Rumors have been flying around for some time that the Chevy Camaro will come back as a crossover, not a muscle car. While most enthusiasts hate hearing that, just like they detest the Ford Mach-E while refusing to call it a Mustang, the fact is automotive executives don’t care. And that’s why we think there might be something to the rumors.
The California Air Resources Board is squaring up for a fight against the federal government.
The rumor mill fired up again recently, with at least one big automotive publication getting all excited that apparently GM suits are considering applying the ZL1 name to an all-electric, 1,000-horsepower crossover.
While the power sounds great, the rest doesn’t. After all, when cars are made like cellphones, they will no longer be running ten years after they’re made. And if you think subscriptions to automotive features are ridiculous, they’ll become commonplace.
But there’s something even more disturbing about this rumor. Whether GM brings back a muscle car version of the Camaro or not, both it and Ford don’t seem to have a fetish with taking these icons and feminizing them to the point they’re more akin to a Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4.
While there’s nothing wrong with femininity – there’s amazing beauty and strength in it – it’s tiresome that masculinity has to give way to it on every front these days. If that statement confuses or enrages you, you’re not going to like where this is going anyway.
Mustangs have historically appealed to women the most out of all the pony cars, and what has evolved into muscle cars, although they tend to shy away from the GTs with the V8 engines. However, the Camaro has appealed almost exclusively to men. It’s arguably a strong icon of masculinity in the modern automotive landscape.
To take that icon and apply it to an all-electric crossover with a lipstick holder and hooks for grocery bags seems gross. If GM wants to build such a vehicle, so be it. But to raid the storied Camaro and especially the ZL1 name to try adding legitimacy feels akin to outright thievery.
This sort of thing has happened way too much these days as men’s spaces are invaded in the name of equality. Can men have their own things without them becoming feminized? Can the Camaro just either stay dead or come back as just a man’s muscle car?
Our suspicion is GM is doing this for one thing only: money. It sees expanding the appeal of the Camaro to the fairer sex as a way to get more cash. But it also cheapens the name and erodes enthusiast support.
We doubt the suits sitting in boardrooms care one bit about any of that, having sold their own souls to be where they are today.
Image via GM
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