Paul,
It was good to meet you and talk to you a few times on Saturday. I spent a lot of time around the Camaros listening to what people had to say about it. Most was positive. And of course some was negative. I also answered a bunch of questions that I overheard. Lots of people were comparing the Camaro to the new Mustang.

Several times on Saturday I walked by the Chevy exhibit, and every time there was a line to get into the base Camaro. Some times the line had more than a dozen people in it. Most were guys, but there were a few girls that got in. NO other cars had such a long line to get into the least expensive model of a car.

One of the other "Product Specialists" I spoke with seemed to be more of a salesman from one of the nearby dealerships. I heard him give some info that wasn't completely true. He didn't seem to know the difference in the LS2 and LS3. He kept quoting the price of the SS/RS at $35k, but never mentioned that the 1SS starts at $27k. He also kept telling people about how one of his customers had ordered a 2SS/RS and an LS7, and his dealership was going to do the swap and ship it and everything. The price would be about $65k for everything. He claimed that the LS9 or LSA won't fit because the cradle is wrong... It kind of got annoying listening to him, but he did take pictures of the inside of the SS/RS for me.

I'm a big guy, and I fit very comfortably into the Camaro's driver's seat. Because of the line, I didn't spend much time in it but I was able to get comfortable easily. There seems to be more room than in my wife's 04 Impala for sure. I had a smile on my face just looking at the cars.

Overall I am very impressed with the Camaro, and I think it is going to be a smash hit!

On the other hand, I left a bit sad because the RWD Impala that was supposed to be on this platform has been canceled It would have been the best Impala ever. That Impala might have been a good enough to be the car that could help save GM...

 

$31k

 

Well, from looking at the Camaros at the show, I think the exteriors are very refined as the panel gaps are virtually nonexistant. The red used on the LS7 concept was a much better red than what was on the V6 Camaro we got to sit in. The LS7 looked like it was painted in Bright Rally Red or Torch Red, while the red on the concept looked, and photographed a little too salmon/creamy, similar to how the yellow on the Commemorative Trans Ams was too creamy. The silver isn't to my liking as we've been force-fed that color for years now, and it's always been too light of a silver. Sebring Silver is a wonderful color, but I'm not a fan of Silver Ice. The Red Tintcoat paint was... well... I'm not a fan of it. I was shown the paint chip folder the older, knowledgeable gentleman had in his suit jacket, and none of the blue colors were particularly to my liking--I'm only speaking about the blue, because that's what I wanted, a blue Camaro.

With regard to the interior... well... the ergonomics from the front seat were good, but the material was strangely sticky and looked like rhinoliner. I feel the rhinoliner was too heavily textured, and not quite as dark as it should have been to make the radio look like it belongs in the car. I tried out the backseat, and as you can read in another topic, I wasn't very satisfied with it.

I love my Grand Prix GXP as I don't have any compromises with it, the interior is nearly black, the materials are good, etc. so I think I'll be holding off on the Camaro until, perhaps, the end of it's product cycle and/or if they offer Jet Stream Blue. I know the Grand Prix is a different sort of car... Camaros are in my blood, but I feel from a sitting still perspective, that the 4th gens are the better cars. Just my opinion.

I've suggested the Camaro to my sister, who is the one with the '95 Z28 as her daily driver (meaning, she could use a newer car), and when she visited the autoshow with her friend, she wasn't impressed with it and didn't like it. Her exact quote was "I like my car better." My mom was with me when I visited the show, and her quick assessment was "The backseat's like the GTO, and the interior is cheap and ugly." She doesn't follow car news muchless Camaro rumor news, so there's an opinion for ya.

I think showing off the base model with low-end interior was a poor move. People like me who don't follow the 5th gen news very often, but get the emails from Camaro5, and even worse, people who don't barely follow any Camaro news whatsoever, were disappointed when they got in the car. I heard a bit of it, from those who were vocal like me, while I was at the show. My first impression was "is this a real car? This interior looks fake." Without being able to get an upclose look at the roped-off Camaros with upgraded interiors at the show, I thought they all had that gross rhinoliner all over them as well. It wasn't until I checked my pics on the computer, that I noticed there's some leather on the door panel, shift lever, steering wheel, etc.

I'm sure the new Camaros are mechanically amazing, but man... I'm not going to kiss *** and say I liked that base level interior. I thought it looked awful.

They need a gay man to do their color, material, and texture selections of something, because none of those were cool.

 

Thanks for the reactions you overheard. It is consistant that the Camaro draws a line and smiles everywhere we have had it.

Thanks for the info. GM insists that accurate info be given to customers. I'm sorry you were not given the caliber of experience in an interaction we absolutely insist on. It sounds like there is a coaching opportunity there. It will be addressed. BTW, the 1SS base MSRP is $30,995.

I am so glad you were impressed with the new Camaro. Chevrolet has high hopes for the car and it's always encouraging to hear others agree that we have something special to offer.

As for the Impala? One can never say what the future holds, but I doubt the plans were burned... just set aside for possible use at another time.

 

 

some MORE pics.









Hi-Res downloads can be saved from (pls rt click and save-as):
http://www.pancakea.org/Camaro5/Pics/DAS/LS7/

THANKS, PAUL!!!!

 

I thought the driver's side injector cover looked a bit off, but I couldn't really get close enough to really tell.

 

Good eye!

Yes it's up a little. I think it's due to the LS7 having a bit of an attitude. Somewhat like wearing a hat with a self satisfied tilt to the brim! I noticed it the first time I saw the car.

I pushed the injector cover down and it popped right back up. I tried it again and the same result occured... I figure if that is the way it wants to wear it's "hat"... who am I to argue?

 

Wow, that LS7 is HOT!

 

I'm so far behind in getting pictures sorted out (sometimes I hate digital since it's so easy to just shoot and shoot and shoot). Anyway, I skipped sorting out some family get together stuff and have some shots from the show. The Camaro pics start at picture 35 (about half way down on the first page).

There are some pics of the 2010 Mustang there, along with anything else I was interested in (almost all Chevy and Cadillac, but a few others). The Mustang was on a platform, so there wasn't any chance of getting up close with the inside.

http://www.halliesplace.com/main.php...avId=x63817906

 

Very nice pictures! Very good representation of the actual colors of the interioer and exterior in those pics. I like the fact that the black interior in those pics is actually black! You must have a nice camera.

 

Thanks. I picked up a Nikon D200 fairly cheap when the new D300 came out. I also spent some time making certain I had the white balance as close as I could get it in there. At this point my equipment is much better than my ability.

 

There are so many pictures out there of the black interior and it looks gray! I think your ability isn't too bad so far, a lot better than mine with a camera