The Misunderstood Pony

There seems to be a lot of hate in the enthusiast community for the Chevy Camaro.  Indeed, the car is far from perfect.  It's overweight, the interior is awkward, it's difficult to see out of, and the styling is polarizing at best.  Since Ford got serious with the Mustang and pumped it full of protein and steroids, the Camaro has taken a back seat to its new-and-improved rival in the enthusiast community and fallen into obscurity. 
That said, the buying public sees something in the Camaro that we hipster enthusiasts miss.  That's right, I called you a hipster.  Mad?  Customers have been gobbling up the Camaro like hot cakes covered in crack.  For the second year in a row, the Camaro has outsold the Mustang.  Does that mean it's the better car?  Nope.  Really, it doesn't mean anything.  Most of the years that the Mustang outsold the Camaro, the Camaro was the better car.  Madder? 
Despite its shortcomings, though, The Camaro really is a good car.  The SS has run in the high 12s in the quarter mile in stock form.  Even the new V6 makes 323 horsepower and runs mid to low 14s.  The ZL-1 holds over 1g on the skidpad.  None of those numbers are anything to sneeze at.  So why are enthusiasts allergic to it?  Is it the hype leading up to its release?  Is it the lack of an integrated ass scratcher?  Maybe we just don't like robots. 
More often than not, car companies wow us with shiny concepts, complete with ass scratcher and passenger flatulence detection.  Then when said car comes to market, it lacks not only the space-age options, but is considerably less shiny and has a bubble roof in place of the sleek helmet-visor roofline of the concept (I'm looking at you, Toyobaru Whatever FT-FR-GT-BRZ-POS-II-86.)
Chevy has not done this with the Camaro.  In 1989, Chevy previewed a doorstop that they called the California IROC Concept.  Much of that car's insane styling made it to production in 1993 when the Fourth Gen Camaro rolled out.  It was low and wide and had a faster windshield than most supercars of the time.  It was a study in form above function.  It was impossible to see out of, much akin to driving a tank, but it was never accused of being a wall flower. 
And now, here we are, nearly two decades after the release of the last Camaro, complaining about the same things.  We are missing the forest through the trees here.  The Camaro is exactly what it's always been: a purely form over function toy.  It was never intended to be a daily driver or grocery getter.  It was meant to be noticed and recognized, full of presence and pantomime.  It fits that bill to a T. 
So the problem has nothing to do with robots or flatulence.  It's expected to be a thoroughbred race horse by enthusiast equestrians, but is instead a misunderstood pony.