Pre-production Chevy Camaros begin rolling off Oshawa assembly line

[Intrepidation]

General Motors has released a slew of images that show the first batch of pre-production 2010 Chevy Camaros being assembled at the its assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario. Check out the gallery below to see how the sausage is made, though watching the Camaro go from shells to showroom ready is much more appetizing than watching someone stuff animal intestines with meat. The gallery shows nearly every stage of the muscle car's birth process, including paint, the mating of body to chassis, final inspections and the finished product that pops out the other end. Enjoy.

Source: Autoblog

Gallery

[Drew Dowdell]

WTF is taking so long?

[Northstar]

WTF is taking so long?

Nothing. Regular production has been planned for mid February '09 for quite a while...

[Brougham-Holiday]

I hope this is a sales success, because GM needs something positive in the headlines.

[Satty]

Jesus, its already time for an MCE.

[ZL-1]

Jesus, its already time for an MCE.

Pillarless post MCE Camaro FTW!

[Satty]

Pillarless post MCE Camaro FTW!

Do you really think GM can afford the $130 for a Sawzall? Apparently thats all it takes to make it a hardtop.

[gm4life]

Even in a down economy this thing will sell trust me.

[Satty]

I'll go out on a limb and say it wont sell any worse that the G8 or GTO. But I could be wrong.

[A Horse With No Name]

Sadly, pre-production prototypes are usually crushed, so the cars in the pics will meet a sad end.

But the cars do look good!

Chris

[I hope GMRULES again]

We should take a poll and check it and the end of the year. I say they'll be lucky to sell 25k this year.

[David]

:camarosmile:

Count me in, I say they will sell 29,000 units this year give or take a few hundred. They sure are Pretty!!!

[Brougham-Holiday]

I'm a little more optimistic, I'm going to say 50,000 units.

[smk4565]

WTF is taking so long?

No GM car comes out fast. Hopefully they get these to dealerships soon since the 370Z just came out, the 2010 Mustang and 2010 Genesis coupe arrive soon also. There are a lot of new arrivals to that segment, and GM can't lose sales because they don't have cars on the lot.

[smk4565]

Camaro will crush the G8 sales numbers, it looks 100 times better, it is a 2 doors which make it a better sports car and it costs less, plus has a 300 hp V6, not a 250 hp V6. Transformers 2 comes out this summer, that could help also. The Camaro has a cool factor to it, the G8 doesn't. Although I think the Camaro's semi-retro look could have it looking dated after a few years, where the Nissan Z ages well and the Genesis Coupe I think will age well.

[daves87rs]

Cool pics...

[Intrepidation]

Camaro will crush the G8 sales numbers, it looks 100 times better, it is a 2 doors which make it a better sports car and it costs less, plus has a 300 hp V6, not a 250 hp V6. Transformers 2 comes out this summer, that could help also. The Camaro has a cool factor to it, the G8 doesn't. Although I think the Camaro's semi-retro look could have it looking dated after a few years, where the Nissan Z ages well and the Genesis Coupe I think will age well.

Based on what? The 350Z has aged poorly and the Genesis certainly doesn't have a timeless look about it.

[gm4life]

I'm a little more optimistic, I'm going to say 50,000 units.

Yupper that is what I am guessing.

[Satty]

Didn't Lutz say 100,000 to be profitable?

[6t5frlane]

Even in a down economy this thing will sell trust me.

I guess everybody hopes so but I think it will not reach the sales that Gm hoped for. Nice Torino i your GM for life pic

[David]

I'm a little more optimistic, I'm going to say 50,000 units.

Yupper that is what I am guessing.

I hope you are both right and I am way off on my sales estimate for this year. But even here in washington state where we have not been hit as hard as the rest of the country with this depression, I visually see how hard the auto dealerships have it as not much metal is moving off the lots.

I suspect even those that want to buy one and have the cash are going to hold off and wait till closer to xmas before buying or until 2010 to see how things shake out with jobs and so forth. For sure there will be those that will not blink and buy but allot more will sit on the fence and wait.

Edited February 5, 2009 by dfelt

[balthazar]

How about a C&G pool? Model year '09 camaro total U.S. sales.

[Satty]

How about a C&G pool?

In-ground or above ground?

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Even GM admits that the G8 is selling well, given the market environment.

I'm so tired of people here thinking that ALL GM cars need to sell at Camry levels in order to be a success. That's the very point of GM, (and something I hope that GM remembers) they don't FORCE you to buy one car.

[smk4565]

Toyota was smart in that they put their products in the dead middle of the market segments and dominate the segment with one vehicle. The Camry for example is positioned at the center of the family sedan market, while GM always positioned several cars around the center, Pontiac off toward the sport side, Buick to the soft side, Chevy a little on the cheap side, Olds on the higher price side, Saturn with an import look, but near Chevy/Pontiac in price/performance. GM goes after 5-6 smaller demographics, Toyota goes after 1 big one. Either can be good business strategies, especially in the 1950s when there weren't as many car brands. But the market is saturated now, and there is too much competition for GM to keep doing that.

The Camaro will outsell the 370Z and Genesis Coupe, but not outsell the Mustang. I don't know what those cars sell per year, but the Camaro will be in between. If Zeta were smaller and lighter, GM could have had a hit on their hands with a rear (awd option) drive sedan that was about Ford Fusion size (and weight) with 4 and 6 cylinder engines. It would drive better than any of the front drive family sedans and still be fuel efficient, and no one else does a rear drive midsize that isn't a luxury car.

[CMG]

Didn't Lutz say 100,000 to be profitable?

I thought Lutz said 100,000 to be viable, which is basically what you say....

http://jalopnik.com/173707/lutz-on-new-camaro-100000-or-bust

To be honest, I can't see it. MAYBE half that amount...?

[Satty]

Viable, thats like profitable but not necessarily making a profit, right?

If the credit market stays frozen, 50,000 will probably be on the high side. I hope everyone enjoys the 5th Gen, 'cause I dont see a 6th Gen.

[z28luvr01]

Well, there is a wildcard in that it'l be sold worldwide. It's going to Australia and will probably be sent to Europe as well. 100,000 units worldwide probably isn't that much of a stretch.

[Drew Dowdell]

Well, there is a wildcard in that it'l be sold worldwide. It's going to Australia and will probably be sent to Europe as well. 100,000 units worldwide probably isn't that much of a stretch.

Wasn't the European version getting a diesel? That'd be fun to run around in.

[Sixty8panther]

Cool post.

Pillarless post MCE Camaro FTW!

I love the way you think!!!

It would make the Camaro the only true Hardtop in its price range...

The cheapest hardtop right now is a "base model" 3.5L V6 Mercedes

CLK at just over $50,000. That COULD (if GM made an effort) be

used as quite a marketing tool... not holding my breath though.

I will admit that my emotional investment, (spanning two decades)

in the Camaro has overcome my hatered of the ugly, eyesore of a

B-pillar. I was "reading" a car magazine to Amelia the other day...

[it's important to converse with babies, even if you're talking to

yourself, so instead of reading a car magazine or some book about

pre-war cars, I read it TO her.]

and I found myself drooling at all the shots of the production

Camaro. I actually found the Concept's headlights to be one of the

weak points of the design, they were too small & looked to be

tucked too far into the corners of the hooded grille, the production

Camaros headlights actually win me over.

The 1969 Camaro is my all time favorite muscle car bar NONE, & it

is the NON-RS big-eyed '69 Camaro that I prefer so I'd love a mid-

cycle refresh in the guise of adding the wheel-well speed lines,

or creases or whatever you call them that make the '69 stand out

from the 1967/1968.

Anyway here's my point: I'm back in love with this car, after writing

letters to GM for almost a decade and always stressing to anyone

from GM that would listen that we needed a retro-Camaro I feel like

I had a small but important part, along wiht other 1st gen. F-body

enthusiasts, in bringing the 5th gen. out of history's "shoulda-coulda"

dust-bin into reality.

And you know what, even if I do have to spend $1500 to get the B-

pillar switched out for the (eventual) Convertible's rear windows

so that I have a TRUE hardtop, so be it.

Though, for the record GM, instead of paying $1500 for some wicked

cool exclusivity I'd gladdly pay $300 more for a production Camaro &

have a run of the mill hardtop like everyone else.

Oh-well.

Viva la RWD, Viva la 6-speed manual, Viva la LS_x V8 for the masses, Viva la Camaro!

I'm back in love.

[Sixty8panther]

Viable, thats like profitable but not necessarily making a profit, right?

If the credit market stays frozen, 50,000 will probably be on the high side. I hope everyone enjoys the 5th Gen, 'cause I dont see a 6th Gen.

Thanks Mr. Negativity. :wink:

Yeah... too, many "GM enthusiasts" buy Phord Fusions & ToyoPet Pri-ASSes.

Anyway back in the late 1970s plenty of people were saying:

"buy a Corvette while you can... there will not be a 4th gen!"

I seem to recall something simillar about convertible Eldorados.

[Satty]

I'm sure GM appreciates all of the new car purchases you've made.

[Jamie]

Well, there is a wildcard in that it'l be sold worldwide. It's going to Australia and will probably be sent to Europe as well. 100,000 units worldwide probably isn't that much of a stretch.

Nope. Not going to Australia and England will get 100 and no more.

Chevrolet nixes RHD Camaro from Autoblog

It seems as if we've been waiting for the production Camaro for years (oh wait, we have). There are plenty of Camaro-loving Americans happy to see that Chevy's pony car is finally ready for prime time, but some overseas aficionados may be very disappointed. GM has reportedly canceled plans to produce a right-hand-drive Camaro due to the company's well-documented cash crunch. The General will still ship 100 LHD Camaros to the U.K., just enough to keep the muscle car from having to qualify for type-approval regulations. GM will also limit sales to the 422 hp V8 model, at a healthy price of £35,000, or $50,000 in U.S. greenbacks. The Camaro goes on sale in the U.S. this spring.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Yep... The Aussie deal went out the window with the Cadillac program.

The premium line up there was supposed to be Cadillac, Saab, Hummer and Camaro

[longtooth]

I hope you are both right and I am way off on my sales estimate for this year. But even here in Washington's state where we have not been hit as hard as the rest of the country with this depression, I visually see how hard the auto dealerships have it as not much metal is moving off the lots.

I suspect even those that want to buy one and have the cash are going to hold off and wait till closer to Xmas before buying or until 2010 to see how things shake out with jobs and so forth. For sure there will be those that will not blink and buy but allot more will sit on the fence and wait.

At any rate it'll be some time before you see yourself coming down the street.

Even if one were to 'BumbleBee' theirs. ;-)

Waiting to see what SLP can cook up.

Edited February 15, 2009 by longtooth

[Camino LS6]

I'll be wearing a sad smile when I see the first one cruising down the road...

[gm4life]

Viable, thats like profitable but not necessarily making a profit, right?

If the credit market stays frozen, 50,000 will probably be on the high side. I hope everyone enjoys the 5th Gen, 'cause I dont see a 6th Gen.

Yup and either my son or I will own one. I hope we do get a sixth generation but the earth lovers and CAFE will certainly kill it.

[gm4life]

I'm sure GM appreciates all of the new car purchases you've made.

At least he has GM cars...

[gm4life]

Thanks Mr. Negativity. :wink:

Yeah... too, many "GM enthusiasts" buy Phord Fusions & ToyoPet Pri-ASSes.

Anyway back in the late 1970s plenty of people were saying:

"buy a Corvette while you can... there will not be a 4th gen!"

I seem to recall something simillar about convertible Eldorados.

Couldn't agree more. You gave me laugh for the day.

[SAmadei]

I'm sure GM appreciates all of the new car purchases you've made.

I doubt he appreciates the wussy crap GM has turned out lately.

GM has blown a decade of new car sales to me. All they have to do is produce a modern version of the '80s G-bodies.

It's OK, though. I've purchased about a grand of dealer parts for my second-hand GM cars, so the shareholders will have to be satisfied with that.

[Satty]

At least he has GM cars...

Um 1/3 of my fleet is GM. The other 2/3 are vehicles in classes GM doesn't sell. If GM wants my money, make something reasonably close to what I want. It doesn't have to be a BOF, RWD, V8, pillarless hardtop, just make an attempt at competing with cars others market successfully. But instead they keep rebadging Chevys with split grills and calling them EXCITEMENT.

[Intrepidation]

What, no G3 photo? I'm disappointed Satty.

[Satty]

EXCITEMENT!!!?????

[ZL-1]

WOW, EXCITEMEEEEEENT ON WHEELS!!!