The Return Of The Z28 Camaro
When Bob Lutz came back from retirement for the umpteenth time, one of the first orders of business was to kill the Z28 Camaro. The only thing that was in high gear at the times was carmageddon, electric cars were the wave of an uncertain future, and come on, how more politically incorrect can you get than with an 8 cylinder that makes anywhere between 500 and 600 hp, while producing enough plant food to keep the world’s rainforests lush and green? Rainforests rejoice:
Word reaches us from the Toronto Star that “the iconic Chevrolet Camaro Z28 muscle sports car will make a comeback in Oshawa.” Of course it’s not official yet, but the Star’s “industry sources” are saying that the strapping Camaro will emerge en masse from GM’s Oshawa assembly complex “late next year or early in 2012.”
The Freep must have similarly chatty industry sources, and reported yesterday that “Chevrolet will revive its high-performance Camaro Z28 as a 2012 model, giving it a supercharged version of the current Camaro SS’ V8 engine with between 500 and 600 horsepower.”
The Camaro, which had come out of retirement in 2009, shortly before Lutz, fills GM with pride. According to Freep figures, GM had sold 71,521 Camaros year-to-date. The Camaro is 7,350 units ahead of the Mustang. GM will add a convertible, and with the rumored big muscle version, it is supposed to leave the Mustang in a cloud of dust.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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As much as I like the fact that the car was mostly developed by aussies, I still like the Challenger better. And the 2011 Mustang comes in second place.
A fine piece of automotive journalism from the Dettoit Free Press, especially the quotes from Global lack-of sight's own Aaron Bragman. What a douchetard!
Certain dealers such as Mr. Norm have been offering special versions of the challenger for over a year now, going up to 900 horses. The 5 and 600 horse versions are naturally aspirated.
The Z28 returns? When did it disappear? Decades have passed and it still a head-turner. Z28 is one of the models that made the 3rd gen Camaros legendary. I even remember the its sensational TV commercial: http://www.camarotech.com/ThirdGenDescription.html