Camaro Z28 Spied on Nurburgring
It feels like every couple days new pictures of the Z28 in camo pop up. The last few have been exciting, as they've provided some idea of what the vehicle will look like, but it's this newest batch that is the most incredible. Chevrolet took their next Camaro darling out for a spin at a little place called the Nurburgring. Oh, what's that? You've heard of this place before?
The Z28 was spied at the 'Ring, which has quickly become one of the most hallowed courses in the field of vehicle performance and performance testing, and the fact that Chevrolet took the time and money to take the Z28 there for testing, especially this early still in its development, shows that they are truly dedicated to delivering a high quality product! One can be certain that Chevy didn't just take the Z28 Camaro out to Nurburgring for a joy ride, but that it was instead there running numerous tests on its performance, providing them a base upon what is working right now and what can be improved upon for quicker track times, and greater competitive dominance. This dedication to quality is exciting and speaks volumes about the future of the Camaro Z28.
Also worth nothing, the presence of the spoiler in these images. Up to this point, the Z28 had always been seen without a rear deck spoiler. The spoiler on the Z28 is simple and small, but good looking (because, let's face it, the Camaro always looks good). Check out the images and get a little more excited about this vehicle's future!
Eric Berry Camaro and More Z28 Test Photos
The first bit of news concerns the twin-supercharged 1200 HP Camaro that Eric Berry, the new Kansas City safety out of Tennessee, had built for himself. When originally selected by the Chiefs, Berry was ushered to a press conference. There he was asked what he wanted to do. His response was, very coolly, "I really just want to get the 2010 Camaro. I love Chevy." Now, I imagine Eric was probably paid a little something to say this, but he later rang true on this promise. Eric recently received his own custom, $139,000 Camaro, to add him to the growing list of celebrities driving around in America's favorite muscle car. And now, you too can have an Eric Berry Camaro for just $139,000. At his newly created website, www.eb29.com, Eric Berry goes in to great detail about what it took to create his custom Camaro from start to finish, and the process is pretty impressive. At the end of the Camaro page, he is asked why he loves Camaros, and writes:
"On the field, I like for my game to speak for itself. I think Camaros and I share similar qualities...they are fast, powerful, stylish and tough without trying too hard. That's my style. I've always loved Camaros and I'm excited to be a part of this project with National Speed, Inc. I'm especially proud that proceeds from the sale of the NZ-1200EB will benefit my foundation so that kids can have safe places to play and compete. Check back for progress on the NZ1200-EB, I'm excited to show you the finished product."
So see, you can put some $$ in Eric's pockets and help the kids at the same time! In all honesty, Eric's Camaro is pretty awesome and worth a look.
Moving past that, a Camaro5 Forum member recently found himself the beneficiary of a "right place, right time" situation when, driving through the streets of Coronado, he came across a pack of Camaro test mules. Leading the pack were two Z28 mules with camo hoods that appear to be hiding some sort of massive hood cowl. The vehicles look great (as is to be expected) and definitely do a good job of showing off how great the Camaro can look. I just can't wait until the Z28 is out and available to the public.
Lots of Camaro Convertibles Spied on Trucks!
Ok, so, someone out there saw all of these various images of a Camaro convertible being spied here or there and thought to themselves, "This isn't enough. We need to take the Camaro Convertible spy photo to the next level, and try and get, I don't know, 7 of them at once". Well, the person who thought this then went out and did exactly this, and now we have this set of pictures of two vehicle hauling trucks leaving the Camaro plant, loaded down with convertibles. There are multiple different color combination's here, too, including some Tan top Camaros to check out. My favorite of the bunch is the Silver with Black Top, but that's all personal preference. Check the pictures out and tell me what you think.
Edit: The images didn't properly load, as my image hosting client's having some issues at the moment. As soon as I can, I will load up the images of these Camaros for you to see! Sorry for the inconvenience!
GM Posts Some Very Real Earnings: Rejoice!
Well, this is good news for both Camaro owners/lovers and also for people who generally like the American economy. It looks like GM's restructuring has started to actually work pretty well, as they've now posted three straight quarters of profits, a run which is highlighted by their current Q2 $1.3 Billion profits. GM posted $33.2 Billion revenue with $1.3 Billion profit, thanks in large part to the fantastic sales of some of its more marquee models. Chief amongst those models was the Camaro, which has paved the way for the American muscle to return front and center since its release a little more than a year ago.
These numbers also bode well for Camaro lovers as they mean that for the foreseeable future GM will have the capital to produce newer and better versions of their vehicles and provide the Gen 5 Camaro fantastic new features and facelifts every year. It also means that a Gen6 Camaro is pretty much a lock, which is a great thing. So, this is good news, and bodes well for the current economic recovery. With Ford doing reasonably well and GM looking like their old selves again (dear god, I meant that in the best way possible) it seems as though the automotive industry has rebounded well. Now, if only my house value would go back up...
More GM Marketing News
In business it is typically understood that when profits drop, marketing allotments are one of the first things to follow. So, the recent news that GM is ramping their marketing budget back up to pre-deficit numbers must be a good thing! This year GM will see a rise in their marketing budget of 5%. That number is also, surely, a testament to the faith that the company has in their new head of marketing, Joel Ewanick. Ewanick has been with GM right around 3 months now, and in that time has begun to make large strides forward. The first major sign of his progress was the recent Corvette ZR1 national ad campaign which began, but that is just the beginning. This year will also mark the beginning of a new, full-scale, Camaro marketing campaign. This campaign presents faith in both Ewanick and the Camaro, and is a positive sign for GM moving forward. Ewanick has also announced that GM, and specifically the Chevrolet brand, will be returning to the Super Bowl. Last year, during their financial troubles, GM sat out the Super Bowl marketing blitz completely. The return this year presents more positive news for the company's economic outlook. Rounding out Ewanick's big moves is his new Cadillac marketing scheme which will begin this year. Cadillac is being given a new brand slogan, and with this new slogan will come a national marketing campaign as well. The slogan, "The new standard for the world" is catchy, but a little long-winded. I am no marketing genius, mind you, but I can't help but wonder if simply "The new standard" isn't a catchier slogan. It seems to me that adding the "for the world" at the end of it creates a little redundancy. Of course, the second part may be included to highlight Cadillac's high-end performance battle with companies like BMW and Mercedes. Their CTS-V, which puts of 556 HP stock and provides an incredible combination of luxury and performance, and definitely put a little fear in the eyes of BMW and MB as it outperforms equivalent priced vehicles from those competitors line-ups (see BMW M3, 5 Series, and MB S-Class). All in all, this set of news coming from GM and their new head of marketing is incredibly positive and points towards fairer pastures ahead. Here's to you, Mr. Ewanick, and the bright future you bring.
Camaro Z28 Artist Rendering
We've seen the spy photos of the Z28 thus far, and it looks pretty awesome. Using those, artist Jon Sibal put together a rendition of what the Z28's front end most likely looks like. You can make out some angles and details in the spy photos, and obviously Mr. Sibal used those same cues in the rendering he has put together. It's a good looking car that doesn't venture far from the standard Camaro styling, which is an absolute plus. Now, we just have the performance numbers to truly speculate on!
Camaro Z28: It’s Real.
If you've read any articles of mine concerning the possibility of a Z28 before, you've noticed just how skeptical I have always been. Well, today, I drop that skepticism completely and trade it in for a nice set of unbridled optimism! The Camaro Z28 is very, very, real, and we now have spy shots of a tester to prove it.
Captured out in the wild running comparison tests with other Camaros and a Mustang GT 500, these images show a beautiful, supercharged, 6.2L, automatic transmission machine in full spy car camo. Even through the camo, the very large front intake screens are obvious. Couple that with the more aggressive front chin spoiler, rear diffuser, and quad-exit exhaust system (also the bad-ass black 5-spoke 20" wheels), and you have got a gorgeous looking vehicle there.
The knowledge that this is a Supercharged 6.2L V8 also leads to some speculation. We can safely assume that it's not an LS9, as that monster is reserved for the ZR1 and the ZR1 only. The LSA, with its 556BHP, seems very likely though, as that number puts it right in line with the 550HP Mustang GT500, against which it is being tested. It could of course be a new Supercharged LS3 or LS99, but it seems more likely, with the LSA on the books, they would use that powerhouse for the Camaro Z28. If they are, that's great news, as reviews for that engine are fantastic. With the wide-open quad exhaust on the Camaro as well, and some tuning, they've probably got a few extra Horsies out of the LSA past what the Cadillac version of it was pushing. All in all, this news is incredibly exciting, and leads itself to wonderful dreams and worthwhile speculation. So, what do you think?
Future Camaro Speculation!
Well, GM officially announced that the Camaro would, at some point in the future, be switching to their new Alpha Chassis. The Alpha Chassis will allow for GM to build a lighter, more agile next-gen Camaro, and that's a good thing. Here's some more speculation concerning the future of the Camaro though! GM has announced that they have a new engine in the works for the next-gen Corvette, and apparently the C7 will be powered by a naturally aspirated, direct-injection 5.5L V8 putting out 440 Horsepower. While the displacement on this engine's smaller, the numbers are nice (and it supposedly vastly fuel efficient over its current C6 counterpart) , and I imagine we'll probably see this new Chevy Small-Block becoming the engine du jour of the next gen Camaro SS, in some fashion. To keep the Corvette price-tag in line, they'll probably tune it down some, but that still just means the engine's not far from unlocking all of those extra ponies. All in all, it seems like a nice step in the right direction of engine design by GM, regardless of the smaller displacement.
Maybe this Z28 Thing is Real this time…
Well, according to the usually reliable MotorTrend, when interviewing the GM VP of Global Engineering he recently divulged that the Camaro Z28 would be a real thing. It seems that Karl Stracke is filling in the shoes of the old Bob Lutz and giving up GM's secrets to the media. Stracke's a pretty interesting character himself, as he drives a Corvette Grand Sport as his daily driver and rides a Harley, and is by no means afraid to speak his mind. He recently spoke out against the Cobalt, calling it "horrible" and questioning how it ever passed multiple departments and was considered a good idea.
Well, Stracke also spoke his mind in a number of other ways recently. He claimed that the Camaro Z28, and Next-Gen Camaro as well, would be utilizing the new GM Alpha-Platform. Having his confirmation of the definitive nature of the Z28's future is definitely a good thing for all of us Camaro fans, as anything less than that up to now could reasonably be considered ridiculous postulating from less than informed sources (I've been very very skeptical of all the various Z28 reports up to now, as they tend to be various forum members from one website or another claiming they know a guy who knows a guy who saw a tester, or something similar). Going beyond this, Stracke also talked about how Cadillac is gunning directly for BMW, saying that they don't want to settle for being anything less than the top-dog. He said that in reaching for this, they're making moves across the entirety of GM to improve their interior style and design, and to take cues from the Audi line of vehicles in that department. Stracke also stated that engineers were currently discussing a potential Hybrid Diesel or Rotary for the next-generation Chevy Volt.
All in all, pretty interesting information from an interesting character, and a seemingly solid admission of proof to the future of the Camaro and the Z28.
GM Reworking Camaro Interior for 2012
From Camaro5:
"A GM insider confirmed for us that the company is hard at work now on a substantially reworked interior for the Camaro that will appear for the 2012 model year. He couldn't/wouldn't list all of the changes, but did mention that most of the upgrading work will go into the dash and specifically that big expanse of blackness in front of the passenger.
Also new for the 2012 will be a little something called the Camaro Z28. Perhaps you've heard of it once (or a million times) before. Why wait until the 2012 model year? Our source says so it doesn't step on the toes to the convertible which will be the Camaro's "big news for 2011."
Well, I'd absolutely believe that the interior would be reworker for 2012, as with the HUD and other touches they've already started on this, and it is one of the few places that people have complaints with the vehicle at all. Where I get hung up though is with yet another promise from some unknown, unnamed source that we will have a Z28 at some point in time. We keep hearing this, and every single one makes me more and more skeptical. Until GM gives an official notice that they will definitely be making a Z28 and here's the release date, I won't hold my breath. I want to see one, very badly, GM so help me out with that!