the most keenly anticipated 2009 model will be the Chevrolet Camaro
I am not sure I agree with that one.
The Challenger will be built on an updated version of the LX platform -- the LY
I wonder if the 2008 models are LX and the 2009 models are LY. I was thinking the LY models were not coming out until 2010.
Does anybody know for sure?
Hotrod crystal ball percolates with power and prestige
Tom Jensen
Wheelbase Communications
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Even with most 2008 models still on their way to showrooms, it's not too early to take a sneak peak at the hottest of the hot for the 2009 model year. Final specifications might change between now and the time these vehicles hit the showrooms -- and there will be more detail -- but the production versions will closely mirror what you see here.
CHEVROLET CAMARO
Without question, the most keenly anticipated 2009 model will be the Chevrolet Camaro. Playing off the success of a category owned and operated by the Ford Mustang, the new fifth-generation Camaro will feature styling cues from the halcyon days of the late 1960s, married to state-of-the-art technology. The '09 Camaro will bow as a four-seat hardtop, with a convertible to follow in the 2010 model year. Look for a host of V6 and V8 engine options, likely topping out at around 400 horsepower.
DODGE CHALLENGER
While the current Ford Mustang and the next-generation Chevrolet Camaro pay only stylistic homage to their forebears, the 2009 Dodge Challenger is nearly a dead-nuts-on knock-off of the popular 1970-74 model. The Challenger will be built on an updated version of the LX platform -- the LY, of course -- which comes from the Dodge Charger and Magnum and the Chrysler 300. A sleek two-door, four-passenger coupe, you can bet the Challenger will come with a Hemi V8 under the hood. A tantalizing, but unconfirmed, rumour is the Challenger could have a sister car, the Chrysler 'Cuda.
CADILLAC ESCALADE HYBRID
The Cadillac Escalade enjoys enormous popularity with rappers, rock stars and athletes, but with environmentalists, not so much, just like any thirsty, larger-than-really-need-be display of capitalism. That will soon change, when the Escalade will follow the lead of the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon and adopt a gas/electric powertrain sometime in the 2008 calendar year. Cadillac will introduce the Escalade Hybrid for 2009 as an all-wheel-drive model with an expected 25-per-cent fuel-economy savings. Those numbers aren't exactly in the range of the benchmark Toyota Prius, but a big improvement just the same. The only hybrid markings on the Escalade will be a badge. Proper thing.
CADILLAC CTS-V
The Cadillac CTS is all-new for 2008 and its bad-boy big brother, the CTS-V, will roll out in 2009 armed with the new General Motors supercharged motor said to produce a minimum of 500 horsepower and perhaps as much as 525. With the adrenaline blast under the hood will come a revised suspension designed to better put the power to the ground. Cadillac is expected to limit production of its new hotrod to about 7,000 units a year. Look for the CTS-V to be the most serious rival to BMW's M-Series cars yet.
FORD MUSTANG
Ford has had little, if any, competition in the domestic musclecar category since the current-generation Mustang was introduced for 2005. But with its rivals ramping up with the Camaro and Challenger, Ford has decided to make the Mustang a moving target that will be tough to hit. For the 2009 model year, the Mustang will get a freshened body design on the current platform and GT models are expected to get at least 50 more horsepower under the hood. Ford is also thought to be working on a retractable hardtop for the Mustang -- a technology the company pioneered in the 1950s -- but whether that makes it into production remains to be seen.
FORD FLEX