Greg Wilson TEST DRIVE JHE REDESIGNED Chevrolet Camaro is a good example of that old adage: “The more things change, the more they stay the same. 9 . While the new Camaro is . steeker, more powerful, safer and better built than the last model, its basic design philosophy is little changed from the original Camaro introduced in 1967. - It’s still a sporty two-door compact car with a front- engine/rear-wheel-drive Jayout, available V8 power, a traditional solid rear axle, a small trunk and limited rear seat room. The tried-and-true design phi- losophy has some advantages and disadvantages, The most important benefit is © * that Chevrolet has been able to _Keep the retail price from rising beyond reascnable levels. Base Camaros start around $16,000, ‘while fully. equipped 228 models are priced under $25,000. That's very reasonable con- WHEN A highly praised and acclaimed new car fi- nally arrives in the local showrooms, it immediately becomes the centre of aiten- tion. The car.is talked about at lunch time, coffee breaks, and its photos appear in every auto-related Publication with a big caption: “The XYZ is a Real Winner!!"’ - The company responsible for developing and designing it then . Obviously gets full credit for making the car a reality. A good example is Chrysler with its much-talked-about LH sedans, and Toyota with its highly respected Lexus brand introduced a few years back. The same thing applies to ‘futuristic concept cars that appear in the major auto shows. Custom-made concept vehicles ~— like the Porsche Boxster and Plymouth Prowler — received all - the attention of a television superstar when they debuted. Again, everyone only talked about how well Porsche and Plymouth executed the whole process — no mention of anyone else’s involve- ment in the projects. Photo submitted The all-new Chevrolet Camaro Z28 has a new 275-horsepower 5.7-litre V8-engine, six-speed manual transmission, dual aivbags and anti-lock brakes as standard equipment. Inquire about the Z28 at Dick Inwin Chevrolet Oldsmobile Cadillac, 845 Marine Dr., North Vancouver. sidering this is an all-new model with dual airbags and anti-lock brakes as standard equipment. The Camaro’s new styling has done away with the sharp creases found on the previous model. Though slightly longer, wider and taller than the old model, the new Camero looks about the same size. Its narrow, twin headlamps - are inset into a short sloping hood with two fake hoodscoops leading into an extremely raked wind- . shield, a blacked-out roof (Z28 only), large rear window/hat- chback, and a nicely integrated, wraparound rear spoiler. The new Camaro’s styling is not quite as macho as the former’s, but I think it's a lasting design that will catch on. _ The top-of-the-line Z28 model — this week's test car, and the most popular type of Camaro — remains true to its muscle-car - heritage. A 275-horsepower ver- sion of the Corvette’s 5.7-litre David | Ghao OVERDRIVE No one is going to dispute the fact that the car companies themselves deserve credit for coming up with the concept, engineering the vehicle, and finally bringing it to the show. But is that where the credit should stop? Most people don’t realize that there's more to designing, devel- oping, engineering, and producing cars than meets che eye. Every automobile, be it a new LTI V8 engine offers 30 more horsepower (hp) than last year’s 5.7-litre V8, though fuel economy is actually about the same. A six-speed manual transmis- sion, also borrowed from the Cor- vette, is standard in the Z2Z8. This traditional overhead valve, two-valve-per-cylinder V8 engine has loads of power for passing and accelerating. With so much low-end torque, gear changes are often unnecessary. For example, it’s possible to drive at 50 km/h (31 mph) in sixth gear and accelerate all the way up * to top speed without gearing down. One of the nicest things about this engine is the deep, throaty sound that it makes when accelerating. Unlike a lot of other sporty cars, the Z28 not only looks sporty, but it sounds sporty. The anew six-speed manual transmission is more precise and easier to move from gear than last production car or handmade show vehicle, would not be produced if it were not for the help of outside suppliers and engineering and consulting companies. In fact, the reliance of automobile manufacturers on outside companies is more than just skin deep. Take the interior seat as an ea- ampie. It is not unusual for a car ‘ company to delegate the whole responsibility of designing and manufacturing it to outside com- panies, such as Johnson Controls (JC). After receiving the technical specifications from a car com- pany, a seat supplier like JC will take it from there and perform all the detailed engineering work. Once that’s done, the supplier’s production people wil! design the equipment necessary to produce the seats in massive quantities. Finally, the seats are shipped by the supplier — often by just-in- time method — directly to the manufacturer’s plants, where the assembly workers will install them. H you ever visit a large engineering company or compo- nent supplier, youll be shocked at their level of capability and knowledge. These guys can liter- year’s five-speed box. The big, round leather-covered shift knob falls easily into the palm of the right hand for comfortable’ shif- ting. - It should be noted that base Camaros have a standard 3.4-litre V6 engine (up from 3.1 litres), and five-speed manual transmission. A four-speed automatic transmission is optional on both models. (I will be reviewing the base model at a later date.) Z28s offer standard, powerful disc brakes on-all four wheels with GM’s ABS VI anti-lock brake system for improved safety. Wide, low-profile 245/50 ZR 16-inch Goodyear Eagle GS-C radials mounted on unidirectional alloy wheels are also standard equip- ment. All Camaros now have plastic body panels on all surfaces except the hood and lower rear quarter panels, which are made of steel. The plastic panels are both ally design, engineer, and manufacture a whole car from the ground up. CDI Transportation Group, located in Warren, Michigan, i is one such company. With six divi- sions, ranging from the integrated engineering group to the state- of-the-art computer division, CDI is the largest automotive engineering company in the world. It has over 5,000 specialized engineers, designers. drafters and technicians under its belt, and -close to 800 computer work sta- tions (CAD). I’ve been to their offices a nuraber of times, and each time it’s an eye-opening experience seeing hundreds of multi-colored computer screens flashing in front of you. CDI’s capability is astonishing. It can just about design, engineer, and produce every part of a vehi- cle, whether a concept car, show car, proloype, or production car. Another interesting company — though smaller and more specialized than CDI — is ASC Inc., whose headquarters are again in Michigan (don’t forget this is the Motor State). ASC, with offices on four con- tinents, employs 3,000 people to Price as tested $23,824 Type Two-door, four- passenger hatchback coupe Layout Longitudinal. front- engine/rear-wheel drive Engine 5.7-litre V8, OHV, two valves per cylinder, multi-port fuel injection Horsepower 275 @ 5,000 rpm Torque 325 @ 2,400 rpm Transmission Six-speed man- ual (four-speed automatic) me weight 1,530 kg/3,373 5. Wheelbase 2,568 mm/101.1 in. Length 4,907 mm/193.2 in.. Width 1,882 mm/74.1 in. Height 1,303 mm/5}.3 in. Trunk space 365 litres/12. 9 cu, ft. Fuel economy n/a Warranty Three years/60,000 m . en | dent-resistant and rust-proof, and their paint finish is comparable to traditional steel panels. My test car was done in a bright red with black accents, and it looked very sharp. The restyled interior of! fers about the same amount of intcrior space (four passengers) as the previous model, but the position of instruments and controls has been improved for easier visibility and reach. Previous Camaro owners will not be disappointed when they drive the new model. It’s everything the old Camaro was, with improvements tq the areas that were often criticized. The new Camaro, like the old one, has a lot of character — something a lot of sporty cars lack these days. : fany hands at work in creating today’s cars. handle special projects for 21 dif- ferent automotive companies from around the world. Headed by highly respected, Heinz Prechter, the company js renowned for its convertible models for eight different car companies, including the Porche 968 Cabriolet and Nissan 240SX convertible. The company is the world’s largest convertible supplier, responsible | for a whopping 23% of all rap- tops worldwide. ° This progressive company also builds unique show cars for auto shows, giving us a glimpse of what this 39-year-old firm can do. Some of the interesting vehicles produced in the past include the EI Camino, a Chevy Lumina- based truck; and Sunburst, a wild Pontiac Sunbird roadster. Even cars like the vicious Dodge Viper and the toyish Nissan Gobi concept truck, shown some years back at the Detroit Auto Show, had roots in outside companies. The very first Viper and Gobi were both built by a small com- -pany called Metalcrafters, in Costa Mesa, California. This family-owned business painfully, but skilfully, produces See Firms page 25