Manoli Katakis 
The sixth generation Chevrolet Camaro stands on its own two feet as the best handling muscle car/pony car that has so far been sold. From the base turbo model, all the way up to the world-beating Camaro ZL1 1LE, the vehicle family has a stacked lineup of athletes, and everybody paying attention seems to recognize this. However, where the dynamics of the American icon are unanimously agreed upon, a point of controversy nevertheless remains among enthusiasts: the design.
Some have vocalized their adoration for the styling direction of the sixth-generation Chevrolet pony car, even the controversial 2019 model year refresh, which has been adjusted for the 2020 model year. Others have criticized the car as being too similar to the fifth-gen model, or even unattractive. So we asked the person tasked with overseeing its shape if they had any regrets.
Simply put: “Nope,” according to Tom Peters, sixth-generation Camaro exterior design director, when we asked if there was anything he would change regarding car’s styling, hindsight 20/20. Peters retired from General Motors earlier this year, and also oversaw styling direction for the fifth-generation Camaro, as well as the C7 and C8 Corvette.
“We had the same team working on Camaro and C7… we wanted to add more sculpture, more flavor, and more unique shape to (the sixth-gen),” in comparison to the more literal throwback design language of the fifth-gen from 2010-2015. Much in the same way, the C8 avoided literal design cues from previous Corvette models, such as a split rear window.
Peters also mentioned that there was a lot of excitement to design the pony car on the nimble Alpha platform – an architecture that continues to dominate in ride and handling comparison tests.
As MC&T first reported, the Chevrolet Camaro is not transitioning onto the updated A2 architecture that underpins the upcoming Cadillac CT4 and CT5, which will also be built alongside the Camaro at the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant launching this year. Despite this, the lifecycle for the sixth-gen Camaro is charted until 2023.
