Autoblog

click the picture above to see the video

The Ponycar Industrial Complex has been in full reconaissance mode and scanning the universe for Camaros, and agents have located a Camaro SS on a winding mountain road. It's deliciously ironic that the spotters were rolling a Mustang when they were strafed by a bestriped mule in white. It looks good out in the wild, intimidating, even – quite appropriate for a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs. Check the video after the jump. Thanks for the tip, Max!

[Source: Camaro5]

click the picture to view the video

Genuine GM Accessories are as obsessively tested as the rest of the car during the design and prototype stage. When the production tweaks are being given to the basic car, the Accessories wizards are in there too, mocking up and trying out different creative ways to offer some pizazz at the parts counter. What we're most excited about in this video is the appearance of the new Camaro with some extra goodies. You don't get to see much, but the shroud of Auburn Hills gets pulled back just enough to show off ground effects done up in clay. The rear spoiler also appears to be different, though it's never actually shown. If customized Camaros of the past are any indication, we expect the hottest item will be the big peeing "Calvin" for the rear window and those ridiculous blackout head and taillight covers – this time, they'll be available with a GM part number, w00t! Top tippage, Tim!

[Source: 5thgen.org]

The hits just keep on coming for fans of the Chevy Camaro. Just yesterday, we quoted Bob Lutz as suggesting that the Camaro could get a four-cylinder engine option. Now we hear that Mark LaNeve, VP of sales and marketing for GM North America, says that, "We won't position it as a muscle car," speaking again of the 2010 Camaro. Sure, you could spend hours debating the terms "muscle car" and "pony car", but we're pretty sure that very few ever thought of the Camaro as a fuel-efficient option. But, that's exactly how GM will position it. "The mainstream positioning will be fuel economy, design and a V-6," says LaNeve.

The truth seems to be that GM just cannot afford to sell a couple hundred thousand Camaros a year with V8 engines rated at around 20 miles per gallon combined. But, before V8-lovers get too upset, remember that it is the fuel efficient engine options which make the fire-breathing V8 an option at all. Without mainstream options like either a direct-injected V6 or even a small turbocharged 4, there is simply no way that Chevrolet could ever reintroduce the Camaro at all.


[Source: Business Week]

You might wonder how many times we are going to report on the same photograph. We first showed you the unwrapped Camaro after Lutz commanded it to go without camouflage, but the photo was no more than a thumbnail. We next brought you a slightly larger version along with photoshopped versions showing what the Camaro would look like in a variety of colors. Now in our (hopefully) final post on the photo, we bring you a high resolution version practically straight out of the camera. You can now inspect all of the pre-production details without squinting at your screen and speculate to your heart's desire.

[Source: GM]

In his latest missive on the Fastlane Blog, GM car czar Bob Lutz checks in after a trip to Australia during which he sampled several new Pontiac G8s (he called the Ponchos "fabulous"), the Buick Park Avenue destined for China, and the Daewoo Veritas, another Holden sedan export. Oh, he also drove other development stuff that's in the hopper, including the Camaro development prototype. Lutz said that the car, despite being covered in a spy-photog-unfriendly black-and-white camo pattern, looked "as awesome as the concept" and that its power, sound and braking ability were completely in line with his lofty expectations. (That sound you hear is Brenda Priddy boarding a Qantas 747 to Oz.)

He describes the interior as being "remarkable" as well. We recently saw a GM video put together by the design group, in which a simulation of the Camaro startup process is shown from inside the car's passenger cabin. (It was not an actual car, but a super-high-quality computer simulation). If the interior shown in that video is indeed what's in store for the production Camaro, Lutz's use of "remarkable" is not at all out of line, and we'll all be yammering about it endlessly come January. According to Lutz's post, the Camaro is intended to be "the finest car in its class, ever." He's not doing or saying anything to temper our expectations, and based on what we've seen and heard on our own so far, there's no reason for him to do so.

[Source: GM Fastlane Blog]

Autoblog's Erin Mays is on-site at the auto industry's annual Management Briefing Seminars this week, and she reports that General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner announced Thursday, "As evidence that we're not completely brain-dead, GM will build the Chevy Camaro." A fully brain-functional Wagoner posed with a red version of the concept car for the obligatory photo-op (above).

Production of the Camaro will begin in late 2008, and the much-anticipated car will hit showrooms in early 2009, presumably after a massive debut at the '09 Detroit Auto Show.

Not much new, but here are the highlights:

• RWD with independent rear suspension
• V6 and V8 versions, manual and automatic transmissions
• styling will closely resemble the concept car
• asked about a droptop Camaro, Wagoner would only say, "It will come in many shapes and sizes."
• no comment on a possible Pontiac Firebird version

[Source: GM]