Chevrolet Camaro News

This is the car GM Holden developed, but won't sell you: the Camaro. Work to revive the famous badge was done in Australia by Holden's engineers. Strip away the Detroit muscle and underneath is a Commodore skeleton.When Holden designed the Commodore fundamentals it made them flexible enough to be the starting point for a whole range of large, rear-wheel-drive cars. In the giant that General Motors used to be, there were no end of possibilities.However, GM could see the traffic lights changing ahead and didn't know whether to accelerate or brake. It ended up doing both, but before other projects could get traction, ran out of money. Apart from a few Commodores rebadged as Pontiacs, the Chevrolet Camaro is the sole result.It went on sale stateside a year ago and enthusiasts here were left holding their breath. The Camaro has a special place in Australia's racing history as a two-time winner of the touring car championship in the early 1970s, driven by Bob Jane. Kevin Bartlett twice put the car on pole at Bathurst.Since Holden has no plans to revive the Monaro again, would the US coupe be available in right-hand drive?  On more than one occasion, GM has encouraged the idea. But thanks to the global financial crisis, accountants are calling the tune and the lyrics go: "You say Ca-maa-ro, I say Ca-mair-o . . . let's call the whole thing off.'' For a tiny market such as Australia, the numbers don't add up.So if you want one, the only option for the foreseeable future is to buy a local conversion of a left-hand drive import. Performax International, based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, claims to be first to complete the task. It has already converted a few cars and is taking orders for more, with a price of $135,000 on a top-of-the-range V8.At the Lakeside Raceway north of Brisbane last week the results were on show. There was time to examine Performax's handiwork and drive a few laps of the track.  The Camaro is GM's pitch to US revheads and competes against the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger.Their shapes are all modern versions of the 1960s muscle car classics and the Camaro is one of the more successful, with a low-slung cabin, pronounced haunches and huge 20-inch wheels. The engine will be familiar to HSV owners: GM's 6.2-litre LS3 V8, with 318kW in the six-speed manual Camaro.It delivers a perfect muscle-car soundtrack -- a laid-back rumble that makes acceleration seem effortless. Compared to an HSV, the Camaro V8 has about 130kg less weight to move.It's shorter and wider too, and feels nicely balanced through corners. Racetracks can make the firmest suspensions feel soft, but the chassis benefits from the solid fundamentals of the donor Commodore. It's not as crisp, perhaps, as an HSV GTS but tight and enjoyable. The hardest thing to live with would be the spongy brake pedal.The cabin owes nothing to the Holden sedan and feels half a notch above it for desirability, but no more. Body-coloured trim panels line the doors in a nod to the 1960s while the seats, wheel and gearshift are nicely judged.  The centre console controls are simple and clear, even if the obligatory extra dials are set absurdly low.Best, though, is that the cabin seems neat and seems to have lost nothing in the conversion. Performax claims to have perfection as its goal and even these early cars had a neatness that could have almost rolled off an assembly line.Company co-founder Greg Waters believes the results are a pay-off from investment in new technology that changed the way the company tackles each job. Crucial to the process now is a three-dimensional scanner that inputs all the bits that need flipping into a computer program. Then a three-dimensional printer generates a usable part in plastic. If it works, it's used as a pattern to mould as many as they need.Performax says it's the only conversion company using the system and with 200 finished vehicles a year, it's also the largest. Sports cars such as the Camaro, Corvette and Mustang are the headline acts and Performax imported H2 Hummers when they were popular a few years ago. But its bread and butter are large pick-ups such as the Chevrolet Silverado or GMC Sierra.There's a small but resilient market for these American staples here, as Ford discovered when it brought in its large F-series trucks a few years ago. In a good year, Ford sold about 2000 F250s, but the range was discontinued in 2007.Waters says businesses and recreational users will pay a premium for the extra hauling ability these vehicles offer. "Our target market is older people or businesspeople who are buying Chevy trucks to tow their big caravan or fishing boat,'' he explains.Waters thinks the company will find buyers for about 60 Camaros over the next two years and most of them will be older too, thanks mainly to the price. "Not many young people can write out a $130,000 cheque for a car.'' It's certainly a lot to pay for a model that costs $US34,000 ($38,000) in the US, but Waters and his team are only partly to blame. Regulations require imports to be new, which means they incur US sales taxes. Performax has to buy through a US agent rather than direct from dealers, so there's a commission to pay. Then there's shipping costs of about $4000 a car, the Australian import tariff of 5 per cent, GST and the luxury car tax. It quickly adds up.It also sounds like a tricky operation with a lot of fraught paperwork, and I wonder how it got started. Waters says it began 20 years ago after he and mate Brian Learoyd went backpacking to the US with the aim of buying a car."Brian and myself pooled our resources and bought a Corvette in the States and shipped it home. Our intention was to get it converted,'' he says. When they saw what conversion companies were doing, they decided to have a go themselves. Then they did a couple more cars to recoup the administration costs. Before long it had gone beyond a hobby."Every time we did a conversion, we enjoyed it and made something out of it. So we said, let's get fair dinkum about it and chase the work.''The paperwork is still challenging, Water says. Performax is allowed to convert up to 200 examples of one model each year under two different low-volume import schemes.  The cars are not required to undergo complete testing here as long as the overseas standards are recognised in Australia.Corvettes are the most difficult to convert and the job is getting harder due to the increasing complexity of electronics, Waters says. Although there's never been a car they couldn't do. The 3D printer has allowed the company to expand but it's now thinking about the next step. To help it move more mainstream it has recruited Glenn Soper, formerly with Renault and Bentley, as general manager.Soper says Performax could tackle more models, such as Ford F-series pick-ups, and increase sales by stepping through all the regulatory hoops.  "We're looking at full-volume compliance on particular models, which means we can do as many as we want,'' he says.The workshop is already expanding and Soper says a presence in other states is also on the agenda. "Melbourne is definitely on the cards and Western Australia would be a priority,'' he says.Having well-established rivals in Victoria means it won't be easy, but Soper believes the Performax approach gives it an edge.  And once there are a few Camaros running around our roads, that will be a very visible edge indeed.CHEVROLET CAMAROVehicle: Performance coupeEngine: 6.2-litre V8Outputs: 318kW at 5000rpm and 553Nm at 4500rpmTransmission: Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drivePrice: $135,000 plus on-road costsOn sale: Now

The Chevrolet Camaro is a sell-out across North America, making an early arrival in local Holden showrooms models unlikely.  GM-Holden vice chairman, Alan Batey, now says the sexy two-door will arrive in 2011 ‘at the earliest’.Other right-hand drive markets like the UK and South Africa will also have to go into bat for the car so that GM-Holden can make a strong business case locally.  "The original plan was that it would go to us and the UK and a small volume to South Africa as a halo Chevy," he says."It will help if they want the car too."However, Batey says that because of the strong North American demand, lower volume right-hand drive markets are now a low priority.  "The car won't happen in 2010. And we've got our hand up saying we want to do it but we'll have to watch it really closely," he says.  "It would be 2011 at the earliest."The Camaro was engineered and designed in Australia both as a right hand and left-hand drive car, using Commodore underpinnings.  "If you like, the car is right hand drive enabled," Batey says.  However, the global financial crisis and GM's bankruptcy challenges got in the way of the sleek coupe becoming a true global car."It was decided that from a prioritisation perspective it wouldn't hit the priority lists so it fell backwards," Batey says.  "From our perspective we've always wanted to do the car."However, Batey says that like the Monaro "all those type of cars have a very limited lifespan".  "They're very, very hot and then they go off," he says.  "They do go off fast as the must-have latest thing."Batey says the car is still on Holden's wishlist "but it's really not in our court, it's really in the court of America".  "They are in the situation where the car is red hot over there and the plant is at full capacity," he says.The Camaro is built at GM's Oshawa plant in Canada.  Both V6 and V8 models are available but demand has been strongest for the high end SS V8 models.  Currently 80 per cent are V8s.The plant also builds an entry level direct injection 227kW 3.6-litre V6 that powers some Australian Commodores. A SS shares its 6.2-litre V8 with HSV models sold locally. In the Camaro it develops 318kW.More than 70,000 Camaros have been sold since it went on sale in March last year. A convertible version is expected to go on sale this year.

A right-hand drive version of the Commodore-based coupe is now cleared for takeoff and only needs a money-making plan from Fishermans Bend to make it happen.  The worldwide product boss of General Motors, Bob Lutz, confirms the right-side steering plan for the Camaro during a comprehensive new- model update for Australian reporters during the Detroit Motor Show, showing his usual enthusiasm for anything spun from the VE Commodore on the go-faster front. "I think you can pretty much count on a right-hand-drive Camaro," says Lutz.  "The Camaro at some point will be factory right-hand-drive. That is what we are currently looking at ...  with a great deal of focus, built in the plant in Canada and shipped to right-hand-drive markets from Canada." The original GM plan for the Camaro called for right-hand drive and a convertible in 2011, but the extensions from the basic coupe — which was engineered in Australia for North American production and sales — were delayed by the impact of the global financial crisis and last year's GM bankruptcy proceedings. But the convertible is now back on the map and the Australian import plan is also picking up pace.  Even so, the head of GM Holden is sounding a warning.  "It's not a done deal yet. We still have to put together a business plan," says Alan Batey, president of Holden, also speaking in Detroit. Batey is worried that enthusiasm will overtake commonsense on the Camaro and wants to wait until his sales and marketing team is able to complete some serious customer research. He is also worried about the long-term future of a Camaro in Australia, because of unstable exchange rates, and worries about introducing the Chevrolet brand following the failures of Daewoo, Hummer, Saab and Cadillac — which never even get off the launch pad — as brand extensions for Holden. Batey knows there is a strong call for the Camaro and only has to look at the success of the home-grown Monaro to know a Commodore coupe can work. But he refuses to get carried away.  "Let's wait and see. It's early days," he says.  "We've had our hand up for this car since we did the engineering work in Australia. It now depends on how quickly we can get it. We've always wanted it. We'll take it, but it depends on how soon it becomes available." Lutz is, typically, rushing ahead and can see no reason to delay a right-hand drive version of the Camaro. He knows Australia is the key but can see export potential to Britain and South Africa. "With the currency and so on we now have a golden opportunity to export from the United States, and with the excellence of the product we really should be pushing exports," Lutz says.  "Most of the parts are there. All we have to do really is reverse the instrument panel. All of the right-hand drive bits are a given because of the Holden architecture."

There have been droptop Camaros at GM Holden's proving ground at Lang Lang for well over 18 months but now, with a firm timetable for production and sales, the car is getting serious mileage in the USA.This convertible Camaro prototype is caught by Carparazzi close to GM's worldwide development headquarters, the Milford proving ground outside Detroit, during on-road testing.It's a V8-powered SS model, just like the coupes which are becoming a sellout success across America.  The plan for the convertible Camaro has production beginning at GM's Oshawa factory in Canada in the first quarter of 2011, according to a one-line confirmation in the press pack for the 2011 Buick Regal.Carparazzi says the actual start-up will be February, 2011 and that points to sales of the Camaro convertible as a 2012 model later in the year.  And perhaps an on-sale date that coincides with the Camaro coupe in Australia ...

The upcoming Camry hybrid is an obvious prospect for overseas sales, with New Zealand already committed, but the real key for Australia is everything from car parts to engineering brains and design skills. Toyota believes local brainpower could help fuel its growth in the Asian region over the next 10 years with many emerging economies linked through a re-organisation that puts Australia into the same region as China and India.  "Australia is very much in a strategic position for this growth belt for automotive," said Yukitoshi Funo, one of only five executive vice- presidents of global Toyota, during a flying visit to celebrate production of the first petrol-electric Camry at Altona in Melbourne. "Australia is very much strategically well positioned in terms of taking advantage of this growth belt. That is China, Asia, India, the Middle East and even Africa. Australia is not an amateur, if you like, in terms of doing exports for other destinations."  But Funo stopped well short of pushing for more Camry exports and said Toyota Australia had other possibilities which would also be open to other local companies, including component makers, in coming years. "How to integrate this automotive industry with those Asian neighbours is the key question. What is the advantage, what is the weakness, what is the area that should learn more? These are the issues that the Australian automotive industry should address," he said, before focussing on Toyota Australia. "We have to look at Camry, we have to look at other models, we have to look at components, we have to look at components in components. Like, for example, to reduce the Yen component.  "Of course, there are other areas. Like we have engineering units here. They could do organise a closer relationship with sister organisations located in Bangkok." This would be a similar approach to the one which has worked successfully for both GM Holden and Ford in Australia.  Ford has done a number of regional development programs, including two small cars for India and a pick-up for Asia, while Holden engineered and developed the Chevrolet Camaro which is now built in North America. Toyota Style Australia, run under the direction of Paul Beranger, is already linked into Toyota's global design process and the company makes extensive use of proving ground facilities at Anglesee near Melbourne.  Toyota is hopeful that its exports to the Middle East will rebound in 2010 after a major slump this year which has cut output at Altona from a peak of 148,000 to around 110,000 cars. But, with just 10,000 hybrid Camrys on the books for next year, it is unlikely to be more than a trickle feed to any customers outside the country until at least 2011.  Funo also outlined a program to try and make Australia the first 'currency free' operation inside Toyota, removing the peaks and troughs of exchange rate fluctuations that make it so tough to do business as both the country's biggest automotive importer and exporter. "This company exports many, many cars to other destinations like the Middle East. But at the same time we import many.  "I think if we apply a little bit more aggressive effort in terms of the exports, or reducing the currency, or something like that, from Japan to a weaker currency. By doing that we can maybe make Australia the first currency-free operation in the world for Toyota." "We can expect some counter-measures ... if you want to call it that, with development of small cars and suchlike."

Melbourne-based right-hand drive conversion company, the Corvette Clinic, is about to start work converting the new Chevrolet Camaro for an eager local audience.Company owner, Peter Whiston, says his first Camaro - a range-topping 2SS V8 - is on the water and due in Melbourne in weeks. "We have quite a few interested people keen to get one," he says.With the Holden Monaro gone, Whiston reckons the Camaro will slide right in for those buyers looking for a high-performance General Motors two-door V8 coupe.Whiston says he will concentrate on converting the luxury V8 models only. "I really don't think there would be a market for the V6," he says. "However, if someone wanted one we'd probably do it."The 2SS sells for just over $35,000 in California but landed here and with all the engineering work required to convert it to right-hand drive, including the new dashboard, Whiston expects to sell the cars for between $130,000 and $140,000. At that price, he says people are still queueing up. The rear-drive 2SS gets a 6.2-litre V8 that develops 318kW/569Nm in a power package that almost goes toe-to-toe with the HSV GTS.The car gets standard Bluetooth, leather upholstery, Boston Acoustics stereo and climate control air conditioning.Despite its underpinnings being based on the VE Commodore and sharing the same V6 and V8 engines, Whiston says the Camaro uses a different steering rack as well as heating and ventilation systems. "From a conversion point of view, there is really little interchangeable between the Commodore and Camaro," he says.Whiston is confident he will have the small, but lucrative, Camaro business to himself for the time being. However, GM's vehicle line executive in charge of global rear-wheel-drive vehicles, Gene Stefanyshyn remains a big enthusiast for a right-hand drive version of the muscle car.In an interview with Carsguide earlier this year he said getting the Camaro to Australia was not a lost cause. However, building volume right-hand drive versions would cost about $35 million to engineer.Given General Motors’ financial situation and the global economy, a right-hooker Camaro remains a low priority. The Camaro has been a welcomed hit for downtrodden General Motors in the US.More than 80,000 are expected to be sold this year and order banks are growing for next year.You asked for it. So Carsguide has obliged. We have received more than 200 requests from readers to bring the Camaro to Australia. So we've handed on all your letters and thoughts to GM-Holden chairman Alan Batey. We'll keep you posted on how the campaign goes.  

All the work to convert the VE Commodore-based American coupe from a set of plans into a road-going reality here has been done, but the project is on ice until the global financial crisis clears and 'New GM' gets a clearer picture of its future. It's the same story with the Camaro convertible - which is also iced until financial conditions improve. But Camaro chief Gene Stefanyshyn, who drove the project on both sides of the Pacific, is keen to get the car into Australia and says it is not a lost cause. "All the basic engineering is done. It would cost about $35 million to do the production engineering," says Stefanyshyn, the global vehicle line executive at GM in charged of global rear-wheel drive vehicles. He is talking about the cost of converting the plans into parts for the production line but, sadly, the spend would not stop there. It would also take millions on shipping, spare parts and a local dealer network to really get the Camaro going. "They are like children. You have to feed them and clothe them and send them to school," Stefanyshyn says. And GM Holden is still refusing to even admit the Camaro could be a goer down under. "There is no business case for the car," says official spokesperson, Kate Lonsdale. But the Camaro is picking up speed in the USA and headed for some export success. "We will build about 80,000 this year. That's pretty good," says Stefanyshyn. "We are also about to start exports to Europe. We've got the parts done and we're ready to go. The car is also going to Japan, still in left-hand drive." Stefanyshyn was speaking at an exclusive drive of the Camaro at Holden's Lang Lang proving ground for World Car of the Year judges. The car is included on the list of contenders for the 2010 award. The briefing included significant details on the Camaro and the VE Commodore program - officially called Zeta at General Motors - which led to its creation. "When Zeta started it was a flexible architecture based around VE.  There have been all sorts of opportunities we've looked at," says GM Holden designer, Peter Hughes. "We always had visions about doing another couple of cars off the architecture. But we were hoping for a Monaro." The success of the Camaro project means no chance for a Commodore, even though the American retro muscle car was a much bigger job than it looks. "Monaro was a VT Commodore cut-and-shut with a new back end. This is a whole car. The Monaro was basically a Commodore coupe but the Camaro is two-plus-two, not a four-seater, and completely different from VE," says Hughes. Do you want the Chevrolet Camaro in Australia? Carsguide will mount a campaign if enough readers get behind the car, and we're happy to pass the push to GM Holden's new chairman, Alan Batey. Write to Batey, give him your thoughts, and we'll pass the messages to the top man at the red lion. Email to: karla.pincott@carsguide.com.au

This was my first hands-on exposure to the American coupe that has been created from the bones of the VE Commodore and I was hopeful of something special. The car is great, and is now one of my favourites as a voter in the World Car of the Year contest, but it was the in the Camaro which is now truly memorable. It came at the hands of Rob Trubiani, who is one of the most talented wheelmen I have met. And I mean Brock-type talent. I had never heard of Trubiani and he has never raced, but he has an incredible gift for speed with poise and precision. Ok, so he knows the Camaro and Holden's ride-and-handling track as well as anyone, but he still conducted the car around the course at incredible pace with zero fuss - even when he was totally sideways. It turns out he is the only Holden driver who is qualified to test at the Nurburgring in Germany, which is one of the tracks where he helped to hone the Camaro. And he is talented engineer as well. "I guess I'm an engineer who is able to drive fast. But I'm an engineer first," Trubiani says modestly as we head into our third lap. It's thanks to Holden people like Trubiani, and talented young designer Peter Hughes who was also part of the Camaro experience, that the company does so well. It is packed with incredible skills. And I still cannot fathom how Trubiani has such a light touch at Lang Lang while driving with the klumpy steel-cap boots which are compulsory in his job. "I guess I've just adjusted. They're not my first choice, but they get the job done," he laughs. Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

The Chevrolet Camaro might be built and sold in the USA, but it was designed, developed, tested and approved down under as a spin-off from the VE Commodore. It is named this week among the 31 finalists for the World COTY (see gallery above for full shortlist), and will be judged by a global panel of 60 motoring journalists before the winner is named at the New York Auto Show in April next year.The finalists carry badges from Audi to Toyota and are as diverse as the latest green-power Honda Insight and Toyota Prius to the super luxury Porsche Panamera."The list came from the manufacturers, who sent us their eligible cars for the year. There may be one or two more yet, because a couple of companies might have some extra models before the end of the year," says WCOTY co-chairman, Peter Lyon. "For example, there is the Mercedes SLS Gullwing. We don't know yet when it will go on sale."Apart from the World COTY contest, the same judging panel also decides the World Performance Car of the Year (see gallery), World Green Car of the Year and World Car Design of the year.So far there are 18 potential winners in the performance category, from the Aston Martin V12 Vantage to the Renault Clio 3 Renault Sport. Judging on all fronts now advances to the semi-finals, three cars in each case, which will be named at the Geneva Motor Show at the start of March. Then it is over to the judges to drive, assess and vote."This year we have 60 judges altogether. We've capped at that number, after adding a couple of new judges this year," says Lyon. "Originally we had about 44 judges. But 60 is the basic number of the North American, European and Japanese COTY awards and that seemed like the right number.""We've got judges now for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. We've basically covered 25 or 26 countries, from Australia to Russia and everywhere between."Lyon says the basics of the award have not changed for the sixth judging and he makes no apologies for the list of contenders. "The German and Japanese cars are romping it in again. It's basically a reflection of the quality of car manufacturing today. The Japanese and Germans are making the best cars in the world, full stop," he says."But we think, of all the Car of the Year awards, this is the most natural. There is no pressure on any of the judges. They just vote for the best cars as they see them in their countries." 

The VE Commodore-based retro coupe is coming as a private import and cars will be available in the back end of the year. They won't be cheap, but the man who plans to land the first Camaro says he can deliver a right-hand drive car to match the original Chevrolet quality. The job is done by Performax International, which has been operating for more than 20 years and specialises in importing and conversion on a wide range of popular American vehicles. Its biggest seller is the Chevrolet Silverado pickup but the Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Mustang are both popular. The first Camaro — a top-line SS V8 — is already sitting on the docks in California and Nick Vandenberg of Performax cannot wait to get it to Australia and start the conversion and compliance work. "The Camaro is an exciting car. It's a car that people know a lot about. It's a buzz car and people are talking about it," Vandenberg says. "There is already quite an anticipation created by GM Holden doing the car. Since they have made their decision not to do right-hand drive we can at least supply a small number for Australia. We think we'll do a few cars a year and that will justify it." Performax, which is based on the Sunshine Coast at Gympie in Queensland, has its conversion team on standby and Vandenberg says the work will be done with a state-of-the-art setup. "We have invested hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in this business," he says. "We can do a 3D scan of a dashboard, then get it digitally onto a CAD drawing and reverse engineer it into a three-dimensional mould for our plastic injection moulding machine. "We have a team of three guys to handle all of the compliancing. And one of those is the CAD man who does all the computer work. "It's almost the quality of original equipment. And we are the only people in Australia with this equipment. It will be a seamless right-hand drive conversion with full Australian Design Rule compliance and a factory warranty." Vandenberg is expecting the Camaro to generate a lot of interest but the biggest question cannot be answered yet. It's the price. "The thing that determines the cost is the cost of the conversion. Until we get the car here we can only give an approximation. "For a top-line car SS as a manual or auto it's going to be somewhere between $120,00 and $150,00. We sold a convertible Corvette the other day for about $200,000, so it will definitely be cheaper than a Corvette." Vandenberg says the Silverado is a solid base for the business but it's muscle cars which generate the real following. "We've done quite a lot of Corvette conversions. We do the Ford Mustang as well. We only got compliance for that early last year and we were flooded by people," he says. The timing for the Camaro is still not set but the plan is locked and loaded, based on low-volume compliance. "The car is currently sitting on the docks. It will take four or five weeks to get here, so it will be towards the end of the year before it's ready," Vandenberg says.