2008 Camaro very near production

I spoke with a friend last night at the Detroit Tigers baseball game. This guy works within the ranks at GM and informed me that he believes there is about a 99% chance that the Camaro will go into production. It would be built at the Oshawa, Ontario plant, which recently accepted a change to work rules in hopes that it would lead to $800 million in investment by GM. There are currently weekly meetings taking place between GM here in Warren and Australia, since it will basically be a Holden design upon the Zeta platform. I was told that the CTS, a Buick, Impalla, and possibly a Pontiac (GTO or maybe a Firebird) will all be built upon the platform as well. News to me was that the Monte Carlo will in fact be killed, while the Cadillac CTS will be getting a 2 door coupe model.

The Camaro is currently the hottest item on the agenda over at GM, with hopes of rushing it into production for the 2008 model year. If that happens, I think I'm going to have to start figuring out how I am going to afford a new Camaro. I could hold off one year, thus completing my trifecta of F-bodies, with a 1969, 1989, and 2009 all 20 years apart, which would be kinda sweet. I've always said I'd probably never buy a brand new car, yet a new Camaro would instill such a passion that I think I could be swayed to drop the coinage. I assume that they would likely come out with either a COPO, ZL1, or some other derivative that would have a slightly detuned version of the LS7 with 505 hp, which is what I would simply have to have. So, up for sale could very well be a fully restored 1970 Challenger R/T in order to make way for that new Camaro.

It's kind of ironic, as when I first saw both the concept Camaro and concept Challenger, I awarded the Challenger the winner, hands down. Yet the more I saw each in the magazines I realized something, the Challenger was nothing more than a 1970 Challenger, which I already had. All of the modernization that did to that Challenger I could do to mine, yet I would have one that would continue to appreciate. The Camaro on the other hand, there is no denying it is a modern car with just the right amount of retro styling to show it's heritage. That's when I realized, why would I want a copy of what I had, like I felt the Challenger was? Not to mention, much like my 1970 Challenger, parked next to my Camaro that Challenger looks like somewhat of a boat. Mine weighs in at 3600 lbs, I've read that the new one would tip the scales at over 4,000 lbs. My 1969 Camaro, complete with big block/TH400, weighed in at 3,400 lbs (3,250 when I ran a small block and TH350), I figure a new Camaro would be on par with my 1970 Challenger, coming in around 3,600 lbs or so. Those 400 or so lbs make quite a difference in terms of performance and handling.

While the demand may be minimal, I would gladly order up a new Camaro with manual locks, windows, and seats just to drop a few more lbs off the car. I could car less if it hurt resale value, because in all honesty, it probably wouldn't. There would be a small niche of buyers out there that would search far and wide for the lightest most stripped down versoin of the car available if it ever came time to sell.

Must like back in 1964, Ford beat GM to the punch with the Mustang. Just like 1964 GM is rushing around to launch it's own pony car, a resurrected Camaro. Then, just like when 1970 was approaching, will Mopar step up a few years later with it's own pony car, a new Challenger? There is definitely a Mopar clan out there salivating over a new Challenger, as old Mopars are some of the most valuable collector cars out there at the moment. The second coming of the Muscle Car era is coming, the key difference is this time around they are knocking down close to 30 mpg instead of 10 mpg and are producing more power than even the best years of the 1960's.

ps...make these babies easy to work on so us gearheads can tune them for more power!