bcarr22

Camino LS6, Thanks for stepping in. After fbodfather assured me he wouldn't do anything rash to the offending party I let him know his name. Scott said he'd take appropriate action. As far as I'm concerned, the issue is closed. My blood pressure has returned to normal and the muscle car gods are once again happy. All is well in the world tonight. bcarr22

Cadillacfan, You don't know what the hell you're talking about! I haven't signed on as somebody else. I don't need to artificially make it look like people agree/disagree with me. I'm not trolling. I'm not a shill. If that's all you've got to say, you don't have much to add to a conversation so keep your comments to yourself and let the rest of us enjoy ourselves. Maybe you should stay at Autoweek or Autoblog. I've never registered at those sights, so can't immediately post there. I already stated that fbodfather confirmed what all of us want - a new Camaro w/ RWD and V8. What more do you want to hear???? Geez!!!!! Or in lingo you might better understand - WTF?????

fbodfather has convinced me the info I was given was false. GM has way too much riding on the Camaro's success (actually ANY of their vehicles' success) to risk failure and the wrath of diehard supporters by watering down the platform. Scott also convinced me that old farts like me have a place in GM's future. They do plan to offer products, like the Camaro, geared toward enthusiasts like us. I suggested designing carrying space for walkers and wheelchairs, but haven't received confirmation yet. ;-) So, let's close this thread. Bus driver,MOVE THAT BUS! BC

fbodfather, I've PM'd you. Please respond. Thanks! bcarr22

If either Ford or GM end up on the brink of the abyss, a foreign manufacture will buy them out. You know both companies have too much history and market share to just go away. Someone is going to partner/merge/buyout the failing company and restructure. Who will it be? Renault? Citroen? Maybe Fiat will truly have the last laugh and buy GM! Up to now, Honda and Toyota have steered clear of acquisition fever. Toyota-General? Honda-Ford? Where most people see cataclysmic failure, some see opportunity. Just my $.02. BC

Cost of the Concept is immaterial. GM could pay for the entire development before lunch, no doubt. But actually *building* the car is another story. It's exponentially more expensive than a concept. Now you're talking billions. Now you're talking about commiting to a path when you've got limited money and you're in the middle of a minefield. Just look at how GM derailed development of a RWD platform so they could focus on bringing their newly updated SUVs (Tahoe/Suburban) to market. Historically, these have been really profitable vehicles for GM. How were they to know that gas prices would surpass $3/ga.? It remains to be seen if GM made the right choice there. Only time will tell. Given GM's current financial predicament, nobody wants to stake their career on the development of a single car. Veddy sceddy. BC

Oh, yeah. We talked about the success of the Mustang. He talked about how they have "every flavor from V6 to GT and Chevy would prefer to do the same." But GM calls the shots and they're *very* cautious about leaking any more cash. Nobody is ready to stake their career on the success of any new car. Bottom line: Chevy's "car guy culture" wants to build the car (maybe even a Z28 derivative), but GM holds the purse strings. Did you see that Kerkorian's mouthpiece said GM burns up $24M PER DAY! BC

My sign-up date is irrelevant. I'm not a shill here. Just a Chevy fan who would hate to see all the promise the new Camaro holds go up in V6/FWD smoke. My first car was a '67 Camaro, 327, Powerglide. Loved that car and wish I still had it. The Chevy guy was wearing a suit and had a Chevrolet name badge on. He was hunched over a computer at the desk when I approached him. He wasn't a car salesman. He was definitely farther up the food chain than that. (No offense to any car salesmen reading this.) The guy stressed that V6/FWD would be a GM decision and not a Chevrolet choice. If it happened, it would be based on GM Marketing's research. I took that to mean focus groups, etc. He said the car guys at Chevy want to remake a muscle car in the Camaro. He said there is already a movement within GM to emasculate the Camaro before it even gets here. Stillborn is more like it. Yes, he did try to get me to voice my opinion at chevy.com. But he said not to bother if I didn't care if they build the car or not. If we want to see the car built, we have to convince them to build it as it is. Hey, I'm just trying to help. If you don't want to believe it, it's no sweat off my @$$. BC

Told him how Chevy's focus on horsepower was a welcome relief. Told him how the Z06 and TBSS gave me hope that car guys were still running things at GM. We started talking about the Camaro concept and I told him if they build it without watering down the design, meaning build it very near the concept, I'd put one in my garage. His response was totally disturbing.... He said GM marketing is convinced they should write off buyers older than 40, since they won't be able to sell them many more cars anyway. He said GM Mktg believes younger buyers are only concerned with technology (bells and whistles) in their cars rather than horsepower and cubic inches. He was *very* serious when he said he wouldn't be surprised if the Camaro came out V6/FWD only! I told him that would be a huge mistake and many of us would just write off GM. He said he understood, but they may not be counting on us for business anyway. He was adamant about the difference between working for Chevy and working for GM. Twovery different cultures., He urged me to go to www.chevy.com and give them 110% of my passion for their cars. It's still not too late to convince the corporate guys. So, that's what we've all got to do. We've got to let GM know that we will buy their cars, provided they're great. Then we've got to tell them what we think a great car is. BC