THE RUMORS ARE TRUE

“The Camaro Is Real”

When General Motors announced that the 2002 Camaro would be the last Camaro built enthusiasts were left wondering and asking themselves “why?” Sales plummeted toward the end of the 4th generation’s run and the car was seen more as a niche vehicle, only running on one shift in a plant that supported some hundreds of thousands of cars per year.

The GM press release read that the Camaro was to take a “hiatus” with no mention of a release. This tricky wording was quickly picked up by GM fans and enthusiasts and speculation began running wild as to when the Pony car would return. We have the details. We know when it is set to return, and we will share the information that we have with you.

Fellow C&G member AH-HA started the speculation almost one year ago today. On April 19th, 2003 he informed us that the Camaro would be around in 2007 just in time for the “anniversary party.” He was right. The Camaro is infact going to be built once more.

Styling

C&G got a scoop on the Camaro’s design from C&G member EVOK. The new Camaro is set to feature a mixture of every generation of the Camaro, right down to the hood scoop that comes from the 4th generation SS. While stying and engineering are nearly complete Crispeys rendition (seen above) has been confirmed to be 85% what the new Camaro will look like. The Camaro team have not yet made a final decision on the front end of the new Camaro and ideas are still being accepted for what the front could look like. Crispey’s rendition features:

1) Roof of the 1968
2) Front fenders of the 1998 where the fender line sweeps into the mirror
3) Side of the 1999 Nomad.
4) Merge all three together to form the front end.
5) Trunk of the 1968
6) General theme of the vehicle should be the 1968.
7) Windshield raked like the 1998 but the vehicle is more upright and coupe like as in the 1968.
8) More like the Essence of the 68 with a thinner c-pillar.
9) The 99 Nomad like wheel

I must stress that the Camaro’s design could change from what Crispey has come up with, but this is generally the look the Camaro will have with a few tweaks here and there. As of right now, the car is more then just a drawing on a board and we’ve heard from quite a few sources that the car is in clay form.

Architecture/Release

Look for the 5th generation coupe Camaro to debut in 2008 based on the Zeta architecture. Although the car may still see a 2007 debut considering GM has their pension liability under control. The convertible variant is set to debut a few months to a year after the initial coupe debut. Although the car may still see a 2007 debut considering GM has their pension liability under control.

Trim Levels/Powertrain

Perhaps the biggest piece of news that we’ve obtained about the 2008 Chevrolet Camaro is the trim levels and powertrain that will power the icon. Look for a base V6 model an SS model and a highly powerful “balls to the walls Z/28 that will return the Z/28 back to its roots.” The Z/28 model is not expected for release until 1-2 years after the Camaro makes its return.

The base V6 is expected to be powered by the HV 3.9l V6 while the base SS engine is expected to be the Gen IV 5.3l V8. Our sources were tight lipped about power on the Z/28 model, but would only say that the SS will be “very fast, and the Z/28 even faster!” We’ve also been told that the Z/28 will be more of a “Z06, top of the line” type Camaro. AWD has also been mentioned as being part of the powertrain equation. Although no final word has been made on that.

Build Location

How does an American made Camaro sound? Well rumors we’ve heard from a few sources indicate that the Zeta Architecture’d Camaro may be built at GM’s plant in Hamtramck, Michigan. We have also heard that the Camaro may be built in Canada in GM’s Oshawa assembly plant located up north.

While we are on the discussion of Zeta relating to the Camaro it would only be fitting to share our news about its mate the Pontiac Firebird. As of right now there are no plans to include a Firebird platform mate on the Zeta architect. Instead the Pontiac GTO will be built on the Zeta platform and will stick around as Pontiac’s RWD performance coupe.

http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=63&st=0 

The picture shown did not work, but I assume it was this picture: