Work on a new 5th generation Camaro, though GM will tell you different, began about two years ago in almost a skunkworks fashion. It was a difficult task for GM to perform in secret especially during the acrimonious final year of the fourth generation Camaro. GM constantly referring to the Camaro being on “Hiatus” is a sure sign that they were not fully giving up on the Camaro. Initial work was largely marketing studies, seeing what potential Camaro buyer must have, would like to have, and defiantly don’t want. This kind of research is done before engineering and design on a new car program. Camaro is the 3rd most recognized name in GM’s portfolio, and it has understandably become notion at GM that it had to come back. The current team working on the new Camaro is pushing to build a car that will be appealing not only when it’s released, but 5-7 years later (as far out as 2015!). That means for the most part that retro is out, which is good for Bob Lutz, who dislikes such design to begin with. GM does not want another T-bird or new Beetle, as their sales do not hold up well over time. Initially in the development process, Cadillac’s Sigma platform was considered the leading architecture for which to base the new Camaro. Several issues however came up with this choice, the first one of which being the cost of the Cadillac platform which was not designed with Chevrolet prices in mind. Secondly, the Sigma platform has a very high cowl (commonly called firewall) height that was made as a concession for the Cadillac SRX Crossover. This however is not ideal for a low slung sports coupe and would be very expensive to impossible to correct. This realization occurred at about the same point GM discovered Holden. In importing the GTO, GM realized that Holden had expertise and efficiency in designing affordable rear wheel drive cars that they could only wish to have. When they signed a 3-year agreement with Holden to build the GTO, they also had an eye on the future, and an American made GTO. It seems Holden was already developing a successor to the V-chassis that the Monaro, GTO, and Commodore are all built on dubbed VE. The VE chassis (as Holden calls it) is sort of a hybrid Sigma/V-car design with most of the Sigma’s structure mated to V-Car suspension elements. This new design is being engineered to be fully compliant with US laws and will be built in one or two US factories beginning 2005-2006. It is Holden’s manufacturing system which allows for several cars to be built in one factory that is the cornerstone to GM’s plans. Currently they build 20 variants of the V-car in one factory down under. This setup GM hopes in the US will allow for a Buick to build say a $45,000 Lexus fighting sedan on the same line a $20,000 V6 Chevy Camaro. The US version of the VE chassis is currently being called Sigma-Lite or Sigma-Mass among those in the know, however GM has yet to give it an official name. The chassis debuted just this week as the Opel Insignia concept, proving how far it is along in development. The VE will also underpin the next GTO which will be made in the US in 2007. This new VE-based GTO is said to be lower, wider, and more aggressive than the current V-car based version according to those who have seen it. Expect the new GTO to be more identifiable as a GTO, while being a fully modern (non-retro) design. I believe the Insignia concept shows the low slung rounded look that will be the signature of this platform.

Now what does all this mean for the Camaro? Well since it was decided that the GTO would be redesigned and built stateside, Chevy has been in the game developing a coupe for themselves as a counterpart. Common notion was that this car would be a Chevelle, since it has historically been the GTO’s platform sibling. This speculation was recently fired by the fact that Chevy recently trademarked the Chevelle name again. In fact, for a few months there were questions in GM concerning what the new Chevy coupe would be called as some wanted it to be a Monte Carlo, some a Chevelle, and the majority wanted a Camaro. GMI has learned that the Chevelle rumors really never had any muscle behind them, especially after GM was roasted alive by GTO enthusiasts over the 2004 car, Chevrolet has become worried about getting the same reception over a reborn Chevelle. Cementing the name of the new Chevrolet coupe was ironically the Mustang concept at the 2004 NAIAS. Upon first site it gave Bob Lutz a case of the “I wants”, and pretty much cemented that any coupe that comes from Chevrolet will be have to first be a Camaro.

Its also noteworthy that we’ve learned that the new Camaro will not be the same size as the GTO, as the highly flexible chassis allows for different proportions among car models. Think of it as a GTO on a diet with some dimensional excesses removed. Our sources assure us that no one will mistake a Camaro for a GTO both in size or appearance. This new 5th Gen Camaro is currently on a timeline for a 2007 model year introduction, provided that no unexpected obstacles fall in it’s path. GM’s maze of new model concept approvals is staggering, and the new car does not have the final stamp quite yet. However it should be noted that at this point neither does the 2007 GTO, and that this is normal in the approval process for vehicles this far out. This final approval by GM’s Product Planning Board does not occur until the car is within about two years of going into production. In short, if the 2007 GTO becomes reality (which we all know will happen), then a 2007 Camaro almost certainly will to.

GM was quite proud of the fact that the Camaro was the fastest pony car during it’s final years and is willing to grow to great lengths to ensure it picks up where it left off. GM can match the Ford Mustang step for step horsepower wise with it’s superior powertrain unit. GM’s engines are cheaper and make more HP/Dollar than their respective Ford units despite the false generally held notion they are low tech. Power will likely come in three flavors, base V6, medium V8, and high end V8. The base V6 will likely be a high-value 3.5L (200HP) or 3.9L (230HP) engine. Expect GM to match the Mustang in V6 performance, but not exceed it. It is important that GM save costs on the V6 Camaro as it will likely be among the cheapest cars built on the whole Sigma-Lite platform. Though V6 buyers care about performance, cost and value seem to take more precedence in this segment. As much as people would like a 3.6L 255 HP high feature V6, it’s not likely due to its much increased cost. They do however, plan to offer a bolt on version of the supercharger used on the 285HP 3.5L that will show up in the 2005 Pontiac G6 to the general public through dealers. Contrary to some rumors, a 4-cylnder is not in the plans as it does not fit the image Chevrolet wants for the new Camaro. For a mid-level V8 expect either a 320 HP 5.3L or a 340HP detuned version of the Corvette’s 6.0L LS2 base engine.The 5.3L is the less likely of the above mentioned engines to get the nod because we are unaware of any plans to certify it for car use, a road the 6.0L is well down. For all intents the 5.7L is dead as the new Corvette will use a 6.0L engine in it’s place. This mid-model is likely to car the Z28 designation which will upset some Z28 enthusiasts, but follows the line with the Camaro’s recent history The top level V8 likely to again be called SS will also most likely be the 6.0L LS2 directly from the base Corvette. This engine making probably 10-20 HP less than in Corvette trim will make in the area of 390HP. The decision to use the SS designation follows GM recent trend of using the designation of the top performing car for each model. The car will also probably have some kind of affiliation with GM Performance Division. It is well known that Holden is designing it’s new VE cars to use 6 speed automatic transmissions, making them an obvious choice for the SS 5th Gen Camaro. The 6-speed automatic is actually simpler and cheaper to manufacture than a 5 speed design. There are rumors that team Corvette badly wants a paddle-shift setup to come from this design, but is exploring all options. This new transmission will be made at GM’s Willow Run plant that currently makes the 4L80-E and 4T80E transmissions. Four or Five Speed Autos will be used in lesser models. There will also be a 6-speed manual offered for those who wish to shift on their own.
On the outside the new Camaro will be lower and more seductive than the current GTO. It will also feature styling elements from the SS Concept of this year. People familiar with the new car claim it has a chrome bar concurrent of newer Chevrolets, however that element is very much in limbo. Naturally, the interior will be fully modern keeping in line with the GM’s recent achievements. Interiors have been a hot topic on the auto scene the last few years, and GM understands that the Camaro needs to hit a homerun to succeed. Ergonomics will be inherently better that the 4th Gen cars simply due to the better design of the new chassis. Basic features debuting on cars such as the 2004 Malibu are sure to be considered for the new car, such as remote start, Displacement on Demand, and XM and MP3 Capable radios. It is actually cost effective for GM to include such features in the new car because they were already included in the overall architecture design which will be the structure for more expensive cars. The new car will also include ABS and a revised traction control system that will make the Camaro an all weather car. In reality anything is possible, because Sigma –Lite will be so widely used, pretty much all of GM’s parts bin of options will be engineered to work with it, making the cost to include them in a Camaro negligible, What all of this means is that the Camaro will receive levels of options and refinements that was never imaginable, because it rides on a platform designed to for cars that cost much more. Things such as roll up windows and manual locks will not even be considered because it is cheaper to just include the power options than do the engineering to include manual options. Higher end versions may include features such as On-Star that are highly profitable and compact enough to not hurt performance. If GM thinks that people will pay for it, GM will likely include it. This is great for buyers of the top level Camaro will get much more for their money than they did with the 4th Generation. Speaking of price, expect GM to price the Camaro similar to the 4th Generation Camaro, slightly more than a Mustang of comparable price.

If Ford decided to chase the Corvette with a 500HP Cobra, don’t expect a Camaro to chase it. GM feels that the Corvette will do a good enough job of disposing with the challenge. The price spread could likely run from about $20,000 to $37,000+ (In 2007 dollars) for a 400 HP fully-loaded Camaro. Considering in 2002 a base V6 Camaro started at $19,000, this is not much of a price increase. GM thinks it can sell a 110,000 units a year at this pricing through tapping such markets as past buyers, well off twenty and thirty something males, buyers put off by the retro Mustang, and in general anyone looking for amazing performance at a Chevrolet price. GM has committed itself to making the Camaro not only faster and better than the Mustang, but quite possibly on of the best performers in it’s price range.

Though this article is a representation of the current state of the new Camaro to the best of our knowledge, please remember the car is three years from hitting showrroms and some details may change. When the wraps come off the 2007 Camaro it will bring an end to what has been a classic struggle within GM to keep one of it’s classic nameplates viable in an ever changing market. Though there have been many people pushing for this new car within GM at various levels for the last 7 years, few on the outside will ever understand the hard work and struggle that went into bringing a new car to light. However, Rest assured however, the new car is one that will be worthy of the Camaro name, and more importantly, one that people will buy!

So is it supposed to have IRS like the GTO?  I know the modern ones can handle abuse but still power robbing, just curious.  Now find some pics.  

dont know if im alone here, but what i want in the new camaro is the ability to CHOOSE what i do and dont want. why dont make it so the cars can be ordered the way the ustomers want them? CUZ IF THEY DID DO THAT, i bet theyd get alot of orders for bare bones 6.0L, big tires, no a/c, no power options, no heavy leather interior cars. if we dont wat abs or traction control, we shouldnt be forced to take it. and we shouldnt be forced to have that damn skip shift on our 6 speeds either.

GM should save money by doing this cuz, yes, it may take a little more time to assemble the cars the way the customer wants them, but A: theyll sell more cars this way, and B: they wont have to put a bunch of parts on the car that the customer doesnt want and will possibly someday remove.

i know i know not many remove their a/c's. but i for one would order my car without it if i had the chance jsut to save money on what would a car that otherwise would be out of my pricerange. i want to buy your upcoming CAMARO GM, but help me afford it first.

whos with me?

I dont see how you guys can consider it a car with nothing in it. Why spend all that money on a new car, and not have any comfort. If you build your car that way, all your going to do it take it to the strip and back, and that my friends is not a car. Cars are ment to be driven, and if you cant take it over a 100 mile trip and be comfortable, you might as well buy a motorcycle.  

it would be just as comfortable as my daily driver corsica. of course, my corsica has air, but i dont use it cuz it leaks freon, which is how i discovered i dont need a/c to live. and my corsica has cloth seats, so i dont need leather. my corsica has no on-strar, no power seats, no factory cd player, etc etc etc. and guess what? i still love my corsica.

so basically what id like is a car that can be as reliable as my corsica while providing me with a similar leve3l of comfort, AND YET BE ALOT FASTER.

YOU SEE, to me its more about having the bad ass 6.0L, which would be tuned by GM, that i could drive year round just like i do my corsica. I DONT WANT THE OTHER BUTTONS AND SWITCHES, but it would be nice that if somebody else did, for GM to allow them to check a few boxes on an order form and get what THEY want. its so much more interesting that way. and alot better value.

You say that wouldn't be a cool car, I say that would be awesome.................to each his own.  

I agree with cooch I hate all the cutting to get the junk out of your car like a stupid radio if the motor isn't singing enough fix the motor AC what?  I'm no baby it would have been alright the year before last when my daughter was born we rolled across KS in june or july just cooking to go show her off, but thats what windows are for and it's better on the planet.  Leather? yuck Leather is one of the grossest things in cars vinel is ok as is cloth but leather sucks I don't want it near my car unless on my feet.  Computers on star ABS just junk I have no intrest in its added weight maybe for my wife but I like the basics.  

What they should do is make a certain amount of the car a year right and then have the abilities for the customers (us) to customize the car so that if you want a 6.0 with nothing else you can I personaly would buy the car with yes a 6.0, largest tires, And a sporty transmission if thats possible, but I would like to keep a/c for the summers when its 104 deg. but that would be more of a daily driver than a drag car if I wanted a 60s lookin drag camaro Id save and buy one but I like my iroc-z28 leather is bad in any car think if you drive to the store pick some oil and the filters you need to change them in your drager on a hot summer day you get back to your car and you fry your a$$ on the seat I want comfort not to be able to cook my lunch on the seat CD player yes ,CD changer hell no If your to lazy to chage the CD you need to by slapped besides that looses 7lbs right there

They could make certain pakages with things in them that people could buy right off the floor and then have the option to custom order there car they could have the z28 by as light and fast as possible and then the RS could be as comfort orinentated as possible and the SS some where in between and of course the base models with the 6 popers but they could even go big with them and put a 4.3 vortech in those And they could probably make the caddies the goat and the F-bodies all on the same platform.   

See I compleatly agree.  Personally I just like bare bones not for drag racing just for the simplicity.  Like maybe a rhino lined floor or rubber instead of carpet that I will stain the first time I work on something.  I guess packages for the masses would be a plus to just to get sales up.  

g m  needs to start "hearing" what the buyers want instead of what the dealers want to sell...

dealers don't want stripers  they want loaded....

more money in a loaded up one...

I say bring back the option sheet...   where you pick each thing...

you wan  base engine with a 6 speed and leather  so  be it..

you want  top v8 with an auto and  no posi   so be it

if you want a top v8 with 6 speed manual and posi  a pair of seats and a str  wheel  so be it...

I don't want to HAVE TO PAY FOR  leather/top of line radio/power everything/  to get the SS drivetrain....  or wheel that (if they look like the '02 wheels) be taking off..

You all are doing well, I'm constantly saving these pages so that in the near future, I can try and pass on ideas to the higher ups at GM, maybe let them see what the common folk want in cars.

What part of "It's cheaper to include those than engineer new stuff" did you guys not get?  I'm a thirty-something guy in the automotive business, and in about two years I'll have enough money to start considering a 25k to 35k car.  I mention that because I'm the target market and I want a coupe that is cheaper than a BMW 3 series, but faster even with the options.  If you think GM is stupid for doing it that way, look at how many Mustangs Ford sells and find out what the order process is.  There is a reason they do it a certain way.  If Toyota keeps kicking GM, Ford, and DCX square in the nuts by using that policy then we'll be lucky to get ANY RWD V-8's here.

Some of your complaints are asinine.  Leather gets too hot when you go to the parts store?  Use the remote starter and let the car cool down for a couple of minutes.  You want a stripper model so you can race?  Buy an '85 IROC and slap the 6.0 out of a truck into it.  It's cheaper, faster, and you don't have to worry about voiding the warranty.

Jeff Smith didn't show you how to work an LS-X motor because he was bored.  The truck versions are all over the place and will make a "stripper" Camaro plenty fast.

If GM builds a 2007 Camaro I don't give a rats ass if it has radio delete.  As long as the styling doesn't look too bad I want one.

As a final note I had AT THE SAME TIME a '99 Suburban, a '98 Cavalier, an '84 Corvette, an '85 IROC and a '68 Chevelle.  I still have the Suburban and the Cavalier, so when I say I'm a GM loyalist and I want a Camaro I'm not #### around.  More importantly to the bean counting #### heads at GM I will have the money to buy one.  If it's not available, my money goes somewhere else.

90% of the Mustangs you see are driven by girls?  Where do we find this hotbed of chick action? 

Seriously, maybe you should stop cruising around where they tape the Oprah Winfrey show.  Check out an FFW or NMRA event when in your area--where you'll see plenty of 'Stangbangers with sack, Bro.  And try to cut back a tad on the tweak . . . .

Ford, of course, has built (and still builds) many awesome rides that weren't Mustangs: Ford GT, SVT Lightning, SVT Contour, SVT Focus, SHO Taurus, Thunderbird Super Coupe, Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, Lincoln Mark VII & VI LSC, Torino Cobra, Torino GT, Fairlane GT & GTA, Ranchero GT,  Cyclone GT, Cyclone Spoiler & Spoiler II, Talladega, Thunderbolt, Galaxie 7-Liter, F-Code Thunderbird, Falcon Sprint, Falcon GT/HO (Australia), 1932-40 Ford V-8, 1949-50 Ford V-8s, 1949-50 Mercury, Mercury Marauder, Mercury Cougar XR-7/GT-E/Eliminator . . . .

Who knows where you got that huge blob of info. But it's wrong. THERE WILL BE NO GM-BUILT 2007 CAMAROs for sale to anyone, anywhere!

Former HRM/CC writer Jeff Koch (now at Hemmings Muscle Machines) writes this month about photos of a CLAY mockup of a car GM won't even confirm is the next Camaro prototype.  That's hardly a car ready for production in less than one year (MY 2007 begins in September 2006). 

THERE WILL BE NO NEW CAMAROS FROM GM UNTIL AT LEAST MY 2009.  GM will probably show a concept badged "Camaro" at the Detroit International Auto Show in January 2006, but there is NO WAY it will be production-ready by MY 2007.

Note that by MY 2009, Ford will have sold about 600,000-800,000 more Mustangs, including almost 300,000 3Vs and a significant number of 500+ hp 5.4 4Vs.   Add in the 3-4 million 3Vs Ford will sell in trucks and SUVs and the potential market for OHC V-8 parts is going to be huge.  Even the OHC V-6 market is poised to explode (remember, the current OHC V-6 has more power stock than many stock 5.0s and most second and third gen F-bodies).

Only GM and the technophobes at NASCAR still believe in the future viability of antedilluvian 2V pushrod engines (excluding, of course, the noteworthy DCX HEMI).  No 2V pushrod mill will remain competitive under increasing fuel economy and emissions restrictions unless the manufacturers add more valves and a second cam in the valley to permit variable cam phasing.  Even now, 2V pushrod plants have to use signifcantly more cubes to keep up with more efficient, modern OHCs.

The rare $20,000+ LS6 427 is the last gasp of a dying technology and won't be viable in affordable performance cars by 2009.  (And just imagine the nightmare for factory performance that could exist by 2009 if the radical environmentalists manage to jack up CAFE and Clean Air Act standards--which WILL happen if "President Hillary",  "President Kerry" or "President McCain"  ever become a reality. It could be the 1970s all over again . . . .)

If GM survives (a growing question considering the implosion of their market share, the Delphi bankruptcy, its problems with UAW, and the Kerkorian threat), market conditions may dictate a far different Camaro by 2009.

Sure, the true believers have to keep telling themselves that the 2009 Camaro will be all they hope and dream for.  But there's no guarantees.

Meanwhile, Stangbangers are going to be rocking the strips, road courses, autocrosses, and streets of America with the only affordable RWD performance car left standing.  Clearly, the Mustang is the car of our Car Crafting future! That future is NOW!

First off I want to say that I would rather drive a chevy cobalt with  a 4 in it than a mustang just for the simpicity that the mustang is butt ugly second so what if gm uses more cubes to keep up in power with their 2v heads imaginge what will happen when they do go to a 3v or even a 4v head they walk all over the ford engines and besides they get just as good emisions and POWER as they fords and they still use the 2v design that just proves that fords reallly do suck and why make a new generation or new style engine when the one they heve right now is just fine who cares what year the new camaro comes out as long as it does.

By the way I had a chance to buy a 94 gt mustang with a v6 I went looked at it and decided that my 1990 pontiac SUNBIRD 2.0 looked better.