July 14 - 20, 2009
COMMUNITYNEWSPAPERS.COM
GM showcases new Camaro for Miami automotive media
GM designer Luciano Nakamura is pictured beside a Chevrolet Camaro during a recent visit to Miami. (Photo by Anjelica Willard, Four Seasons Media) ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
BY RON BEASLEY General Motors rolled out a quartet of striking new 2010 Chevrolet Camaros in late June to give Miami automotive journalists an up-close look at the latest incarnation of the company’s legendary muscle car. The four new Camaros — in black, Victory Red and Rally Yellow — were fanned out in the parking lot of the Rusty Pelican Restaurant on Virginia Key and available for members of the Miami-based Southern Automotive Media Association (SAMA) to test drive along Rickenbacker Causeway. GM was the sponsor for the June SAMA luncheon meeting and Luciano Nakamura, one of the key designers of the new Camaro, journeyed from Detroit to tell the auto writers some of the secrets behind the development of the sleek new automobile. Nakamura, who was born in Japan and grew up in Brazil, said the new rear-wheel drive Camaro retains much of the look of the original two-door sports coupe design and is based on GM’s Zeta platform. Nakamura said the new Camaro was developed in the company’s top secret Studio X laboratories in Detroit and that he incorporated design elements from the F22 Raptor fighter jet and the
classic 1969 Camaro to design the new muscle car. But he said he remained true to the original look of the classic Camaro. Nakamura added that he thought the long hood, short deck and muscular fenders of the latest Camaro, with its squared-oval gauges and instruments, would get the approval of Camaro lovers the world over. Nakamura said the new Camaro is available in three models — LS, LT and SS — and with a choice of three engines — a 3.6-liter direct-injected V-6 with variable valve timing, standard on LS and LT models, or 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. All models can be equipped with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. Ten exterior colors are available and include black, Victory Red, Rally Yellow and Silver Ice Metallic. Red Jewel Tintcoat is optional. The color palette also includes Cyber Gray Metallic, Aqua Blue Metallic, Inferno Orange Metallic, white and Imperial Blue Metallic. The Camaro is on sale at Chevrolet dealerships across the country.
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