In 2010, the Camaro sold 81,299 to the Mustang's 73,716. That, ladies and gentlemen, is not only a victory, but a solid one at that. Of course, neither vehicle was ultimately hurting, as each saw their sales increase from the year prior. The Camaro by an impressive 32%, and the Mustang by 11%. This should not come as any news, however, as the Pony Car race has bolstered, and even been a large part of the revitalization of the American automotive industry. This is surprising, as it comes at a time when lawmakers are trying to push the American public towards the antithesis of the Pony Car-smaller, more fuel efficient, less powerful vehicles, like the Chevy Volt.

Of course, Ford contributes their loss in the sales race to the fact that this was the first full year of sales for the Camaro. This accreditation lacks the foresight of the fact that the Camaro performed this impressive feat with basically only two models on sale. The Mustang, however, had 7 vehicle models in its line-up. With the release of the Camaro and Camaro SS Convertibles this year, as well as the Z28 in the near future, one might speculate (with relative safety) that the Camaro will begin a new reign atop the vehicles sales race in their class. Further proof towards this are the numerous accolades and awards that have been bestowed upon the Camaro since its release. Whatever the case may be, 2010 was a great year not just for the Camaro, but for American Pony Cars in general, and the future only looks like it will be even brighter.

Quote from the APEAL Survey:

"...This year's study asked 76,000 owners 90 days after purchasing their 2010 model-year cars "how gratifying their new vehicle is to own and drive." The answer, for the first time since 1997, was that the domestic brands were more "appealing" as a whole than the imports (the domestics earned a score of 787 on a 1,000-point scale – 13 points greater than the imports)..."

Class awards for highest APEAL:
Subcompact: Honda Fit
Compact: MINI Cooper
Compact Sporty Car: Volkswagen GTI
Compact Premium Sporty Car: Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe
Entry-level Premium: BMW 3-series
Midsize Sporty Car: Chevrolet Camaro
Midsize Premium: BMW 5-series
Large Premium: Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Midsize: Ford Fusion
Large: Ford Taurus
Compact CUV/SUV: GMC Terrain
Compact MPV: Nissan Cube
Entry Premium CUV/SUV: Audi Q5
Midsize CUV/SUV: Ford Flex
Large CUV/SUV: Ford Expedition
Midsize Premium CUV/SUV: Audi Q7
Large Premium CUV/SUV: Land Rover Range Rover
Large Pickups: Chevrolet Avalanche
Midsize Pickup: Ford Explorer Sport Trac
Minivan: Volkwagen Routan

Masatsugu Arimoto:  chairman of the Japan Auto Colour Award program, juror on Japan's governmental "Good Design Award" committee, and Car Styling's "Car Design Awards"; Silvia Baruffaldi: Managing Editor of Auto & Design magazine; Gernot Bracht:  former designer at Renault, now teaches at Pforzheim design school in Germany; Sam Livingstone:  an Associate Editor of Car Design News and since 2001 has lectured at the Royal College of Art where he is now Senior Tutor in Vehicle Design; and Tom Matano: currently the Executive Director, School of Industrial Design, at Academy of Art University, San Francisco.  Previously,, Matano managed the Mazda Chief Designers group that created the entire Mazda car line designs.

The experts observed that, “The new Camaro leans on its heritage but does so in an artful, modern fashion, argue our design experts.  “Although it borrows some of its styling cues from the first generation Camaro, they all contribute to a simple, pure and modern appearance. It is the most dynamic Camaro ever,” says Masatugu Arimoto.  Sam Livingstone appreciates the “innately seductive exterior and interior. It’s well resolved and I’d argue evidence that General Motors strikes a better balance than Ford and Chrysler do in their pony cars.”

The fifty-nine (59) World Car Awards jurors then voted on the expert’s recommendations in February 2010 and their ballots were tabulated by the international accounting firm KPMG.

Citroën C3 Picasso

Kia Soul

Toyota Prius

World Car finalist Prius has been eliminated, which almost seems laughably obvious now based upon the recent news of runaway Priuses bombarding CNN, Fox, and every other news source around and inbetween. The Kia Soul is a nice little car, especially considering the price tag, but it is nowhere near the same class of car as the Chevrolet Camaro. The C3 Picasso is a little trickier to judge though, as I've never seen one in person here in America. Of course, the images I've seen of it, do not inspire much desire or awe:

In fact, it looks like a car Scion has been  making for years now. Based upon the competition, I truly think it would be a travesty if the Camaro lost this prestigious award. Seriously, if you want fantastic design, just look at this:

That's a masterpiece right there, and a clearly deserving winner. Here we go Camaro, let's try and add this award to the shelf!

Most recently, the Camaro SS was rated the best resale value Sports Car on the market by Kiplinger's. This most obviously comes from the fact that Kiplinger's assumes the Camaro to have continued appeal and desirability to large markets down the road. From Kiplinger's, who also gave the Camaro SS their Best New Car award.

"Also capturing the nod for Best New Car, the highly anticipated Camaro SS features a growling V8 that puts out 426 horses and a retro design inside and out. Not surprisingly, this beast is expected to be in demand on the used market as well, with resale values of 62% after three years and 44% after five.

To win best-resale plaudits, the model must first be selected as one of the top 25 vehicles in its category. Then we pick the vehicle with the highest three-year resale value."

Moving on from the Kiplinger's awards, it also seems that the Camaro made the very short list for the 2010 World Car Design of the Year. 30 vehicles were intially nominated, and the Camaro made it down to the final 4. The other 3 are:
Citroën C3 Picasso
Kia Soul
Toyota Prius

Tough competition? Well, I don't think so, but we'll see how that award committee feels about it. A little bit directly from the article:

"The World Car Design of the Year award is meant to highlight new vehicles with innovation and style that push established boundaries. A design panel consisting of five highly respected world design experts asked to first review each candidate, and then establish a short-list of recommendations for the jurors. The original list consisted of 30 different cars.

This top three design finalists will be announced at the Geneva International Motor Show on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 and the winner will be revealed at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 1, 2010."

"Our choice for Best Sport Coupe is the Chevrolet Camaro. This modernized throwbackmuscle car is, above all else, an extreme head-turner. Designers combined the retro styling of Camaro's heyday with design cues that intimate the future of sports cars. Now add to that two very healthy powertrains -including a roaring 426-horsepower V8 – and excellent overall handling. Plus an authentically classic interior. With base pricing in the low 20s, the new Camaro is a prize like no other."

Now, I simply can not disagree with that little snippet. Who could? More awards for the Camaro, and definitely more yet to come!