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Camaro clone on GM's wish list

Automaker works on rear-wheel-drive platform for new generation of vehicles.

By Ed Garsten / The Detroit News

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General Motors Corp. is working on a new rear-wheel-drive platform that could be the basis for a vehicle reminiscent of the departed Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird sport coupes.

"We're going to take another look at high performance rear-wheel drive," GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Tuesday at the Society of Automotive Engineers' 2005 World Congress.

In March, GM suspended plans to bring out a new generation of rear-wheel-drive vehicles for the North American market, citing uncompetitive costs.

The new platform -- known internally as Zeta -- served as the underpinnings for the popular Buick Velite concept car that debuted on the 2004 auto show circuit.

Jim Queen, GM vice president of global engineering, told The Detroit News in an interview this week that the automaker is now working on a rear-wheel-drive platform that would be more cost-effective, and could result in a Camaro-like vehicle.

"There's a Camaro hook in all of us," Queen said. "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."

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosins...B01-148937.htm