it’s good to have it back.

Todd: I still don’t agree with the retro trend in the latest muscle cars, but this Camaro does look great. Great presence and big, American styling cues. I like this even more than the Challenger.

And to my complete surprise, the interior is as purpose built as the exterior. Here is the first good execution of modernizing the classic muscle car interior. The Challenger and Mustang look like they raided the corporate parts bin. The Camaro looks like they actually paid someone to design the inside!

Now we have to all hope GM survives and sells this car. Because if you aren’t convinced yet, the 400hp SS starts at $31,000. That’s thousands less than the 400hp versions of the other options. If you’re idea of fun is leaving figure 11s at the stoplight, your car has arrived.

Paul: I’m not a muscle-car enthusiast either, but I gotta admit, the Camaro looks pretty cool. I guess sometimes you have to look back to move forward, and in this case, it’s worked well.

Because the styling is so right, I think it will bring buyers from the ends of the earth. It’s pulling on those nostalgic heart strings, which we all know are directly attached to Visa and Mastercard. The Camaro is aggressive and muscular without being too in-your-face. There are some styling clichés, but overall the surfaces are well resolved and clean. And the interior looks like an amusement park ride—I dare you to show me someone who refuses to drive this car.

I’m having a hard time finding fault with the new Camaro. It’s kind of like a forgone conclusion—Dodge resurrected the Challenger, and Ford has the Mustang. So, GM had to build this car. Even though the trend is retro, the 60’s thinking has been updated, refined and polished, and I think the old chicken makes good soup…

MUSTANG: Another LA Auto Show debut. The 2010 model was out in force with Ford patting itself on the back and the press drooling on the paint.

Todd: For most people, you’d have to park this new model next to the old model for them to notice the difference. Yes, it’s different from almost every angle. But it looks like they took the last design, stuck an air compressor up the tailpipe, and inflated it until all the seams expanded. It reminds me of those mylar balloon versions of cars and planes. It looks like the vehicle in question, but every good seam is rounded off and bulging. And I hate the new sloping rear, even if it does have sequential turn signals – how uninteresting does a car have to be for the turn signals to get mentioned in the press release?

Now, it does have improvements. The presence is there, more so than the last version and you can feel that this version will better hold its own when parked beside a Challenger. Plus the interior now looks like some of was built for the Mustang instead of filling the car with parts stolen from the rest of the Ford line. I get the sense Ford saw the Challenger and Camaro and realized they had to up their game. They’ve come to play here, but the Mustang is still my last choice.

Paul: I’ve always felt that Mustang interior designs suffered from lack of attention, budget, or both. All previous Mustangs have a slap-dash feel to the build quality. But this caught my attention—I think I could finally be happy driving this car, and it feels like it will keep me entertained longer than a single drive.

Regarding the “new” exterior styling though, I want to howl in despair. The car appears to have a severe underbite, like Forrest Gump’s Benjamin Buford Blue. The front hood has been sat upon by an elephant, and the rear quarter panels are now child-birthing hips hidden under a thick denim skirt. There is nothing nice about that rear shoulder line that ends like an escalator to nowhere.

When it comes to change for the sake of change, sometimes it’s not better, it’s merely different. Pull out that 2003 Mustang concept, Ford design team, and study those clean proportions again! That’s exactly what was so right about that car! The 2010 Mustang styling already looks like it’s drifting away into the pages of automobile history books.

Look for more commentary soon.  Plus upcoming drives of these cars!

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