New Camaro?!

[KPot2004]

From The Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosins...B01-148937.htm

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."

Queen said the new platform, or architecture, could be some form of Zeta or the Sigma rear-wheel-drive architecture used by Cadillac's new rear-wheel-drive sedans and crossover.

"It's going to be something I sort of call Zeta-light," Lutz said.

The Camaro and its twin, the Pontiac Firebird, were favorites of young drivers who loved tooling around in a powerful, muscle car at a moderate price.

But the cars fell from favor in the late 1990s as young consumers shifted to sport utility vehicles and front-wheel drive passenger cars and production ended in 2002.

[StlBlues]

It would be nice to have another GM cost effective rear-wheel drive car but I want the Camaro back. I don't want a "Camaro clone."

[LT1MAN]

...

[will69camaro]

The "Zeta" platform was cancelled a short while ago. There has already been a thread on this saying "Zeta is dead long live Beta."

The new camaro (if there is to be one) is no expected to be on the beta platform last i heard. All i know is i'm not holding my breath.

William

[stephenp]

i agree the camaro is what put m me in the state of being in love with muscle and the rear wheel drive in general and the people who decided to go front wheel drive as inthe honda did it to beat the legendary muscle of the camaro.... they do go snappy and they have taken over but when you caompare it to the lovely rear wheel drive power sliding smoke showen camaro there is none they did it to be different and now they are all the same heck i even know of some that are into casmaros but decided to go fwd only for winter drivability and reghret it still

[KPot2004]

well the story was just posted today, and I think anytime that a high up gm guy actually uses the word camaro, well thats the best thing I have heard in ages

and if u read the article u will see that it says that they are working on a cost effective rear wheel drive platform, not zeta

when they say zeta-light i figure that means a zeta like rear wheel drive platform but with a lower cost

[Savage Messiah]

shut up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[philly rs]

i told you all last month and ill tell you now, we wont never....repeat...never see another camaro with that name. regaurdless it still wont be a camaro if its not named camaro, canada wont let it happen, and gm isnt gonna gonna spend money that they dont have to keep the people of canada happy so we can have that name. if pontiac could keep it real and state the trans am is gone than chevy need to stop pulling us along for the ride and just admit it! you better go out and buy that damn cobolt and just be half-assed happy with it! or get that high powered grand pre (GTO). its nice and fast, and its grown on me ,i will say its a possable buy.but our car is gone...just like 2 pac, just like biggie, and yes just like elvis...it has left the building!

[philly rs]

oh, and if for some miricle of god is performed and we do see another camaro while we are still alive, then u can dig this post up and ill eat every word that i said!

[KPot2004]

some of us like to dream

[Savage Messiah]

They will make it, i believe the name was licensed to to St. Therese plant, not Canada... and that plant was recently torn down

[philly rs]

yeah and that plant is in canada, u know how bad we screwed them on that loan? the government was pissed when we pulled out, we got so many breaks to keep that plant open and now its a big legal issue. nobody is gonna touch that for a car that they say couldnt hold its own in sales. its been gone for what like 4 years now? how much has changed since then? we will all go out and buy it because we love the car but over all how competetive will it be against sales for a mustang, any popular import right now, hell even the srt is doing great now. the car is gonna cost us a grip as usual just to get one and they are gonna look at all that and factor it in. and in the end, just like before and every other time we think we are getting our car back we will get the donkey in the ass!

[KaotiKCamaro5]

philly... take your pills.. its gonna be ok..

*on a perfectly good note.. the page didnt load, so i couldnt read the article, but i am with Will on this one, the camaro may come back, then again, it may not.. the Chevelle is going to be re-introduced.. as per many chevy spokesmen.. so who knows. there is hope, and everyone i know around here thinks the 05 Stang is BUTT.. ASS.. UGLY!, so i dont think there will be a question as to what will sell more if they can come up with a nice design.

[philly rs]

<<<<<taking my pills} ok im better now, sorry guys im still pissed about the zeta project being thrown to the side, it was the only real hope of us getting our car back, they had pics and everything. anything else is like smoke being blown up my ass

[Savage Messiah]

They didn't have pics of it