Camaro vs Mustang

I am not looking for a comparison of power, handling, or even styling. Just something i noticed in my neck of the woods. Of the two, you are more likely to find a good looking Mustang of ANY vintage than you are a Camaro.

The few Camaros you even still see being driven (it is rare to see one on the road at all here) are all beaten up and either needing paint or some serious body work. Was this due to cost cutting at GM that made the Ford product so much more durable.. of was it just a matter of who bought which car? ie.. Ford buyers were more likely to hold onto and care for their Mustangs than Camaro/Firebird/Trans Am driver were?

Anybody got any insight?

yes.

in other news, i saw a f-body completely engulfed on the side of i45 last saturday. looked like someone had soaked it in gasoline and tossed in a road flare.

Strizzo wrote: yes. in other news, i saw a f-body completely engulfed on the side of i45 last saturday. looked like someone had soaked it in gasoline and tossed in a road flare.

I enjoy seeing a good car-b-que every now and then, especially if it's not my car and everyone got out before the flames engulfed everything.

How many mustangs have been sold compared to the number of Camaro's over their histories? I'm betting a lot more Mustangs.

I hardly ever see first gen Camaro's but see old Mustangs all the time. As for the later cars, did some of the people who would've bought a Camaro if it was offered buy Mustangs instead? There are a lot of Mustangs driving around here.

My only car-b-que was... a camaro. It was a 3rd gen donated to the local FD. I showed up halfway thu the burn and the wheels where a nice cherry-bomb red by then. Fun to watch.

link

According to the link there were almost 2 mustangs built for every camaro from 1965-2001. No idea if that is good data - this is the interwebs after all.

The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly, Camaro.

Its because Mustangs are for posers who are more interested in show than go!

// Ducks and covers while running away

What Capt Slow said.

I do think it's more that there were more 'stangs sold. You can't account for people's taste.

During the summer I see a more of first gen 'maros compared to early stangs. Maybe that's just my area but even head to a local hidden 1/8 mile near me and you'll see more GM's in general, more all generations 'maros than Mustangs.

I see way more early Camaros than Mustangs. It's very rare to see an early Mustang around here. Camaro, and Firebird combined are (IIRC) roughly equal to Mustang in numbers.

If you think mustang guys take care of their cars, you should see mine....

I see more Mustangs. I don't know if either car held up better or not, but remember, there was a period of, I don't know, say 9 years where only one car was being made... I think this accounts for a majority of the discrepancy. Most of the Mustangs I see anymore are the 1999 to 2004 variety, and now the 2005 to 2010 cars.

More Mustangs made. I see a lot of variety in the level of care on both cars.

For older Camaros though, I think the first gen Comaros get "collected" more. You're less likely to see a 1st Gen restored fairly well and used as a DD. They tend to either show their age, or get turned into garage queens (which you never see).

Because the Mustangs are more common, the gems aren't as jealously guarded, and so you see nicely resto-maintained ones DDing.

You see more Mustangs because more were built, there are more replacement/restoration parts available and the those parts are cheaper than their GM/Mopar counterparts.

Ford had a huge headstart by introducing the Mustang in 1964, GM didn't respond until 1967 and diluted proliferation of a single model by releasing the Camaro and Firebird at the same time.

Plymouth had the Barracuda since 1964, but never the popularity or production capacity to catch-up to Ford, or even GM.

When the E-body Barracudas and Challengers were introduced in 1970, they were at least four years behind and neither Plymouth nor Dodge had sufficient resources to make them much better than they were.

It boils down to a math and money thing.

Funny, but as I get interested in a particular car, I see more of them.

I used to work at a Mustang restoration shop, and some of the um....owners....were very vocal about the "rarity" of their respective 6 cylinder automatic '66 coupes.

I was always a Ford guy, so I gravitated towards the Mustang....but my brother (1 year older) was a die-hard Chevy guy...and he had an extremely nice '67 Chevelle while were were in HS. (I had a '65 Mustang convertible).

according to this link there were about 42k camaros built in the 2002 m/y.

according to this link there were 142k mustangs built for the same year.

word was, the reason the f-body was killed off was because the plant actually was built to be able to produce closer to the mustang numbers, and was the reason that the f-body wasn't profitable.
the politics of the issue was that GM had a contract that said they could produce the camaro/firebird only at the st. therese plant, which kept the local canucks employed. GM then started demo very quickly after the end of production so that they wouldn't be required to produce the next camaro in the same oversized assembly plant.

What years are we talking here?

any years... I rarely see Camaros at all.. and out of the few I see.. I almost never see one that is in at least an unmarked state. They almost always need a new hood, or a door, or have some serious roadrash going on in the rear quarters.

It is not the fact that they are rare on the streets (they are here) but that the ones you see are all ratty

the dead milk men said: Rod - Hey Jack, what's happenin'? Joe - Oh, I don't know. Rod - Well, rumor around town says you think you might be heading down to the shore. Joe - Uh, yeah, I think I'm goin' down to the shore. Rod - Whatcha gonna do down there? Joe - Uh, I don't know, play some video games, buy some Def Leppard t-shirts. Rod - Hey, don't forget to get your Motley Crue t-shirt, y'know, all proceeds go to get their lead singer out of jail. Joe - Uh huh. Rod - Hey, you gonna check out the Sandbar while you're there? Joe - Uh, what's the Sandbar? Rod - Oh, it's this place that lets sixteen year-old kids drink. Joe - Oh, cool. Rod - Y'know who's gonna be there? Joe - Uh, who? Rod - My favorite cover band, Crystal E36 M3. Joe - Oh. Rod - Yeah, they do a Doors show, you'd be really impressed, in fact, it goes a little like this: Love me two times baby Love me twice today Love me two times girl Cause I got AIDS Love me two times baby, once for tomorrow, once cause I got AIDS Joe - Wow, Pretty good Jim Morrison impersonation there. Rod - Yeah, I hope those guys have a good sense of humor and don't take us to court. Joe - Uh, what's the court? Rod - Never mind that, Joe - Oh, you mean like the People's Court? Rod - Well, that's another story; the important thing here is you gotta ask me how I'm gonna get down to the shore. Joe - Uh, how you gonna get down to the shore? Rod - Funny you should ask, I've got a car now. Joe - Oh wow, how'd you get a car? Rod - Oh my parents drove it up here from the Bahamas. Joe - You're kidding! Rod - I must be, the Bahamas are islands, okay, the important thing now, is that you ask me what kind of car I have. Joe - Uh, what kinda car do ya' got? Rod - I've got a BITCHIN CAMARO! BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO I ran over my neighbors BITCHIN CAMARAO, BITCHIN CAMARO Now it's in all the papers. My folks bought me a BITCHIN CAMARO with no insurance to match; So if you happen to run me down, please don't leave a scratch. I ran over some old lady one night at the county fair; And I didn't get arrested, because my dad's the mayor. BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO Doughnuts on your lawn BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO Tony Orlando and Dawn When I drive past the kids, they all spit and cuss, Because I've got a BITCHIN CAMARO and they have to ride the bus. So you'd better get out of my way, when I run through your yard; Because I've got a BITCHIN CAMARO; And an Exxon credit card. BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO Hey, man where ya headed? BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO I drive on unleaded.

camaros live shorter lives because they attract guys like this

In reply to HappyAndy:

I love that song! I forgot about it for a while though.

Funny, I see more Camaro's than 'Stangs around here. Did finally see someone who'd obviously dropped a larger engine in his Early 90's coupe.

He did have the good taste to paint it black.

right here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAQbi7mIp4A

I dunno. I went on a pretty intensive widespread search around the North Carolina Piedmont for a good 3rd or 4th gen F-body and any 90s Mustang and condition seemed to be about the same. When I was looking for a 4th gen Camaro (around 2004) it was actually pretty hard to find a 98-02, much less one in good condition that hadn't been an untitled '02 model they wanted 35k for.

As far as the old 1st gen of either model, I see a lot more Camaros cruising around than Mustangs. Can't remember seeing a Firebird on the road though.

Across all generations, I see far more 'Stangs around than F-bodies in Mass. Oddly, I tend to see more late model Firebirds/Trans-Ams than Camaros. Same goes for first-gen models, though first-gen Mustangs and Camaros are rare around here anyways.

Cali is ridiculous about Mustangs- When I was on my road trip, I couldn't swing a dead mustang without hitting a Mustang! Throughout my road trip, I noticed many more Mustangs than Camaros, and the Camaros tended to be the new models.

Around here I mostly see Camaros and most are in decent to good condition including one absolutely BEAUTIFUL '69 pro touring Camaro. Most of the more ragged ones you see are second gens are sitting in yards.

I see very few Mustangs around here except for a couple from the late '90s generation. There is one fox body 4 cyl coupe puttering around that is worse shape than most of the Camaros.

Funny thing is there are two 2010 Camaros in town and no new Mustangs running around.