Challenger vs. Camaro?

On the Challenger's day in the spotlight on Woodward in Royal Oak, guess who shows up uninvited to the party ... a rival from the 1970s named Camaro
BY JOE GUY COLLIER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

August 16, 2006



Chevrolet Camaro concept (General Motors)

Conspiracy or coincidence?

During a Chrysler Group news conference Tuesday showcasing the Dodge Challenger concept, a General Motors Corp. truck drove by with two Chevrolet Camaro concepts in tow.

The original Challenger and Camaro were rivals in the 1970s. The Challenger returns in 2008; the Camaro in 2009.

After the cars crossed paths Tuesday morning on Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak, Jalopnik.com, a popular auto Web site, declared: "The Muscle Car Wars Are On!" The event took place just days before the Woodward Dream Cruise, a moving shrine to muscle and classic cars.

Jason Vines, Chrysler's head of communications, stoked the controversy with a quick reply on the Web site.

"Notice the two Challengers, including the concept-to-be-production-in-'08, drove into our event while the two Camaros had to be towed," Vines said.

The folks at GM claim they weren't trying to upstage the Challenger: The Camaro concepts were simply being moved between two scheduled appearances of their own on Woodward.

"It was completely coincidental," said Chevy spokesman Travis Parman.

And, yes, Mr. Vines, the Camaros can be driven, Parman responded. Under its own power, a Camaro was driven at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in January and an unveiling last week in Warren.

"We're happy to remind Jason Vines that the engine roared quite nicely," Parman said.

Vines wasn't buying it.

"They can say their lame stunt was an accident," he said.

The production Challenger still will be available to the public ahead of the Camaro, Vines added. Ford Motor Co., by the way, never abandoned the Mustang, its ever-present offering in this segment.

Isn't it nice, though, to see Detroit automakers bickering again about who has the best muscle car?

If the Challenger and Camaro concepts already are sparking controversy, just wait until the production versions arrive.

 

I would not be surprised if the DCX & GM guys set this up together on a conference call the day before. Anything like this benfits them both by getting them in the news and stoking the fires of their respective followers.

 

I can see that.

Maybe the would put the CEO in the ring to duke it out as a publicity stunt. LOL! Wouldn't ever happen but it would be funny.

 

I'd like to see the Challenger & the Camaro out on the Nascar track as pace cars to foment the excitement.

 

I would like to see the next step and make these new muscle car the NASCAR vehicles to race.

 

Okay not that we know where the Camaro is going to be made, what about the Challenger which will be out sooner?


Camaro, eh? Oshawa plant tapped to build Chevy's ponycar


Posted Aug 19th 2006 1:53PM by Alex Nunez
Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupes, Plants/Manufacturing, Chevrolet



Several readers alerted us to a report out of Canada on Friday stating that GM has selected its Oshawa, Ontario plant to build the new Camaro. A formal announcement is expected on Monday.

The news caps a good week for the Canadian Auto Workers union, who also learned that GM's plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs in the city were scuttled because Impala sales are so strong. That, plus the Camaro announcement, clear up the picture for the 2 years remaining on the CAW's contract with GM, during which no permanent layoffs are expected at the Oshawa facilities, according to sources who spoke to The Globe and Mail.

General Motors is expected to detail plans to create a flexible manufacturing facility in Oshawa with an annual production capacity of up to 500,000 vehicles, including the Camaro. Reports put GM's annual sales projections for the new musclecar at 100,000 units. The Zeta rear-drive platform that it will be built on is expected to be used for a host of other GM vehicles in the pipeline.

 

The Challenger will be built along side the charger in Brampton.

 

I believe this was posted at one of the other sections, but anyways the Challenger was driven over, under its own power mind you vs. the Camaro was towed on a truck. It looks like the two models are getting used to their roles. The Camaro has to be towed.

 

I agree and I would further suggest that they use the actual models of the Challenger and Camaro to see which one is truely superior instead of sharing the same platform and using engines and transmissions they have been using for years.

 

I totally agree and I would wished that would happen.