RIDE-CT – Classic Cars Celebrating Classic Cars in Connecticut
BURLINGTON, CT – It’s a Bumblebee Camaro – a bright yellow 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS with a movie franchise connection that has obtained a modicum of celebrity of its own. Nicole Partyka of Burlington has had the “Transformers” special edition model since summer 2023 and is the car’s third owner.
“I’d wanted this particular car for a very long time but it took a long time before we were in a position to buy an additional car and also find the one I wanted,” Partyka said last week, the “we” referring to her husband, Mike.
The Camaro is modeled after the “Transformers” movie character of Bumblebee, a sentient, extraterrestrial, robotic life form known as an Autobot. Besides its bold color, it displays black racing stripes and Autobot shields on the fenders (below the Camaro name), wheel center caps and center armrest.
It took years of searching before the Camaro was found in Phoenix where the second owner had replaced the car’s traditional doors with scissor doors that open vertically. “I don’t drive standard so it was very important to me to find an automatic,” said Partyka.
“There were 1,500 where the package was added on and it was actually a pretty cheap add-on when you think about what a Camaro would have been new,” Partyka said, adding that only 808 examples had automatic transmissions.
The Camaro also has the “Transformers” logo on its door sill plates and embedded in the racing stripes. The optional package cost less than $1,000. The Partykas have also added Autobot logos to the headrests. All the badging makes the model stand out and makes “Transformers” fans, especially those of the heroic Bumblebee, swoon.
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“A lot of them, unfortunately, have been lost to accidents, totaled, things like that, so it got harder and harder to find one that had the true package because there are a lot of clones out there, so you have to be very careful. You can only actually tell from VIN verification if it is one from the factory or if people have just added the badge themselves.”
Partyka is a movie enthusiast who also enjoys hot cars. Her first date with her husband was to see “Fast & Furious.” “I’ve always loved the Transformers movies,” she said. “When Transformers came out, I saw them all in theaters. Really, really loved Bumblebee. We actually even walked in to one of the songs from the movie during our wedding.”
See the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS in action in this YouTube video from RIDE-CT…
Partyka doesn’t drive the Camaro very much. “Unfortunately, not a ton. We try to get out to a few car shows a season and I try and drive it to and from school a couple times a year ’cause the kids really enjoy it.”
But she does enjoy its 6.2-liter V8 power. “It’s a big change for someone who has been driving Jeep Grand Cherokees for the better part of 15 years. I feel like I notice it most when I’m at a stoplight and you go to take off. I’m used to getting on my Jeep. This thing you barely touch it and you are flying down the road,” she said.
Partyka’s Bumblebee model has enjoyed a high profile since coming off the assembly line.
“It has a pretty cool history. It was used by Hagerty insurance for one of their promotional calendars and featured in one of their commercials for collector car insurance. In addition to that, it was a featured at a few different Comic Cons out towards the West Coast and used as promotion for the second movie,” she said.
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Also noteworthy on the Camaro are some rock-star autographs in white script on the right side of the dashboard. “It’s also signed by the rock band Cavo, who actually had a hit single from the second movie as well,” said Partyka, reporting that the group’s song “Let It Go” was used in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
The Camaro draws attention when out in public thanks to its exterior color and the uncommon doors, which Partyka calls “a really cool upgrade. I think it’s a really fun feature. It really attracts kids to the car.”
It also attracts adults. As she talked about the car – which was parked near the end of her driveway – a driver passing by stopped and admiringly asked about it. “Many times at car shows I have not actually been able to get out of the car, turn around and put my purse on my body before people are over there sticking their heads in the door. It instantly attracts a crowd of people,” she said.
With Chevrolet discontinuing production of the Camaro model last December with the 2024 model year being it final one, Partyka’s limited run model with limited use could appreciate in value in the years to come. “I would consider it to be an investment especially with it being so rare to begin with,” she said, noting its transmission, doors and the fact Camaros are no longer being built.
(Photos by Bud Wilkinson)
