dont know if anyone has seen or posted this yet but I ran across it today and the production version look plenty sweet to me (and I'm not really that big a camaro fan)...granted I've made no secret I'd love to see another Firebird but we all know what uncle bob lutz thinks of that.

check it out
http://www.chevrolet.com/camaro/insidestory/?id=cid00016

IMO they just sit wayy too high..i camaro is supposed to be low and sleak, not high and boxy..

I think the tall sides and low glass give it a sleek appearence while still providing interior room. I agree it is a little on the boxy side but it was never gonna look like a Vette...IMO it still looks better than the Mustang which is truly boxy.

By the way the vert option in on hold for a while. Dont expect one till 2012 or later.

Do you already have camaros on your roads??
I mean this late model camaros.

No not yet. There is a few test mules out running around though.

I realize they are in abad spot right now but not getting that car to showrooms is big mistake IMO...Ford sells V6 Mustang verts like candy and I would venture a guess that many a Camaro faithful are out there who wouldnt buy a Stang on a bet...Chevy needs something sexy like that in the showroom...and I wont even get started about how many would flock for a Firebird of the same DNA.( a look on the blogs will tell you I'm not alone)

Dude, you are SO wrong. lol That car, while looking much better with no roof, is ugly. I mean, look are the front end & rear end! Nowhere near as good looking as the 08 'Stang.

dont get me wrong here but we will have to agree to disagree on this point. I'm not saying the Mustang is an ugly car because it still pays a huge homage to its heritage...but the fact remains that it is not a shapely design. It is a very angular style but the older one was too so that fits.

On the other hand, I no way do I think the new Camaro is an ugly car. I have seen both the coupe and convertible concepts up close at the NYC auto shows and I think it has enough flavor of the old car while still keeping a modern tone. Its fenders are curvy and even sports some of the overall "coke bottle" shape. I would still wildly prefer to see a Pontiac sister car but the Chevy is still a looker in my book...FAR better looking than the warmed over Holden GTO.

Chassis developement of a vert is too pricey for GM right now. I'd much rather have GM wait till they can get it right then throw a half baked vert on the street to be ridiculed at how bad it is because of cowl shake etc. etc.

Looks wise I love it. Not full on retro but yet harkens back to the day. Only thing I don't like is the tailights they shoulda went full round but ohh well.

i like that a lot!

And here I thought I liked you...

To each his own, I guess.

Here is something about Bob Lutz ideas that I just dont quite get. He says that "heritage car names" are tricky business and not always successful. If he refers to the last GTO he should wake up and realize that even if that car had been named the "G100" it wouldnt have made it any more appealing.

He states that the market cannot sustain two such similar cars like the Camaro and the Firebird...he then follows with that Pontiac should have a flagship performance car and that it will be based on the same platform as the Camaro (Zeta I believe)...So its OK if they share drivelines but not body panels? This is his idea of having two very different cars? This is the same market that cannot sustain a pair of sister cars?
If this is the sage wisdom he brings to GM then how on Earth did the Solstice/Sky twins ever get off the ground?...especially since the Solstice was one of his pet projects.

I personally think that any self respecting carguy can tell you that having the Camaro without the Firebird is like Abbott without Costello. Both of these cars held their own for 30 years and that is a strong run in anybodys book and they still carry fierce brand loyalty to this very day. For Bob Lutz to turn his back on that kind of automotive heritage for whatever bug-up-the-butt reason he has tells me he is too long in the tooth and needs to retire.

Forgive me for being slightly off topic concerning this thread but I do fully support the return of the Camaro. I truth I think GM would have made the wiser move to get the Camaro back to market before the Solstice ever did.

Amen!

Problem was union issues in Canada. There was something in the contract that all Fbodies would be built in a plant in Canada. Things got to pricey GM wanted to move production but the contract wouldn't allow it so GM pulled the plug until the contract expired. That then allowed the "Camaro" nameplate to re-appear on a new car.

As much as people want to question Lutz about why not this and that remember he did bring us The G8, the Malibu, soon to be Volt and a few other GM "saviors". Plus we don't know the impact on GM's CAFE rating if they did offer Sister cars at that product. Keep in mind GM is also considering killing off a name plate or two. GMC, Buick and and or Pontiac may be gone in a couple of years. GM is trying to make the dealerships happy unlike they did when they killed Olds.

As enthusiests who aren't in the "know" of all the financials all the backroom etc etc we can only sit back and ask why? why? why? I want, I want, I want. Sorry Enthusiest aren't the target audience. The target audience is the people who only see a car as a way to get from point A to point B. Why do you think the Camry is such a good selling car?

As for sharing the Zeta platform it's not the same as sharing the "F" body's.

The G8, CTS and now the Camaro share the Zeta platform yet all are quite different.

It is without a doubt true that enthusiasts are not the bread and butter of the industry. Your example of the Camry is a perfect case in point.

I think I only question the decisions being made since they still say the next GTO will be on the Zeta platform as well...it would seem to me that a Firebird would be cheaper to produce simply because it would be so similar to the Camaro.

Then again as you stated, with all the money ills going on at GM right now just about anything can fall under the axe.

As for a GTO I it would be nice if Pontiac would drop the GXP name from the "hotrod" G8 and call that the GTO ala Tempest/GTO.

I guess if the world can stomach a four door Charger sedan I suppose it would swallow a GTO sedan as well...not unless they tried a G8 coupe (which basically what the previous GTO was)...but at least the G8 body lines already has twice the personality and attitude than the GTO ever did.