camaro.com

It’s official. Auto show attendees have voted the Camaro convertible the car they “most want in their driveway” and “the best concept vehicle”. The Chicago Auto Show boasts the largest attendance of any auto show in the country, and the Camaro convertible was the car they came to see.

According to a Chevrolet spokeperson at the show, they anticipate the hard-top version will debut in the first quarter of 2009, and the convertible will follow approximately 6 months later. It is going to be hard to wait that long. So in the mean time, I have posted all my photos to the gallery page, so folks can at least satisfy their urge to drool over it until they can get their hands on one. And just in case you were wondering, yes…that is Hugger Orange on that car again. You gotta appreciate that reference to the first generation.

So here’s what we know about the new convertible, and presumably the hard-top. Chevy plans to put a 400 horse, 6.0 liter, LS2 V8 engine under the hood, with a 6 cylinder option available as well. The car features an advanced fuel management system that will reportedly provide more than 30 miles to the gallon on the highway. Apparently the system will selectively fire fewer cylinders in order to acheive the better MPG.

The hugger orange paint option is a Pearl Tri-Coat paint, featuring Gunmetal gray racing stripes on the hood and rear deck. The wheels offer an impressive 21 inch rim in front, and 22 inch in the rear. Braking is going to get some serious help from 14 inch exposed disks in the rear. The dash board features a throw-back to the first-gen round speedo and tach inside square housings on the dash, while the center console gets the 1969 inspired “four-pack” auxiliary gauges in front of the shifter.