2014 Chevrolet Camaro SS – The Bumblebee is still going strong

Oh my… I have been driving the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro SS around.. Pheeewww…

OK.. To start off with.. A bright yellow car, looking like it is racing even when standing still, and with a very deep, very aggressive exhaust note, is bound to attract the attention of every police officer anywhere. So driving this, you have to clearly stay under any speed limit, since you already look like you’re going faster than you are. That kind of limits the fun you can have with the car to just plain accelerating at the entrance of a freeway, until you reach the speed limit. There is no law yet against fast acceleration if it is done safely.

Then, driving it to various shooting locations, you have enthusiastic children, as young as 5, running up to the car screaming “Bumblebee!!!!!” Of course their parents follow and of course they have to impress their kids and start a conversation with the guy who drives Bumblebee, so they can be cool when they bring their kids to bed that night. Clearly, that marketing campaign through the Transformers movie franchise is paying off. It is a very recognizable product.

Then I took it to. Cars & Coffee in Irvine on Saturday morning. The crowd there is car nuts, so don’t even try to tell them anything.. There were of course plenty of people just looking at it, asking if it was the latest 2013 version, and when they found out it was newer than that they were impressed. There were also plenty of other Camaro drivers there, with either their classic Camaros or their more recent ones. Nobody had the 2014 when I was there, so they all came to look and talk, and judge.. Among that specific crowd they all agreed that the front end was much better, much more aggressive, more modern, just a real big improvement.

The rear though could not find approval with them at all. With Chevrolet having created that distinctive rear light unit before, this more neutral, simple rectangle block with just a hint of the two squares from the original, was just too slicked off. The fact that the rear bumper now does cover the nasty bits underneath the car was a plus, but did nothing to convince them that the back end was better than theirs.

From what I heard, I would not be surprised to see quite a few of the current owners put the new front end on their cars, but leave the rear as it is.

The most shocking experience with the bumblebee was when I picked my daughter up from Middle School. The car drew so much attention from the nosy and the male parents there, that when she came to the car, she was totally embarrassed. She literally had to push her way to the trunk to put her stuff in, and then answer questions from boys that normally never talk to her. Your dad has a cool car, can I take a picture of the car? Move aside then.. LOL.. Oh my.. The perils of a twelve year old…