My name is Paul Wyss, AKA UK89Camaro on the AACI Forum. The Camaro was my first American car bought only about three or four years ago, since then I've had a '73 440 Charger (briefly), and currently the Mustang. Please allow me to bore you with a gentle introduction......
I've always been a "car addict" right from a young age, and have an image ingrained in my mind of an American big block car burning out on the High Street in my village in about 1978... Picture this, I'm 14 years old, impressionable... "Click, whirr..whirrr...whumph!!!!!!... burble... burble... screeeeeeeeeeecccccchhhhh"... damn I want one of those...
Fast forward 23 years, the kids are a bit older, I've got a bonus (not huge, but enough to get me on the ladder) burning a hole in my pocket, and I want a toy. Now remember, I know nothing..zip..zilch..nada.. about American cars at this point, and I didn't do my research properly or for long enough, but I got lucky and bought a very sound (if mucky) 3rd gen Camaro from less than 20 miles away. Mothered that one for 18 months, and regrettably sold it and bought the Charger.....less said about that one the better.
I've had a company car for more than 10 years, and the old chancellor was beginning to upset me with his demands on my disposable income. So it came to pass that I had the opportunity to opt out of the company car scheme and run my own motor, and save some dough at the same time.
I'd originally intended to lease an Audi A2, and buy a late 3rd gen Camaro as a summer toy. That would have actually made me the most money...however, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and buy a late model Camaro or Mustang, paid for by my company by way of an allowance.....and I'd still make cash!!!
I have to confess that I went looking for a late Firebird (2001/02) with the WS6 package, but they were being sold in well excess of £20k. My fallback was the Camaro SS. There were only 2 in the country for sale in the short period I had to do the deal (4 weeks), one had a load of miles, and the other was glued together with Pritt stick. I also tested a couple of 2000 Z28's but decided the interior really let them down.
 One of our members pointed out the Mustang for sale in Auto trader, and given it was less than an hours drive I went to have a look. Absolutely gorgeous! Zinc yellow, black leather interior, Bullit alloys, 4.6 V8. Who cares if it's got a few less horses than the LS1, it looks fantastic, and it'll still see off most of the opposition you get on the motorway, so I unceremoniously ditched my Seat Alhambra 1.8T, and bought the Mustang as my daily driver. It had 14,500 miles on when I bought it in April 2004, and at the time of writing (November 2004) it has 27,900 on the clock. It has performed faultlessly, and is an extremely comfortable and capable motorway cruiser. I change the oil and filter with fully synthetic every 4,000 miles (that's four so far this year!), and I've no intention of taking it for a service until the SES light comes on.
Sure, Ford built this car as a budget car for the masses, and thank the Ford exec's they did. Where else can you get near 300 horses on a 2 year old car for £16k? Here are a few comparisons of the equipment that make it an affordable car, compared to say a modern euro car.
You get (or not):
- Leather seats (very comfortable.)
- Electric driver seat adjustment (no memory).
- Cruise control (without a speed increase button though!, and no maximum speed on manual throttle like a Merc.)
- Electric door mirrors (not heated).
- No heated front screen. (useful, but not that bothered)
- No heated front seats. (ditto)
- No trip computer of any sort. (ditto)
- No temp read outs. (if it feels cold, it is!)
- Air con, not climate control....(But it'll give you frostbite!!)
- Front air bags only. (Drive more carefully with rear passengers)
- No sport settings on the gear box or suspension. (it's designed for GT cruising)
- Live rear axle. (It's designed for drag strip racing, not bendy A roads)
- LSD (ditto)
- 3-spd Auto transmission with O/D (should be a five or six speed. but hey it's a GT)
- Traction control (that will still allow you to leave the road…scary)
- 6 CD front loading stereo, 460 Watts..(very loud!)
- Zero under car rust proofing...(give it some waxoyl!)
- Window and steering wheel control buttons not illuminated. (you'll work it out)
- 3:27 gears as standard. (but you'll want some 4:10's after your first drag run)
- Drivers side window power down one touch, but not power up one touch. (tight..)
- Factory immobiliser. (good)
- No polarising rear/side view mirrors. (bit of a pain when you're sitting a foot lower than most other cars)
- Cigarette lighter power in the centre console (which now runs the boys PS2 and 6" LCD TV.)
- 4.6L V8 fuel injected motor.........save the best 'till last.
All of the negative points listed above I can live without They're nice, but you'll pay another £15k+ to get them on an equivalent European motor. The Mustang, and most US cars offer incredible value for money.
I ran the car down Santo Pod at an SRS event late this year, and was pleasantly surprised at the results for almost a bone stock car. (I just have a cold air intake). 14.6 ET at about 95 mph, with a 0-60 at 5.88. I've got a couple of modifications I'd like to make before next season (bear in mind I've still got to drive this thing every day), I've got a Panhard bar and boxed LCA's sitting in the shed, and I'm going to order some 4:10 gears. That with some BFG's might see me into the high 13's.
Modern (or older classic) American cars are the most fun for money you can buy! Especially when you buy a yellow one! I've had people taking photo's of the car when cruising on the motorway, lots of people giving me the thumb's up driving regular cars and bikes…can't say I didn't ask for it.
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