WooooHooo!!!! Scott got his Camaro!!!!
#1
WooooHooo!!!! Scott got his Camaro!!!!
http://www.chirpthird.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13187
Posted by our beloved Fbodfather!!!!!:
Bad days - Good days...........
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
it's been a really tough couple of months -- I don't need to tell any of you that..........
........but watching what's happening to our country -- and to GM -- is not for the weak...........
It's easy to focus on what's wrong...........and I do that so often........
But I must share a "joy" with you...........
.
.
.
.
I begged everyone to 'have faith'.........that the Camaro, indeed would return.
There were days when I said to myself "OMG -- what happens if it DOESN'T come back???" - because, frankly, there were days when I wondered......
.
.
.
.
.
.
Yesterday I was in Dallas with John Fitzpatrick for the press event at the Dallas Auto Show..........
Lots of good stuff -- I'll post a bunch of links later............
But I said to John: Wouldn't it be great if we FINALLY got our Camaros prior to leaving for the Cleveland show???
About an hour later, he comes over to me -- hands me his cellphone and I hear a Voice Mail from Company Vehicles asking him to call and set up an appointment for him to pick up a new Camaro.
Dang I was envious!
So I immediately checked my voicemail............there were about 8 -- but none of them were from company vehicles..........
I checked about two hours later --
.............nothing...................
We got to DFW airport and went to TGI Fridays for a late lunch prior to the flight back to Detroit.............
..........................and my cellphone rings............
.....................................and it's Mandy from Company vehicles........
.........I may have wet myself........
"Mr. Settlemire -- when would be a good time to come in to pick up your new Camaro?"
(how 'bout in two minutes when I RUN from Texas to Michigan???)
I woke up this morning............to a surprise.
It was 40 degrees when I left DTW Airport last evening......I got home about 9pm--
When I woke up this morning, it was 14 degrees -- my G8 was white with a layer of snow. (it is normally bright red..........)
The streets were a sheet of ice..............
.........but I could hardly wait to set off for the Company vehicles facility in Warren.........
....stopped to get the G8 washed (......rules say we must wash them...even if it's in the middle of a blizzard........) and then made my way to the exchange garage.
The facility isn't far off an expressway -- there are fences and a guard shack......I always say hello to Donna who is always so friendly and glad to see me..........
The garage itself is spotless.........a long garage that you pull into and then park at a 45 degree angle...........
...........a fellow comes over and gives you a folder to take into the office where there is a counter and a few clerks that fill out the paperwork.
The Internal Revenue Service of the U.S. of A. says that we cannot have any influence in what we get as a "Captured Test Fleet vehicle" (cars or trucks that are not in regular production) or a "product Evaluation vehicle" (cars or trucks that ARE in regular production......)
So I filled out all of the paperwork with "Mrs. Teresa Ford" -- a wonderfully elegant mature woman -- who I refer to as "Mother Teresa"...... and of course, she would not tell me ANYTHING about the car other than "you be careful, you hear?"
I went back into the garage to wait for them to bring this wonderous vehicle to me.................
.
.
.
.
.
.
........and presently the garage door opened...........
................and I could see the halos looking at me.............
...............and I could hear 'his voice' ...the unmistakeable sound of an LS3................
.............and yes, I'm a doddering old fool...................
but guys and gals -
...........this is a day I've waited for ------ for so long...........as have you............
............and the pride...........
.....................of seeing this "work of art" (OK sue me -- I'm being a bit dramatic...........)
................wow................WOW............ ...
(to be continued..........)
Posted by our beloved Fbodfather!!!!!:
Bad days - Good days...........
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
it's been a really tough couple of months -- I don't need to tell any of you that..........
........but watching what's happening to our country -- and to GM -- is not for the weak...........
It's easy to focus on what's wrong...........and I do that so often........
But I must share a "joy" with you...........
.
.
.
.
I begged everyone to 'have faith'.........that the Camaro, indeed would return.
There were days when I said to myself "OMG -- what happens if it DOESN'T come back???" - because, frankly, there were days when I wondered......
.
.
.
.
.
.
Yesterday I was in Dallas with John Fitzpatrick for the press event at the Dallas Auto Show..........
Lots of good stuff -- I'll post a bunch of links later............
But I said to John: Wouldn't it be great if we FINALLY got our Camaros prior to leaving for the Cleveland show???
About an hour later, he comes over to me -- hands me his cellphone and I hear a Voice Mail from Company Vehicles asking him to call and set up an appointment for him to pick up a new Camaro.
Dang I was envious!
So I immediately checked my voicemail............there were about 8 -- but none of them were from company vehicles..........
I checked about two hours later --
.............nothing...................
We got to DFW airport and went to TGI Fridays for a late lunch prior to the flight back to Detroit.............
..........................and my cellphone rings............
.....................................and it's Mandy from Company vehicles........
.........I may have wet myself........
"Mr. Settlemire -- when would be a good time to come in to pick up your new Camaro?"
(how 'bout in two minutes when I RUN from Texas to Michigan???)
I woke up this morning............to a surprise.
It was 40 degrees when I left DTW Airport last evening......I got home about 9pm--
When I woke up this morning, it was 14 degrees -- my G8 was white with a layer of snow. (it is normally bright red..........)
The streets were a sheet of ice..............
.........but I could hardly wait to set off for the Company vehicles facility in Warren.........
....stopped to get the G8 washed (......rules say we must wash them...even if it's in the middle of a blizzard........) and then made my way to the exchange garage.
The facility isn't far off an expressway -- there are fences and a guard shack......I always say hello to Donna who is always so friendly and glad to see me..........
The garage itself is spotless.........a long garage that you pull into and then park at a 45 degree angle...........
...........a fellow comes over and gives you a folder to take into the office where there is a counter and a few clerks that fill out the paperwork.
The Internal Revenue Service of the U.S. of A. says that we cannot have any influence in what we get as a "Captured Test Fleet vehicle" (cars or trucks that are not in regular production) or a "product Evaluation vehicle" (cars or trucks that ARE in regular production......)
So I filled out all of the paperwork with "Mrs. Teresa Ford" -- a wonderfully elegant mature woman -- who I refer to as "Mother Teresa"...... and of course, she would not tell me ANYTHING about the car other than "you be careful, you hear?"
I went back into the garage to wait for them to bring this wonderous vehicle to me.................
.
.
.
.
.
.
........and presently the garage door opened...........
................and I could see the halos looking at me.............
...............and I could hear 'his voice' ...the unmistakeable sound of an LS3................
.............and yes, I'm a doddering old fool...................
but guys and gals -
...........this is a day I've waited for ------ for so long...........as have you............
............and the pride...........
.....................of seeing this "work of art" (OK sue me -- I'm being a bit dramatic...........)
................wow................WOW............ ...
(to be continued..........)
Last edited by MLL; 02-20-2009 at 10:14 AM.
#2
continued,,,
......he had a coating of white snow on him...................
.........I was SURE I'd be getting an LS -- or perhaps an LT -- and believe me...I would have been ecstatic to get either..........
..........but an SS/RS...............with every toy possible............
.....................and a 6 speed manual........
I moved all my stuff (luggage/briefcase/coffee mug/CDs/etc) over into him.......
...............and the first thing we did was head to the same carwash to get rid of the coating of snow........
Donna wanted a ride, of course...................I told her I'd be back one day.....
The Car wash attendant was all eyes..................at least 30 questions........
As I pulled onto Mound road, a guy next to the carwash pulled his cellphone out to take a picture.
I drove less than a half-mile to a gas station -- pulled in -- and within a minute had three guys looking at every inch..................
Merged onto I-696 and I swear to God on my father's grave -- there's a Silver Challenger about 10 vehicles behind me -- traffic is still choked up due to the weather -- and this guy is trying to go UNDER trailer trucks to get up to me --
......he pulls up next to me and gives me a thumbs' up.
(the Challenger was whimpering..........................)
(........OK.........I made the whimpering part up -- fine........)
(...............but I DO think there was a whimper...........)
The sun comes out -- and the yellow paint is glowing............
..........and lots of 'speed up and slow downs' as people look at him.
(this is Detroit -- people are jaded about new cars -- so this is really something......)
At the airport -- the parking lot attendant comes out and has two questions:
1. how fast does it go?
2. When can i buy one?
There's a Lexus in front of me as we follow the shuttle bus to our parking spaces........
The driver of the shuttle yells "SWEET!"
The fellow in the Lexus says "OMG -- I didn't know that the Camaro was on the street yet!"
.........which leads to an entire conversation involving about 8 people on the shuttle the whole way to the Northwest Terminal.
Three people on the shuttle were from Canada and were well aware (and proud) that the Camaro will be built in Oshawa.........
And so as I sit in my hotel room in Cincinnati, I can hardly wait to fast forward -- thru two more cities...........and get back to DTW .......
............and take the shuttle to retrieve him from the parking lot --
............and spend a Sunday afternoon with him on the roads around Metro Detroit.............
It's been a longgggggggggg time since August of 2002.............
Faith Kept!
.........I was SURE I'd be getting an LS -- or perhaps an LT -- and believe me...I would have been ecstatic to get either..........
..........but an SS/RS...............with every toy possible............
.....................and a 6 speed manual........
I moved all my stuff (luggage/briefcase/coffee mug/CDs/etc) over into him.......
...............and the first thing we did was head to the same carwash to get rid of the coating of snow........
Donna wanted a ride, of course...................I told her I'd be back one day.....
The Car wash attendant was all eyes..................at least 30 questions........
As I pulled onto Mound road, a guy next to the carwash pulled his cellphone out to take a picture.
I drove less than a half-mile to a gas station -- pulled in -- and within a minute had three guys looking at every inch..................
Merged onto I-696 and I swear to God on my father's grave -- there's a Silver Challenger about 10 vehicles behind me -- traffic is still choked up due to the weather -- and this guy is trying to go UNDER trailer trucks to get up to me --
......he pulls up next to me and gives me a thumbs' up.
(the Challenger was whimpering..........................)
(........OK.........I made the whimpering part up -- fine........)
(...............but I DO think there was a whimper...........)
The sun comes out -- and the yellow paint is glowing............
..........and lots of 'speed up and slow downs' as people look at him.
(this is Detroit -- people are jaded about new cars -- so this is really something......)
At the airport -- the parking lot attendant comes out and has two questions:
1. how fast does it go?
2. When can i buy one?
There's a Lexus in front of me as we follow the shuttle bus to our parking spaces........
The driver of the shuttle yells "SWEET!"
The fellow in the Lexus says "OMG -- I didn't know that the Camaro was on the street yet!"
.........which leads to an entire conversation involving about 8 people on the shuttle the whole way to the Northwest Terminal.
Three people on the shuttle were from Canada and were well aware (and proud) that the Camaro will be built in Oshawa.........
And so as I sit in my hotel room in Cincinnati, I can hardly wait to fast forward -- thru two more cities...........and get back to DTW .......
............and take the shuttle to retrieve him from the parking lot --
............and spend a Sunday afternoon with him on the roads around Metro Detroit.............
It's been a longgggggggggg time since August of 2002.............
Faith Kept!
#3
and more,,,
thoughts about him..................
I've driven IVERs on the proving grounds.
I've driven the IVERs that the Disciples were able to enjoy at Milford.
I've driven the Silver SS on the track at Spring Mountain..........
....but one thing I haven't done is to drive a "Production" SS with a manual transmission on the streets of Detroit -- which are some of the worst in the United States.
Let me say this:
I think you are going to be blown away by the refinement.
I think you're going to be blown away by the ride over the roughest of pavement...........
...........and I think you're going to be blown away by the silkiness of the 6-speed manual transmission.........
I can hardly wait to hear your reactions when you drive these new Camaros.....
...........and we ARE working on Ride and Drives at one or more Camaro events this summer..........
(No pictures yet,,,)
I've driven IVERs on the proving grounds.
I've driven the IVERs that the Disciples were able to enjoy at Milford.
I've driven the Silver SS on the track at Spring Mountain..........
....but one thing I haven't done is to drive a "Production" SS with a manual transmission on the streets of Detroit -- which are some of the worst in the United States.
Let me say this:
I think you are going to be blown away by the refinement.
I think you're going to be blown away by the ride over the roughest of pavement...........
...........and I think you're going to be blown away by the silkiness of the 6-speed manual transmission.........
I can hardly wait to hear your reactions when you drive these new Camaros.....
...........and we ARE working on Ride and Drives at one or more Camaro events this summer..........
(No pictures yet,,,)
Last edited by MLL; 02-20-2009 at 10:18 AM.
#10
#13
Scott, that is a great story. I was hanging on every word. Matter of fact I have to go back and read it again to make sure that I didn't miss anything.
I will be at the Cleveland Show on the 28th at 7:30AM. I'm looking forward meeting you and to shake your hand. Thanks for the story Scott. Just awesome.
I will be at the Cleveland Show on the 28th at 7:30AM. I'm looking forward meeting you and to shake your hand. Thanks for the story Scott. Just awesome.