American muscle car fans – in particular those with a preference for a bowtie – have got May 16 marked on their calendars.
That’s when the sixth generation Chevrolet Camaro will be revealed at a special event at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park.
In the process of ‘‘teasing’’ information about the next-gen Camaro, General Motors has posted a YouTube video that reveals the 6.2-litre V8 engine note.
GM has also said only two parts carry over from the fifth-generation model — the bowtie emblem on the tail lamp panel and the SS badge.
The Gen 6 Camaro is based on General Motors’ Alpha rear-wheel-drive architecture – the first applications of which are Cadillac’s new ATS and third generation CTS models.
‘‘Our global engineering team is incredibly passionate about Camaro, and they sweated all the details to make Gen 6 the best Camaro we could possibly put into the hands of our customers,’’ said Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development.
‘‘Alpha provided a strong foundation, but more than 70 per cent of the components are unique to the Gen 6 Camaro, including exterior and interior dimensions, an all-new interior, front and rear suspension, and powertrain components,’’ he said.
‘‘The minute you see – and hear – the Gen 6, you know it’s a Camaro, from the stance to the driving experience to the sound of the small block V8.’’
Working from the Alpha foundation, the engineering team has developed a specific front structure for the new Camaro. It has been lengthened to create the dash-to-axle ratio necessary for car’s iconic profile and also widened to provide the desired track width for stable, confident cornering.
In addition, an estimated 20 per cent of the 6.2-litre LT1 V8 engine has been tailored to fit the Camaro’s packaging, including new, tubular ``tri-Y’’ exhaust manifolds.
The Chevrolet Camaro first went on sale in September 1966 (as a 1967 model) and the first four generations ran through till production ended 2002.
The Camaro nameplate was then put on ice until the Gen 5 Camaro — developed in co-operation with Holden engineers in Australia using the same GM Zeta platform as the Holden VE Commodore — was launched in 2010.
The current Camaro has been America’s best-selling performance car for five consecutive years and is approaching 500,000 sales in the US.
Perhaps the biggest question mark looming over the new Camaro is whether GM will follow Ford’s new direction for the latest Mustang — with sales planned across global markets including right-hand-drive production.
Such a move could give Holden access to a high performance rear-wheel-drive car after Commodore production ends in 2017.