Basic appeal

Being dissident by nature or appealing to the rebels among the motorheads is probably what drove car companies to make muscle/pony cars. An element of edginess in looks, a V8 engine, and a low price tag to match must have seemed like the perfect blend for sports coupés in the late 1960s up until the late 1970s.

Some muscle cars and pony cars survived the next few decades while some died in the early 1970s but were resurrected in the recent past.

The resurrection however, came with a few surprises and deviations from the original concepts. The Camaro is a case in point: it did not require a complete resurrection in terms of production, but it did need a change in its appeal and overall impact. The ‘Bumble Bee' character paved the way for its global release and now, in its fifth generation, Chevrolet has managed to somehow reinstil the ‘wow' factor in it that was supposedly there when the first Camaros were made in 1967. I wouldn't know because it was onthe road long before I arrived on mama earth.

The test car I got to drive was the 3.6-litre V6 version which looked almost the same as the SS version but not quite. V6 engines were always an important part of the Camaro's range and this offers pony car enthusiasts a wider range to select from given the size of their pockets.

The essence of the car remains the same, and the bottom line is that you get what you pay for.The V6 basic package Camaro is quite basic in nature, probably for people who want nothing more than the basics when it comes to gadgetry or interior finesse. The V8 SS version, however, is quite an upgrade over the V6 both in terms of interior materials and the exterior detailing.

The V6 LLT Camaro is quite a sensible buy, a sports coupé at a price that is comparatively lower than most Japanese and European coupés. On the handling front, the car does seem to do everything it is supposed to do. It wasn't designed to be ‘lightning-quick' at turns anyway, but it seems to carry itself well.

Straight line speed is what these cars were intended to do right from the '60s, and that's what they are still designed to do, and the V6 Camaro does the 0-100km/h sprint in around 6.5 seconds. Its paddle shift gears manage to bring out a little extra instantaneous power which the auto transmission lacks.

The new V6 3.6-litre engine produces 323bhp at 6,600rpm and 380Nm of torque at 5,200rpm. Not bad at all. It's quite impossible to find this kind of power and torque output at this price range. The interiors are quite retro, but in a more futuristic way.

I think the design is quite appealing, but again, the V6 Camaro could do better justice to the appeal it was meant to create. The V6 Camaro is not something that anyone would ignore while choosing a sports coupé in this segment, especially with the beautiful exteriors and the road presence that it has.

A lot of creativity and thought has probably gone into the sculpture of this body which clearly stands out from its competitors. I would probably buy this car if I had some extra cash in hand to put a stripe on it and make it sound better - and maybe I'd change the wheels (the wheels on the SS look great). Other than that, the car is perfect. It's delivered like a ‘do it yourself' kit with the basics, so that you can decide how you want it to look and actually make it look unique.

Sophistication is not something that is a necessity in this league and the attractive part about this car is the absolute lack of sophistication. These kind of cars go easy on the luxuries that the ‘super rich' prefer, instead offering the owner the power and simplicity to make a bold statement on the roads.

To sum things up, the V6 Camaro is a car I would pick up if I were looking for a performance car in that price bracket. A good coupé at an affordable price is what I say.