i was floating around the boards all morning.

Guy mentioned the Chevy RWD chassis has been made a priority, even ahead of Epsillon II.

C&G has a thread about the EpII based Malibu and G6 cars being cancelled because of "stop work" memos that were sent out.

there is ALOT of buzz surrounding the Chevy concept debuting at NAIAS (i know that one is a no brainer)



anyone care to put some thoughts to some of this?

 

Yeah, I read somewhere GM is desperate to get a factory to build the car. I imagine after the roaring success of that concept leak (the comments on the net are running like 90% drool for it) they are even more anxious.

Built the right way the car will be a lifesaver for GM who is anxious for a sales winner. Additionally, the Camaro concept is a cost-accessible high-profile model - it's sharp, fast and it has sex appeal. It's going to liven up a car company with a fairly uninteresting lineup.

Then there's Mustang. How easily people forgot what a good looking car can do for sales. The 'stang is eating up the market, blowing away the *** competition in sales and performance. It's the winner Ford desperately needs.

The Camaro is the winner GM desperately needs. They need a Firebird too. If I were the execs I'd be getting the factory ready ASAP too.

 

Its pretty obvious they need to get this car out about the same time dodge gets challenger out, or lose a bunch of sales right off the bat

 

Look at the Stang. It and the F150 literally carry Ford on their shoulders. The Camaro can DEFINATELY have an impact and I'm not surprised to see it given priority.

When is the Challenger due out? Was that article right in saying it'd be out in a year as an 07?

 

I agree, the car has to be put on the front burners...
Lutz from prototype to production in 2 years HAS to be a reality with this car!!

 

i know Red can't comment, but i wonder if Guy or Charlie will jump in with some thoughts???

 

I sure hope so. I can't see having to wait another 4 years for a production Camaro. The longer they wait, the more people are liable to go over to the "other side" when it's time to get rid of their 4th Gens. It's extremely unrealistic to think that someone with the money & desire to get a new car will be willing to keep at least an 8 year old car just to stay F-Body in 2010.

......And by "someone" I mean people like me!

In my adult life I've owned 4 Camaros: a 78 Z28 (owned for 20 years now), 92 Z28, 95 Z28, and my 01 SS. I've NEVER owned a Mustang, and never thought I would, until the 2005 Mustang came out. I actually like the looks and it makes decent power for once. Kind of hard NOT to consider a Mustang when the only competition it has now is the GTO (which has absolutely NO APPEAL to me.....bore-ING!!) and Charger (butt-*** ugly).

As much as we may like what we see of the new 5th Gen, would "someone like me" be willing to wait another 4 years before we would get rid of, let's say, a 2001 SS which whould then be 9 years old and have an average of around 100,000 miles just to stay loyal to the F-Body?? HELL NO!!

In fact, to be even more specific I'll use my situation:
My '66 Vette should be done in roughly less than a year. Being that my car funds won't be going into the restoration amymore, I'll be in the market for a new car. Who knows, I may even wait another year afterwards just to have a decent down payment ready. That would bring me to late 2006 or 2007. Waiting another 3 years for a 2010 release of a Camaro will NOT be an option for me. It would be nice to be able to afford $45-50,000 and get a new Corvette. But more than likely, my price range will be around the $30,000 mark. If that's the case, I'll be going down to the Ford dealer won't I? But if GM were to "fast track" a Camaro into production, would I be willing to wait until 2007 or 2008 for a new Camaro? You better believe it!

GM really needs to take into consideration that the longer they wait, the more people are liable to "defect" to Mustangs.

 

Thats very true, but luckily there are also people not ready to buy a new car till 09-10, like me. I just got my 97 Z 6 months ago, and I wont be ready to buy a new car till I get my degree and a full time job. Only way I'd be ready to buy a new car sooner is if I moved back in with my parents cause the 97 aint goin bye-bye when i get a new car...if the camaro is fast tracked, then thats what I'll do.

 

I'm hoping it was fast tracked a long time ago and closer to production then we may know. That CAD drawing was more then just a "prototype" I believe...

 

cant wait for the 5th gen to come out. already have plans. hre wheels, kennebell blown 427. and a few other things.

 

The faster it comes out the better, and even better if it comes out before the challenger. Not just because I want it to, but would be the best for sales IMO

 

On the bright side, they can use this time to hone the look and fix what Ford and DCX did/do wrong.

 

While I love for the Camaro to be "fast tracked", I would not want it to sacrafice the new Malibu or other EPII cars. If the Malibu is as nice as they say it is, Chevy will need it right away to start to really cut into the CamCord buyers, not to mention fight off the Sonata and Fusion.

 

Everyone is missing the real point as to why it needs to be fast tracked
You forget uncle sam and our nuts in Washington.
Right now we have a chance to get some of the best performance cars ever but this will not last with energy cost going the way it is and Washington wanting cars that get 50 mpg and better and all the nuts that think a car or anything can be built to keep a dumb *** safe.
You better make good of these cars because to many nuts in this country will stop you from having them if at any cost they can.

 

You realize that C6's and C6 Z06's aren't hit by the "gas guzzler tax"? Their fuel mileage rating is no worse than other companies' V6's and such. GM does have the ability to build fuel efficient V8's. DoD (displacement on demand) has also helped get better overall efficiency as well.