Camaro clone on GM's wish list

[BigAls87Z28]

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

[Koll]

YAY!

[Batman]

Yeah yeah, whne the press release reads "Camaro set to debut at NYIAS" I'll be impressed. GM is very good at blowing smoke, sometimes it leads to good stuff, sometimes it doesn't. Only time will tell.

[BigAls87Z28]

Well, lets put it this way. Take this as you will.

1- The Ste.Therese plant, where the 4th gens were made and promised to be made till 07, was about 25 years old and one of the newwest plants at GM. It was torn down.
2- Two big people, Queen and Lutz, are talking about Camaro and possibilities. Try finding this a year ago...two years ago. The name "Camaro" could not be said for a long time.
3- GM WANTS a Camaro. They need a icon right now to drive away all the bad press.
Chrysler had its 300, even though Chrysler as a brand has some pretty worthless stuff.
Ford has its Mustang, but you can buy a 05 Ford Taurus for 14k afer rebates.
GM needs an icon. GM seems to have plenty of good cars, but not car that meets up with high volume, high style and low price. There are some good cars in the mix for GM, but no "Icon".

[12secondv6]

Yay, GM = CRAP!

[Fasterthanyou]

Originally Posted by 12secondv6

Yay, GM = CRAP!

I swear to God if I hear you say that one more time I'm going to make a ton of bumper stickers saying it and slap them on your car!

[Ant'sWS6]

Originally Posted by Fasterthanyou

I swear to God if I hear you say that one more time I'm going to make a ton of bumper stickers saying it and slap them on your car!

..... if you do that though it will add a ton of weight back on the car he's been working so hard to take out. Â*

Well I hope they do something to compete with the Mustang. Â*Would be nice to get a new "Camaro". Â*I wouldn't mind seeing a new Firebird too but beggers can't be choosers I guess and let's face it Camaro has as big a name as Mustang does, Firebirds and T/A's people know the name but put one in front of them and they either call it a Camaro or have no clue what the hell it is. Â*plus the Bird (Trans Am especially) had a style so it's own and the last years were definitely some of the sweetest that I would hate to see them bring something back that couln't possibly live up to it.

[CrAsH]

Originally Posted by Ant'sWS6

..... if you do that though it will add a ton of weight back on the car he's been working so hard to take out. Â*

Well I hope they do something to compete with the Mustang. Â*Would be nice to get a new "Camaro". Â*I wouldn't mind seeing a new Firebird too but beggers can't be choosers I guess and let's face it Camaro has as big a name as Mustang does, Firebirds and T/A's people know the name but put one in front of them and they either call it a Camaro or have no clue what the hell it is. Â*plus the Bird (Trans Am especially) had a style so it's own and the last years were definitely some of the sweetest that I would hate to see them bring something back that couln't possibly live up to it.

true although if love to have em back so i could literally own a new trans-am and not a "new" tran-am when i get the money for 1...

[12secondv6]

Originally Posted by Fasterthanyou

I swear to God if I hear you say that one more time I'm going to make a ton of bumper stickers saying it and slap them on your car!

GM =........

GM=........

CRAP!!!

[Koll]

Originally Posted by 12secondv6

GM =........

GM=........

CRAP!!!

I think its the meds talking.
Anyways.

GM=Crap! (disregard my sig)

[Ant'sWS6]

true although if love to have em back so i could literally own a new trans-am and not a "new" tran-am when i get the money for 1... [/quote]

Same here, if they were still making them in 04 I would have bought a new one.

The "new" T/A would be what I'm afraid of but it would be nice to be able to buy one new.

Well I'm glad that babbling rant was somewhat understandable..

[jims69camaro]

this is the last time i am going to weigh in on this subject, and only because something new occurred to me... GM was two and a half years behind ford in introducing their ponycar, the answer to the mustang (mustang 64 1/5, camaro/firebird '67). since the mustang was "all new" for '05, if GM is going to **** (as opposed to getting off the pot ) they will do it for '07/'08. ok, i'm done.

[Squirrel]

i still dont understand....when the 4th gens left the block, the pontiac twin was so much better looking than the chevy version, but they want to bring back the uglier car....i dont know....just me

[BigAls87Z28]

Originally Posted by Squirrel

i still dont understand....when the 4th gens left the block, the pontiac twin was so much better looking than the chevy version, but they want to bring back the uglier car....i dont know....just me

While that is a great personal opinion, the Camaro was always the bigger of the two and sold more units.

[CrAsH]

Originally Posted by Ant'sWS6

Same here, if they were still making them in 04 I would have bought a new one. Â*

The "new" T/A would be what I'm afraid of but it would be nice to be able to buy one new.

Well I'm glad that babbling rant was somewhat understandable..

lol ya

Originally Posted by Squirrel

i still dont understand....when the 4th gens left the block, the pontiac twin was so much better looking than the chevy version, but they want to bring back the uglier car....i dont know....just me

i complety agree nomatter what al's opinion is but the other thing is why do corvettes and firebirds look morealiek then vettes and camaros?

[BigAls87Z28]

That wasnt an opinion, it was a fact. Despite what looks better (I think all 4th gens look bad), The Camaro has always had the upper hand then the Firebird.
As for the Firebird looking like a Corvette...um.., I dont remmeber 5 inch nostril scoops on the hood of the C5. I dont see a huge wrap around wing on the back of the Corvette either.
C5 and Camaro have smoother lines then the Firebird's theme of scoops, swoops and cladding.

[CrAsH]

yes camaros did sell better but in my opinion firebirds r better..im not saying that there identical im saying other then the ram air hood and the spoiler from 82 on firbirds and vettes shared alotof the same lines. while the camaro was always kind of flat

[Fasterthanyou]

I can't stand the side and rear of the 4th gen bird's but the front end, hood, and side view mirrors are much better than the later 4th gen camaro's.
Also, is it just me or do birds with wide tires in the rear just look gay?
The camaro has always been the chevy model and with that you get all the same performance without the added weight from bells and whistles. Think about it, camaro = best ban for the buck, firebird = camaro with creature comforts and a busy exterior.
The 3rd gen's were the same way. You could get a GTA with 100lbs worth of adjsutable seats but the camaro could come in a 1LE package that removed the radio and a/c! Which one is more performance oriented for the guys on a budget? Also, camaro's don't have to worry about motorized headlights and if I'm not mistake the c6 has followed suit .
So be it bird or camaro, the easiest to bring back and profit from is going to be the camaro. I just wonder why GM every came out with that damn SSR to compete with the vette... seems pretty stupid if you ask me but I bet that SSR costs penny's to make compared to the vette.
Another part of my opinion; why did the Camaro's always come with rims that were more similar to the vette's? Camaro SS's are better than WS6 :P

[BigAls87Z28]

SSR was not made to go ahead or replace any car. It was just done because of the pure outpouring for the car durring the auto shows. People screamed MAKE IT!!
GM made it, and now everyone is crying about it. Yet another reason why enthusiast should be the last to be heard from, especialy GM enthusiasts.

[Ant'sWS6]

I think all you Camaro owners just don't want to admit that next to a T/A you car looks...well girlie... :P

Nah j/k, I just have always liked the T/A's better but both cars are sweet!

[Fasterthanyou]

Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28

SSR was not made to go ahead or replace any car. It was just done because of the pure outpouring for the car durring the auto shows. People screamed MAKE IT!!
GM made it, and now everyone is crying about it. Yet another reason why enthusiast should be the last to be heard from, especialy GM enthusiasts.

I said the Aztec was crap and wouldn't sell yet all these people at the Autoshow were drooling over em. It didn't help that they had beautiful girls and loud music playing... what did they expect... an even comparison? Idiots.
Same with the SSR. I thought it was a bad idea. It isn't even retro, it's like, well... ugly and expensive. What would be cool; http://www.autoblog.com/entry/1234000603034512/
Or a lowered trailblazer with a turbo inline 5 or 6. It would be easy to do and only tack on a little to the price but then at least it would have something nothing else in it's category would have!

[BigAls87Z28]

A Ute SS would be great. It would be priced lower then the GTO, and they have been fitted for the gas tank reloaction and now that tarifs have been lifted on imported trucks from Austraila, it would make it pretty cheap to get them here. I know there is or was a lot of talk about bringing them here as a small niche car.

[Tru2Chevy]

Originally Posted by Fasterthanyou

Or a lowered trailblazer with a turbo inline 5 or 6. It would be easy to do and only tack on a little to the price but then at least it would have something nothing else in it's category would have!

I heard that there are plans for a Trailblazer SS with one of the LSx engines. I think they should stick to the TT straight six that was in the original Trailblazer SS concept. 400hp, and perfectly streetable.

- Justin

[Fasterthanyou]

Originally Posted by Tru2Chevy

I heard that there are plans for a Trailblazer SS with one of the LSx engines. I think they should stick to the TT straight six that was in the original Trailblazer SS concept. 400hp, and perfectly streetable.

- Justin

I think a single turbo would be best since it's a straight motor all exhaust ports are on once side making it ideal to just slap a single on there, route to an intercooler and up the other side into the throttle body. Very easy to do a turbo on an inline motor... it's these darn V motors that make it messy.

[BigAls87Z28]

While the turbo 4200 would be nice, the TBlazer SS's LS2 should do the job right. The turbo 4200 would probably cost a ton more then just adding an additional LS2's to production. I think the Tblazer SS looks kickass on the outside. Wish GM did something with the interior too. Doesnt fit the new line up of Chevy cars.