Here's a bit of info from the GM dealership side of things. We had some GM guys at our dealership for the week checking things out. There was a younger guy there who was a product rep for Chevrolet/Buick. I asked him point blank about the Camaro and it's fate, and he was pretty blunt and forthcoming: "As soon as we can find a place to build it, we'll make one. We can't sell dollars for 50c just 'cause everyone wants a competitor for the Mustang. I will tell you this, we have a platform, an engine and a price. We just have to make up our minds. The engine is called LS5 and it is a DOD variant of the LS2. That's all your getting." He was very cool and seemed excited about it. Just as an aside, the original LS5 was a 454! Maybe it will be a newer version of the GTO's 6.0? Or 6.2? Who knows.

Dave

 

He's a sales rep, not a product or engineering guy.

We have both here on this site.

 

Pretty cool

 

My parents recently bought a Maxx from a local Chevy dealer and drove my Camaro up there to buy it. This was before the concept was out. The dealer was like, "Can't wait to sell that boy of yours a new Camaro in a year or two." He was talking to him about it like he'd seen it. Poor car salesmen, really don't have the inside info unless they frequent this site!

 

Unfortunately, as anyone who has worked in corporate America knows, Product Marketing/Sales are what determines the ultimate fate of a project.

Time after time, we see our engineers develop outstanding products, only to have them emasculated by Marketing/Sales. Either the product ends up being watered down beyond recognition, or "featured" up to a point that it no longer serves its original function - i.e. "bloated". I have personally been part of multi-year projects, that in the beginning looked great, but by the time sales/marketing got done with them, they were no longer recognizeable. It is a painful process to watch a good thing slowly deteriorate.

If there ever was a project that could be heavily pushed by engineering, then the Camaro is it. Pure enthusiast fanatacism seems to be what kept it alive on the inside of GM as well as the outside. Bottom line is, the faster they can get this pushed through, the less damage maketing/sales can do. The longer this project sits in limbo, the more easily it will succomb to dilution....that's just the way business works.

 

and what do they have to say about a LS5?