Throwback
Camaro returns to showrooms

During Super Bowl week, it was appropriate to be driving “The Who Mobile,” as a co-worker called the Camaro. It begs, “See me. Feel me. Touch me. Heal me.” But an e-mail from someone else countered that The Who Mobile would be old, decrepit and stone deaf. He said he could hear "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers while he snapped a picture and that Steve McQueen would have been driving the Camaro in "Bullitt" if the film was made today. Another admirer said the Camaro looked like a shark. At any rate, the wait is over. After a seven-year hiatus, the all-new Chevrolet Camaro is back in dealer showrooms. It combines great looks, performance and advanced technology – all offered among three models: LS, LT and SS, the model we test drove.
An advanced, 3.6-liter direct-injected V-6 with variable valve timing is standard on LS and LT models. The performance-oriented Camaro SS features a pair of 6.2 liter V-8s, including one with active fuel management that helps improve fuel economy by shutting down four cylinders during certain light-load driving conditions. It achieves EPA-rated highway fuel economy of 24 mpg.
The 2010 Camaro acknowledges its heritage from the first-generation Camaro, produced from 1967 through 1969. A hallmate in Miller Dorm at LSU had a mid-70s gold Camaro, and we went everywhere in it back in the days when I had no vehicle and had to walk five miles to class uphill in the heat while barefoot. Inside the four-passenger cabin (Yes, I squeezed in the back seat.), a well-executed balance of heritage, modern design and attention to detail can be found in the contemporary details in the cluster, switches, dials and lighting. An available ambient light package, for example, offers advanced LED light pipe technology, giving the cabin a distinctive glow. Deep, recessed gauges, located in square housings outlined in chrome, give a nod to the classic Camaro interior. The instrument panel gauges include both speedometer and engine rpm, with a driver information center located between the large gauges – its readouts and features controlled via a stalk on the steering column. An optional, console-mounted gauge package includes oil pressure, oil temperature, volts and transmission fluid temperature. Fully independent front and rear suspensions are the underpinnings of Camaro. The standard independent rear suspension is a first for Camaro and is designed to compete with the best in the world.
In both doors, an interlock pin is used to help prevent intrusion into the passenger compartment, and adds stiffness to the door structure by engaging with a clevis bracket set into the rocker panel.
Camaro is solid, clean and flawless, and its rear and truck remind me of a Corvette. Ten exterior colors are available – black, victory red, rally yellow, silver ice metallic, cyber gray metallic, aqua blue metallic, inferno orange metallic, white and imperial blue metallic. As soon as I figure out what color I want and can get my sister to buy my Cadillac, you’ll be seeing me in a Camaro to make up for not having one of my own in my college years.

Published March 2010