B Pillar article...Here is some note on the new Camaro by Bob on Edmonds

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — GM product guru Bob Lutz has confirmed that unlike the Camaro concept car and the 1969 Camaro it emulates, the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro will not be a true hardtop when it reaches production.

Despite the fact that GM Chairman Rick Wagoner originally said the 2010 Camaro would be "virtually identical" to designer Sangyup Lee's concept that debuted at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show, Lutz confirmed that the production Camaro will in fact have a B-pillar, making it a standard coupe instead of a traditional hardtop coupe.

Lutz said the standard coupe structure is necessary to keep production costs down and ensure the Camaro's frame is as light and tight and possible.

The same fate is true for the Dodge Challenger. The Challenger concept was also presented as a hardtop coupe in 2006, but the 2008 production version will be a standard coupe when it goes on sale next spring.

What this means to you: Cost-cutting has killed the hardtop coupe for the everyman, with the last holdouts belonging to Bentley and Mercedes.



First let me note that this is no suprise to most of us.

To build this car with a 5 star rating at the price point of a Mustang and under 4,000 lbs the b pillar is needed for strength.

That B pillar will save you money to buy and insure and just might save a few Lives here.

GM has to deal with the cards they are delt. They are no different from us and do have limitations placed on them for the things they can or want to do. If there was any way they could match the Mustang in price and keep the weight under 4,000 lbs You whould know they would have done it. The first priority is to keep this car safe and competitive in price and performance.

There has yet to be a car that really ever came out the exact way a company had invisioned it. While we can dream about these cars we still have to understand it is still a buisness and they have to turn a buck or they would not have given the go ahead to build this car at all.

The Charger is getting one too so it is the reality of a car under $50k.

Most of us will have the air on anyway and the windows up. Even the first Gens were driven with the rear windows up 90% of the time as power windows were rare and few took the time to lower them anyway.

We will see a few more changes as this is a real car and not a show car. IF you don't make the changes the price gets away or likethe ergonomics in the SSR were you have to open the door to reach and adjust the seat buttons.

Also note the 2010 date is accurate as it will be released in Feb 09 as a early 2010. This has been a trend of many new GM cars going back to the March 03 release of the 04 GP. So no the date has not been moved back it is still Feb 09.

 

im a little confused i thought production was nov. 2008?

 

I believe this is a repost, but anyways i heard recently tht the production would still start in 2008 but the models wouldn't hit the dealers till early 2009 as previously stated.

 

You won't be able to see it (see pics of Lutz hugging black pre-production version), and it makes the car lighter and cheaper, which is 50% of the battle right there. Come in under the Stang's fat *** in the weight department without eclipsing it in price, then make it more powerful at the same time. I don't want to be competitive with the top dog Stang, I want to be just plain faster from the factory.

Roughly what I'd like to see:
-Base V8 Stang
-Base V8 Camaro
-Top Stang -Vs.- Base Vette
-Top Camaro
-Exotic -Vs.- Top Vette

 

They will probably actually start building it in late Nov, early Dec. 08. They just won't hit showrooms til Feb. 09.