Bumblebee, when he’s not standing tall as a robot, takes the shape of a handful of different Chevrolet Camaros.
The Ford Mustang has no shortage of instantly recognizable Hollywood interpretations. Steve McQueen’s GT 390 in “Bullitt.” Memphis Raine’s Shelby GT500 in “Gone In 60 Seconds.” Hell, even the ill-fated widebody Shelby Mustang in “Need for Speed.” However, the Chevrolet Camaro hasn’t enjoyed the same Hollywood exposure, save for one recurring role. That’s right, we’re talking about the out-of-this-world Bumblebee Camaro from the “Transformers” franchise.
The Bumblebee Camaro has hopped across the model’s generations
Director Michael Bay’s “Transformers” franchise kicked off in 2007. Do you feel old yet? In that film, Bumblebee made his movie debut as a second-generation Chevrolet Camaro. You know the one. Think rounded, gran turismo styling in place of the more muscular look of the iconic, albeit short-lived first-gen.
The intent was undoubtedly to present the Bumblebee Camaro in a sad state. After all, Shia LaBeouf’s character, Sam Witwicky, bought a rusty Bumblebee Camaro at a sketchy car lot from the late Bernie Mac for just $4,000. Swing and a miss, folks. A halfway decent running and driving 1977 Chevrolet Camaro will demand well over $10,000. And that’s without the shape-shifting alien robot quality. According to Classic.com, values are on a slow, steady rise with the average 1977 Camaro netting around $22,000.
However, Bumblebee didn’t remain a second-gen for long. Instead, after some hurtful words from an out-of-the-know Megan Fox, the Autobot updates himself into a pre-production fifth-generation Camaro in the same yellow-and-black livery. Beyond the first film, Bumblebee reprised his role as a transforming Chevy muscle car in nearly every “Transformers” film since the franchise began. Notably, the shape-shifting hero broke with the yellow-dominated livery to become a heavily modified first-generation Camaro in the franchise’s fourth installment.
Interestingly enough, Bumblebee hit the streets as a classic Volkswagen Beetle in his namesake 2018 film. It’s an appropriate casting choice, given the character’s Japanese origins as a transforming, you guessed it, VW Beetle. Still, Bumblebee, or Autobot B-127, didn’t abdicate his Chevrolet badge for long. The alien robot protagonist hit the dirt again as a second-generation Camaro, albeit in off-road guise for “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.”