Pure Speculation: Camaro Being Readied to do Battle with Hot-Selling Mustang

Then again, while Lutz may have been feeling bullish about the prospects of a Camaro/Firebird duo returning to GM, he probably

Jim Queen, GM vice president of global engineering has said that GM is working on a rear-drive platform designed to be more cost-effective than Zeta. (Photo: Artist's Rendering)

doesn't have much to say about it coming to reality anyway. As of April 4th, he is no longer overseeing North American product development, but instead is directing global product development while money-man Rick Wagoner has been assigned to get the General's North American operations back on course. What does this mean? Some pet projects may get axed.

But before I crush your hopes, Jim Queen, GM vice president of global engineering, corroborated Lutz's words when he told The Detroit News in an interview this week that GM is working on a rear-drive platform designed to be more cost-effective than Zeta, something that could underpin the future Camaro/Firebird duo.

"There's a Camaro hook in all of us," Queen commented. "It may not be a Camaro, but there's a lot of us inside our company and outside our company that feel very passionate about it."

Queen added that the new chassis architecture could be formed from the Zeta

Does GM really need halo-type performance icons such as the Camaro, Firebird and Velite, for its separate brands? (Photo: Artist's Rendering)

or the Sigma rear-drive architectures, but that it wouldn't be as sophisticated as either of these.

Lutz reiterated this sentiment, saying that "it's going to be something I sort of call Zeta-light."

While many inside and outside GM may feel passionate about resurrecting the Camaro, it's difficult to say what good it will do to improve the automaker's financial outlook overall. Does GM really need halo-type performance icons such as the Camaro, Firebird and Velite, for its separate brands?