WTF is up with this Camaro model kit?

[GlennCraven]

Why does the car -- clearly a Camaro, not a Firebird -- have a big flippin' bird on the hood?

 

Spotted on eBay.

 

[pflaming]

camaro: IS NOT IN WEBSTERS DICTIONARY!  Does that mean it does not exist?

[Dan Hiebert]

A model of a commemorative car, perhaps?  American Hatch Corp. are the folks that made (make?) the t-tops for Firebirds and Camaros - possibly others.  The car was "real", the company must have had some pull to get AMT to make a model of it.

 

("Camaro" is a made-up name, it doesn't mean anything.  Just saw a story on that, don't recall where, tho.)

[48Dodger]

Yah.....that is clearly a 1977 Camaro.

 

That's a photo form a Hatch Corp ad from the same time period. Its the "Beauty Treatment" (AHC-100)....which includes a black hawk decal. 

 

Its my understanding that Camaro's didn't come from the factory with T-Tops....that was a dealer item.

 

 

48D

 

here's the ad  

Edited September 20, 2013 by 48dodger

[Scruffy49]

Because the Screaming Chicken and the Commonaro are the same car. Just different trim kits. The T-top (Berlinetta trim package) was a factory option on later years of that body style, I owned one. Hated the car almost as much as the engine it had in it (aluminum head 350). Every time it was foggy, I got soaked, the t-top seals leaked.

[GlennCraven]

I've never seen that Camaro before. Odd they would put a bird on it so reminiscent of the Trans Am's bird.

[48Dodger]

Hatch Corp isn't a GM deal.....its an aftermarket company....they thought the Black Hawk was cool. Who knows how many people handed over their Camaros for the "Beauty Treatment".....

 

 

48D

 

pic is of a 1977 Firebird logo

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

typical Camaro...it depicts a squawking turkey that just got its butt kicked on the street..probably by a So-Cal bug...

[Dan Hiebert]

My first new car was an '82 Camaro Berlinetta with T-Tops. The T-Tops were a factory option, not a dealer one. I got it with the 6 banger and manual transmission (I was more interested in "touring" than going fast). Only got rid of it because of marriage and kids. Go figure. I really liked that car. Dagnabbit, here we go down memory lane again.....

[pflaming]

I was of the   opinion that once a word was used a signifcant amount of times, it went into the dictionary. Apparently not so. 

Edited September 22, 2013 by pflaming

[48Dodger]

"If you are asking in regards to the vehicle this answer will probably do...
As the launch date neared, the car still had no name. It had been called various names by GM, including Nova, Panther, Chaparral, and Wildcat. Chevy also considered using the letters "GM" in the name, and came up with G-Mini, which evolved into GeMini, and finally Gemini. General Motors Headquarters killed that name, because they didn't want the letters "GM" used in case the car was a failure.
Finally, the car was introduced to the press as the Camaro, considered to be a good name because nobody knew what it meant. Chevrolet produced an old French dictionary showing that the word meant "friend" or "companion", but Ford found an alternate meaning in an old Spanish dictionary-"a small, shrimp-like creature."The automotive press had a good laugh over that, and an even bigger one when one journalist found yet another meaning-"loose bowels." It didn't take long for the laughter to stop after the introduction of the stunning 1967 Camaro!
The true definition is "a small vicious animal that eats mustangs" '
 

Wiki answers

 

48D
 

[GlennCraven]

To modernize the theme, there's one of these for sale on eBay right now. It's a "new" (well, 2011) "Trans Am," made by a custom shop that turns current model-year Camaros into their sister birds, complete with Pontiac branding, a shaker hood reminiscent of the earlier TAs, etc.