Popular sports car scheduled for re-release in 2009
Robert Boniface, class of ‘87, is taking on the auto industry in a big way. Since his appointment to Director of the General Motors Advanced Design Studio, Boniface has led the design teams of the 2002 Jeep Liberty, 1998 Dodge Intrepid and the 1996 Dodge Intrepid ESX Hybrid Concept Car.
His most recent accomplishment, however, is the designing of the Chevy Camaro Concept.
The Chevy Camaro, long hailed as General Motor’s answer to the Ford Mustang, was discontinued in 2002. Now, the car’s most diehard fans, those who love fast, affordable muscle cars, can breathe a sigh of relief.
The decision to redesign the Camaro came out of a conversation between Boniface and Ed Welburn, vice president of Global Design, at a hotel bar.
Boniface said of the meeting, “Ed told me to keep the project secret. I was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time.”
Now Boniface, who designs “the ‘bones’ of the car,” has much to celebrate.
The Camaro Concept Car will be a character in the upcoming “Transformers” movie, slated for release on July 4, 2007. Also, two weeks ago it was announced that the Camaro Concept Car will be going into production in 2009.
“I can’t wait!” Boniface said. “The Camaro has a good business plan and public appeal. We also made sure that the model was drivable, and it is wonderful to know that it will be made available to the public.”
During design, Boniface kept the consumer in mind.
“It’s a cool car. When you drive out on the street, many people make it a cerebral thing. They think about the car too much. I wanted people to make an emotional connection to the car. Although it is affordable, the Camaro is not about what you need; it appeals to what you want,” Boniface said.
Coincidentally, while majoring in psychology and economics at Vanderbilt, Boniface drove none other than the Camaro, so the idea of reviving the car hit close to home for Boniface.
“This is a true American car. This was really a grassroots project to bring it back for a lot of enthusiasts, myself being one of them,” Boniface said.
This is not surprising coming from a man who has spent his entire life around cars. Growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, Boniface’s father kept a collection of cars in his garage.
“I was always sketching them,” Boniface said of his father’s cars. “Pairing my love for cars, my artistic ability and great education, it made sense.”
Boniface has only wonderful things to say about Vanderbilt; however, he is disappointed with how few Vanderbilt graduates he encounters in his profession. Along with Boniface, Mark Reuss, a 1986 graduate of Vanderbilt, also worked on the Chevy Camaro Concept.
“Besides Mark, there are very few Vanderbilt graduates in the auto industry, but it is a huge business,” Boniface said.
When asked how the university prepared him for his career he stated, “Vanderbilt did a wonderful job. Any top tier school is a necessity to work in a firm like GM or any corporate environment. My degree from Vanderbilt taught me how to think and reason. It also taught me how to interact with people and prepared me for business interactions.”
According to Boniface, “sketching cars on desks during class” did not hurt either.
