Autoblog

It's late, we know, but we're not a host short like last week! Chris, Sam, and Dan kick it about what's in the Autoblog Garage, the 2010 Camaro unveiling and other stuff that the Camaro overshadowed. What could possibly hold a candle to the Camaro officially rolling into that garage bay? Not much, but we touched on Honda's Prius clone fighter, as well as Malcolm Bricklin's legal action against Chery Motors after the breakup, but really, we spent a lot of time kicking the Camaro ball around, as it did happen to be the most excitement you could find without going racing. Hit us up at podcast at autoblog dot com with any questions/comments/suggestions, and thanks for listening!

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Click above for high-res gallery of the Camaro's Melbourne reveal

While General Motors debuted the 2010 Chevy Camaro in Detroit and L.A. on Monday, they also gave it a proper debut in Australia where much of the car's development work was performed. The General just published some new pictures from the car's Melbourne debut in which the new Camaro poses for the camera with a second generation model, two third generation models, a fourth gen and a very cherry 1969 Camaro SS owned by reigning V8 Supercar champion Garth Tander. Those pics plus GM's own shots that were taken at the live reveal in Detroit have been added to the first gallery below, beneath which we've included our own updated gallery of live shots from the Detroit reveal that includes images of the car after it was driven outside.

Click above for new high-res gallery of the 2010 Chevy Camaro

You've waited long enough, so let's dispense with the pleasantries and get right down to the hard facts.

• Three models - LS, LT, SS
• LS and LT come with 3.6L direct-inject V6 (300 hp/273 lb-ft)
• SS six-speed manual comes with 6.2L LS3 V8 (422 hp/408 lb-ft)
• SS six-speed automatic comes with new 6.2L L99 V8 (400 hp/395 ft-lb) and Active Fuel Management
• 3.6L DI V6 gets 26 mpg highway
• 6.2L V8 with automatic gets 23 mpg highway
• RS appearance package available on LT and SS (includes HID headlamps with integrated halo rings, spoiler, specific taillamps and 20-inch wheels)
• Front and rear independent suspension
• FE2 suspension for LS and LT, sportier FE3 for SS
• Four-wheel disc ABS standard, SS gets four-piston Brembo calipers
• SS model gets adjustable Competitive/Sport mode for stability control and Launch Control on manual models
• Available 18-,19- and 20-inch wheels

You can read Chevy's full press release after the jump and browse the official, full-size image collection in the gallery below. Stay tuned for our post of live coverage from our team on the ground.

Click above for high-res gallery of 2010 Chevy Camaro live!

UPDATE: Live video from the unveiling added after the jump!
UPDATE 2: Another video added after the jump, along with 33 more images.
UPDATE 3: One more video added from the West Coast reveal.

GM design chief Ed Welburn and Chevy General Manager Ed Peper just gave the media our first up close and in person look at the new 2010 Chevy Camaro coupe. The reveal was done in the mechanical prep shop that GM design uses for the final prep on all its concept cars. Peper announced that Job 1 for the new Camaro will be coming on Feb. 16 of next year, and although no official pricing is available yet it will be priced aggressively says GM brass. That aggression goes right along with the new looks and powertrain choices for this new coupe, as well. Chevrolet will offer the Camaro in 3 trim levels, the V6-powered LS and LT and the V8-powered SS. The V6 is a direct injected 300-hp 3.6L unit while the 422-hp V8 displaces 6.2L. Both engines will be available with either manual or automatic transmissions, all with 6 speeds. An RS package will be available as an add-on to to the LT and SS models. GM designers have stayed remarkably faithful to the concept design, although they have made some tweaks mainly to the roofline. The car really looks handsome in person with its short front overhang and big wheels. They're wheeling the car outside so we're in pursuit to get more pictures in the sunlight and we'll have our own video the reveal up soon, as well. Stay tuned and check out the gallery of live shots we assembled so far below or visit this post for all the official specs and images.

NOTE: Hit the play button now to watch live.

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2010 Chevy Camaro

As you may already know after the deluge of official Camaro images that leaked last week, General Motors will finally be unveiling the 2010 Chevy Camaro at 4PM EST today at its Warren Technical Center, and we'll have a team of two on hand for live coverage with pics and video of our own. GM will also be webcasting the live reveal and has provided the embed code free of charge so you can watch what is arguably an historic debut right here on Autoblog. If all goes well on GM's end, you'll be able to watch the unveiling live at 4:00 PM EST at this link on Autoblog. Go set an alarm right now, we'll wait... We'll have all the pics, specs and video you can digest shortly thereafter, as well as our take on whether the new Camaro has what it takes to make it in the face of high gas prices and competition from the new Dodge Challenger and an updated 2010 Ford Mustang.

Click above for gallery of the 2010 Camaro hauling

The high price of petrol is causing people to do some pretty crazy things, but after seeing these photos of a Camaro pulling a U-Haul on public roads, we're hoping pickup trucks don't become that bad on gas that one would consider using a muscle car as a mule. An astute photographer nabbed a couple shots of the long-awaited 2010 Camaro as it was helping someone move or delivering the AllSpark to Optimus Prime. While performance coupes probably aren't the best choice for pulling cargo, at least the Camaro's 6.0L V8 has been quite the hauler for GM, albeit under the hood of trucks and SUVs. Thanks for the tip, Matt Bateman.


[Source: Picasa]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Camaro prototype in more colors

It's true. The production Chevy Camaro will debut at Indy, but not at the Indy 500 race in a couple of weeks. Rather, General Motors has informed various Camaro fanboy circles that production Camaros will be in attendance at the Indy '08, Back at the Brickyard event from September 19-21. The Back at the Brickyard is an event attended by thousands of Camaro and Firebird fans, so it's appropriate that the production Camaro be welcomed into the world by friends. On hand will be a number of different Camaro models sporting the full engine lineup and, of course, all the different colors. Everyone thought GM would wait until the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit to debut its new rear-wheel-drive coupe bearing the iconic Camaro name, but we're hardly disappointed the car will be unveiled more than three months earlier. We may just have to make a special trip to Indianapolis for this one.

Before you plan your trip to the Brickyard, we feel compelled to note that GM has not issued a formal press release confirming all of this, so it's possible some forum members are pulling everyone's leg right now. Thanks for the tip, Tommy!

UPDATE: We've contacted GM to inquire about the validity of this story, and they tell us that the production Camaro will not debut at this event. It will actually debut BEFORE then at a place TBD. Hmmm... what event takes place before September that would be an appropriate place to debut an iconic muscle car? If you'd all like to meet us at the Coney Island restaurant on Woodward Ave. the Thursday before the Dream Cruise, we'll buy you a coney.


[Source: LS1Tech]

Click above for high-res gallery of Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Rockstar Games is a little busy right now ahead of its big release of Grand Theft Auto IV, but the video game developer had enough time to announce that the next installment of its Midnight Club racing series will land on the Xbox 360 and PS3 come September 9th. Joystiq reports that Midnight Club: Los Angeles will feature "no load times, no tracks, and no rules," which means much hooning can be had in the City of Angels with a large selection of infinitely customizable cars. Among those available to gamers will be the first use of the new Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro in a racing game. Having already been officially revealed to the public, the Challenger in Midnight Club: Los Angeles looks spot on, while the Camaro appears to sport a few quirky details like its headlights that Chevy probably didn't want to reveal in a video game or just weren't ready when it came to digitize the car. Driving your dream cars in a video game certainly doesn't replace the real thing, but it's fun to do things with a digital version that you wouldn't dream of inflicting on an actual car.


[Source: Joystiq, Kotaku]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Camaro SS on the 'Ring

More spy shots from the Nurburgring today, this time of the Camaro SS prototype that was spotted arriving at the track yesterday. We already pointed out the bright red Brembo calipers on this Camaro, which suggest it's a high-performance SS version of the car, though that hasn't been confirmed. What is special about these photos is that they're the first time we've seen the Camaro really being driven hard on the track. Though we've seen plenty of Camaro spy shots in the past, most have been of the car caught in a parking lot, on a transport trailer or just meandering around town. Seeing the suspension under load is a thing of beauty that we've been waiting for, and KGP spy photogs tell us that it "looks impressive in action, and that its suspension looks well buttoned down on some of the 'Ring's challenging stretches." Hopefully they have their stop watches ready when Chevy engineers run the car hard for a full lap.


[Source: KGP Photography]