Is the new Camaro late to the race?

There is an article today by Martin Zimmerman regarding the three years it is taking General Motors to get the Camaro from Concept introduction to showrooms.

Being a Camaro enthusiast, it is painful to watch Ford Mustangs contine to roll out of dealer lots and watch the Dodge Challenger make it's debut rolling the streets of Auburn Hills, Michigan without camo and start to appear on Showroom floors around the country.

Our only hope is this new car is everything GM tells us it is, and more...

Click HERE to read the entire article from the Los Angeles Times

Pony Car 101

Rex Roy, an automotive writer for the Detroit News, posted an article today, A child's Pony Car education essential. It is a quick read that brings to light todays young car buyer (18-25) may not have any idea what the hype is about the Mustang, Challenger and Camaro. While car enthusiasts in that age group had family members or mentors tell them about the glory years of the muscle car era, there are still many who just think the Camaro is coming back after an eight year break and the Challenger an even longer hiatus.


Testing the Camaro in Scandinavia


These shots were posted to 5thgen.org this week!

Looks like the test cars are really getting around, these came from Scandinavia. Same car we've seen before, these images have some nice details, same front lamps we've been told are just thrown on for testing. Looks like some slotted rotors being tested on the rear axle, glad to see the front air scoop in the header and what appears to be a cowl hood tucked under that front end masking.

Click HERE to see the rest of the images on 5thgen.org

Camaros in Turkey

GM is getting ready to sell luxurious sports cars to Turkey. First, Corvette, Cadillac, Hummer and Camaro will be sold in Turkey.

General Motors (GM) is getting ready to sell cars in Turkey. At the beginning of the year 2009, GM will present the US sports car Corvette into Turkish market and then Cadillac, Hummer and lastly Camaro will enter the market. Özcan Keklik said: "we aim to have 7% market share in the entire market with our three brands, Opel, Chevrolet, Saab. Chevrolet is known in Turkey as it had a past. When we first presented Chevrolet models into Turkey, there was a great amount of demand."

Countdown to the Woodward Dream Cruise

Its here - the official countdown clock to the 2008 Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit, Michigan!

www.WoodwardCruiseCountdown.com

There is some history about the Dream Cruise and contains Official news and updates about the event and crusing in general. Be sure to bookmark it and keep up on the news!

Camaro caught testing in Sweden

Best image captured of the front grille treatment so far.
This was posted on Jalopnik.com this week.

Those of you in the Metro Detroit area, have your cameras ready. Word is there are development cars prowling the streets.

The El Camaro

These renderings were posted on Autoblog.com this weekend. Nice effort, but I would be much more inclinded to buy a two-door nomad type wagon version of the Camaro before this one.

Also, I'm hoping they spelled 'El Camero' on the blue car with an 'E' intentionally...

Click HERE for the post and the other renderings in Hi-Res format.

Black Camaro spotted in the Detroit area!

Finally on home turf, these images of a Black Camaro test car were captured and posted to the internet this week! Captured in the cold snow covered Detroit area, we wonder how the car handles in the snow.

We expect to see more opportunites around the Metro Detroit area, we'll keep our cameras handy in the coming months for sure!

See this and more images on 5thgen.org



What do you think of the new Camaro?


Team Camaro has an interesting poll on their forum this week, How does your age affect retro styling preferences?

It shows a few age groups and you can choose if you love the new design or wish it looked more like the first generation 1967-69 body style.

Personally, I see quite a few styling ques from the first generation, just enough to take you back, but enough of a modern touch to stand out in the crowd and not get left behind. Considering the timing of this car hitting showrooms, maybe on the tail end of the retro-bubble, at the same time when the Ford Mustang will get a styling update as well as the Challenger fad may have come and started to go, I think the 2010 Camaro is a hit in more ways than one.

GM to keep the Camaro affordable


GM product planners will heed calls to make the Camaro affordable and will offer a comparable lineup to Ford’s Mustang range by starting with a low cost entry-level V6 model. Execs at GM know the reason the Mustang is so successful is because it stayed true to its roots as a very affordable car to a very broad base of people, and now the General hopes to emulate this with its new Camaro.

Speaking with Automotive News, president of GM North America Troy Clarke told reporters that high-performance V8 models such as the Mustang Cobra and Shelby Mustang act as halo models and create a buzz that draws in customers to showrooms but at the end of the day it’s the more affordable V6 models that’s bringing in the profits.

The new Camaro coupe will eventually go on sale in February next year and followed by the convertible model roughly nine months later. Clarke revealed that both cars will get a base V6 engine, likely to be a 3.6L unit with about 281hp. Of course there will likely be limited edition V8 models as well.

“We know that the mission with the Camaro isn’t to create a specialty vehicle with a very narrow appeal that is very much subject to your wallet,” Clarke explained. “The concept of the car will evolve into a really fun-to-drive, stylish vehicle, as opposed to something that just breathes fire and has more cubic inches than the next guy.”


Source: motorauthority.com

GM to issue modern ZL-1 crate motors


You might remember the original version of this motor that made it's way into 70+ 1969 Camaros under the name C.O.P.O.

According to GM Performance Parts, this new 427 modern version of the ZL-1 crate motor will sell for around $21,000. The aluminum block motor is said to produce 430 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque, 10:1 compression and run on pump gas. Oval port heads, forged steel crank and rods as well as a dual plane intake manifold are said to round out the package.

Click HERE for more details and pictures

High Performance Camaros to cost more

Looks like the latest CAFE regulations will cause the high end Camaros to cost more than expected.

Chevy Impala and Buick LaCrosse appear to be dead, according to the following article posted on Carconnection.com

General Motors has been forced to rework the investment case for the Chevrolet Camaro in the wake of new fuel-economy rules adopted this past December.

The Camaro will still be built, but higher-end V-8 versions likely will be priced higher than expected. As for other planned GM rear-drivers–a new Chevrolet Impala, Buick LaCrosse and the replacement for the Pontiac G8 due this spring–all have been dropped along with a new V-8 engine GM was contemplating building.

“You can’t kill something that was never approved,” said one GM official, who asked for anonymity but who confirmed the rear-wheel-drive projects are now dead.

Stew Low, a spokesman for GM of Canada, said the Camaro project is safe and is moving forward. The GM of Canada plant in Oshawa, Ontario outside of Toronto should be ready to build the first Camaro late this year, Low said.

Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union, said that GM is spending $2.5 billion in Oshawa - including $435 million from the Ontario and Canadian federal governments.

“We anticipated that would be followed by other rear-wheel-drive vehicles, but the money they spent on the plant makes it a flex plant, so you can build both front-drive and rear-wheel-drive in the facility,'’ Hargrove told reporters in Canada.

Only a proposal for new ultra-luxury rear-wheel-drive Cadillac seems to still have a chance of making it through GM’s product development process and into production. Even that project, though, may well depend on how the Environmental Protection Agency writes the rules enforcing the new fuel-economy standards.

More...

Latest 2010 Camaro images

As production nears later this year, expect to see spy images more frequently and of better quality, these are no exception. Notice the location of the fuel door on the Right Side rear quarter and the amber export tail lamps on this model. First time we've seen details like that.

There is another shot on the trailer in this thread on MichiganClassics.com

With cars being tested all over the world there should be some nice images coming to us throughout the summer - stay tuned!