This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Transformers movies were kinda cool. The only other big-budget franchise so committed to camaraderie, explosions and bad writing is Fast&Furious, and that’s doing great. Of course, Transformers wouldn’t be popular without one giant robot in particular, Bumblebee the lovable Camaro.
I’ve actually lost track of how many versions of the Bumblebee Camaro existed, though it’s probably six or more. And it’s always fun to imagine what a famous movie car like that would look like today. Fortunately, imagination isn’t required because we’ve got the creative digital artist Rostislav Prokop.
The Czech 3D modeler has created a brand new Bumblebee out of what’s supposed to be a 2022 Camaro RS. No, it’s not just a yellow muscle car with a black hood and some nice wheels. General Motors spent millions to basically advertise its cars in Transformers movies, so many of them were custom.
The Camaro has been around since 1967 and there are so many different versions of it, low horsepower, drag racing monsters, and sports cars. This unofficial Bumblebee concept keeps the blacked-out grille design of the Rally Sport trim, but introduces a new design for the bumper. Its wide at the top and narrower at the bottom, ending with a gloss black spoiler, similar to the 1LE.
Rostislav opted to make his Camaro look high-end by introducing a widebody kit. The fenders are flared out both at the front and bottom. Black inserts are introduced as highlights to the front fenders, seemingly channeling air around the car.
Topping it all off, the unofficial “Bee” sports a trunk lid spoiler and diffuser. The car has almost no travel left in its suspension, massive black alloys now filling up the entire wheel arch.
Bumblebee Camaro history
As we’ve mentioned, the Bumblebee car has gone through a lot of variations, not even including the Beetle and all the cartoons. In the first movie, released in 2007, there were two versions. The alien robot starts off as a second-gen (1977 Camaro Z/28), rusted and beaten up, which the main protagonist buys for $4,000.
Soon after being purchased, “Satan’s Camaro” as Sam Witwicky calls it, throws a tantrum and scans an all-new model year while driving on two wheels. “Brand new” in 2007 meant the fifth-gen, which didn’t actually come out until the 2010 model year. But GM did have the 2006 concept car already.
Bumblebee looked like a production 5th-gen Camaro for both Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon, although things like the graphics and wheels were updated. We got to see a lot of Bee’s character, loyalty, and protective nature.
2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction was a major reset for the franchise, with Mark Wahlberg becoming the lead. Once again, two flavors were provided, taking inspiration from the successful first movie of the franchise. My favorite was the widebody first-gen, mostly black and sounding mean. However, they also had a streamlined concept car-like version that resembles the 6th generation launched a year later.
Finally, there’s the Camaro from Transformers: Last Knight, which previewed the 2019 changes in a really sporty way, featuring aggressive air intakes.
How much is the car