Is This Chevy's Future Sport Coupe Competitor? If you happened to be running late, as I was, it was impossible to get near the GM stand at its Detroit introduction of a yet to be
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| A long alley paved the way for a half dozen classic Camaros in various stages of trim, from bone stock to fully race-prepared. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press) |
announced concept that everyone new would be the all-new Camaro. The layout of the stage, or more correctly, stages, allowed for a long alley and centre courtyard, for a better word, the former which paved the way for a high school marching band as well as a half dozen classic Camaros in various stages of trim, from bone stock to fully race-prepared, the latter that became centre stage for the new concept once it made its way down that same alley, in the opposite direction, and rotated on its turntable. The General would have been smart to put the car on an elevated pedestal, as all I could do, amid throngs of GM staff members blocking members of the press like myself, was hold my camera in the air and blindly click away. There was
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| GM would have been smart to put the Camaro Concept on an elevated pedestal, as all I could do was hold my camera in the air and blindly click away; I got lucky with this one. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
a guy next to me that had to get video of the event, looking sheepish in the knowledge that his boss was going to be none too happy. Such was the excitement over what many hoped would be the forerunner of a production Camaro, a long-anticipated model that has been bantered about bowtie fan forums for the last four years since the old version was discontinued. GM did a good job of shutting up the media too, not a very easy job since the advent of blogs and bloggers who run them. Unlike a rival muscle car introduced at the NAIAS days before, which was shown on just about every website in existence weeks before its "embargo" deadline, GM achieved a media blackout like nothing I've seen in recent years. And was the hype surrounding
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| Justin was in a much better spot than I, the crafty little guy, and got some spectacular shots as the Camaro Concept rolled onto the main stage. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press) |
the new Camaro concept warranted? Well, yes and no. What do I mean? Well yes, the prospect of a new Camaro is something worth getting excited about, especially since the Mustang has become one of the continent's biggest sellers and, some would argue, as responsible for keeping Ford Motor Company out of the sewer during the past year and a half as its venerable F-150. But that's not all. Chrysler Group hasn't exactly been mum about its Challenger concept, with most expecting that the car shown in Cobo Hall just before the Camaro concept is a thinly veiled production model. Could GM, which once ruled the pony car war with its Camaro Z28 and Pontiac Firebird/Trans Am, would lose face completely. It didn't, of course, and before the most important auto show of the North American calendar was over, a peek into the General's future was unveiled. But
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| The car they finally showed looked almost cartoonish compared to Dodge's production-ready Challenger, or any previous Camaro for that matter. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press) |
then there's the no side of the equation. The car they finally showed looked almost cartoonish compared to Dodge's production-ready Challenger, or any previous Camaro for that matter - it's tiny greenhouse with low, slit-like windows dwarfed by an elongated body and even longer hood, replete with a nose-like hood bulge sporting nostrils at its leading edge; more "Need for Speed" than reality. "The overall proportions, long hood and powerful fender forms say, 'This is a front-engine, rear-wheel drive performance vehicle,' " stated Tom Peters, design director, rear-wheel drive performance cars.