The next next Chevy Camaro
Posted Today 02:19 PM by Todd Lassa
Filed under: Editorial, Motor City Blogman, Chevrolet, Sports Coupes

Chevrolet Camaro Convertible

DETROIT - No, the next Camaro, not the upcoming 2010 Chevy Camaro. A few weeks ago, I wrote that the V-8, as we know it, is dead. Since then we've heard how Ford is pondering a twin-turbo V-6 Mustang to supplement, if not replace, the GT V-8. Small GM cars in the future will likely get a 1.4-turbo four in place of the current 2.0-liter turbo. The realities of the 2020 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards are starting to sink in. Asian and European automakers will have to comply, too, as the European Union is set to impose CO2 standards at least as draconian as our '20 CAFE.

Cars and trucks will have to get lighter and smaller. The V-8 will become a low-volume engine configuration, like V-10s, V-12s and Mazda Wankel rotaries. All is not lost: the horsepower wars of the last 20 years have raised all boats ... er, boat engines. Today's turbo fours and direct-injection V-6s would amaze anyone whose last drive was in a '69 Z/28.

And that's how cars like the Mustang, Camaro and maybe even the Dodge Challenger can change rather than become dinosaurs again, or the next Mustang II. I don't know what Chrysler plans after the next-generation rear-drive platform runs its course, but GM has Alpha. You've read about the secret Alpha platform: it's a compact rear-drive architecture designed to give Cadillac a legitimate BMW 3 Series competitor for North America and Europe (the CTS is closer to the 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class in size). To make that new platform economical, GM needs to use it on a large-volume car. Most other pundits have taken too seriously Bob Lutz's words about rear-drive Pontiacs and believe it's going to be a small Pontiac sports sedan. I've reported to that it's more likely to be a high-volume Chevy to make the platform development pay off.
Alpha platform Chevrolet

And now, here's another application: besides, say, a "Chevy Chevelle" sedan, how about using Alpha for the next Chevy Camaro? Mustang, Camaro and Challenger are much bigger cars than they were in the late '60s. A 2008 Chrysler 300 is less than two inches longer than a '68 Dodge Dart coupe, and two feet shorter than any of the Chryslers of four decades ago, all of which were full-size models. The current Mustang and upcoming Camaro and Challenger are bigger now, because they alone have remained about the same size as their Vietnam War-era counterparts.

Neither the '09 Challenger nor the '10 Camaro will be able to match Mustang's steady sales of 125,000 to 150,000 units per year. After the Camaro has been out for five years or so, everyone who wants one will have bought one. Some will be young buyers, but most will be my age or older; in my case, just a few years too young to have bought a new, original Camaro before high insurance rates, net horsepower ratings, emissions and the oil embargo killed off the hot versions worth having. I turned, like many of my generation and those younger, to smaller, high revving four-bangers with better handling than straight-line performance.

So GM should build the next Camaro, model year 2016 or so, on the Alpha rear-drive platform. Power it with maybe a twin-turbo four. The 2010 Camaro will find itself parked in big suburban driveways next to Tahoes, and the like. That '16 Camaro will make the perfect trade-up for the Honda Civic Si.