It Came From The Seventies: Italian coachbuilt Chevrolet Camaro

Frua Camaro

Designer Pietro Frua had a very distinctive hand, and many of his designs sport undeniable beauty. Depending on your perspective, this coachbuilt mid-'70s Chevrolet Camaro is probably not one of those cars. The vehicle is still kicking around; appraiser and enthusiast Dennis Mitosinka is listed as the current owner by Pietro-Frua.de. It bears a passing resemblance to all kinds of 1970s vehicles, from the Ford Capri to the Nissan 280ZX. The fundamental lines are classically proportioned and cleanly drawn, mostly because the second-gen Camaro itself had good proportions and clean lines. If nothing else, owning this Frua would be a great way to hold court (and keep 'em guessing!) at Concorso Italiano while offering the reliability, ease of upkeep and low maintenance costs of good old unloved domestic iron. When you're done looking at our gallery below, check out some additional images here.

Gallery: Frua Camaro

A bit of good news: Chevrolet receives 10,000 orders for Camaro

It seems we’ve got a lot of news about cutbacks and bailouts lately. Now we finally have something to get excited about as a cool car is doing well: 10,000 pre-orders have come in for the Chevrolet Camaro.

Back in October, Chevy had already received 6,000 orders in the first month the car was on sale. While that was impressive, those orders were mostly for the V8 cars. What worried some industry floks was would the car be able to go mainstream. But it seems the last few months have seen runs on the smaller engine. "We are getting a considerable amount of V6 orders," said Mark LaNeve, GM’s head of marketing and sales.

The entry-level V6 Chevrolet Camaro uses a 3.6-liter V6 unit producing 296bhp and 273lb ft of torque, while the range-topping SS will produce 416bhp from its 6.2-liter V8. Prices will start from $22,995 MSRP for the V-6 powered LS model, and $30,995 for the V-8 powered Camaro SS. Deliveries should begin in February.

GM Performance Parts To Offer $7,000 Body-In-White New Camaro

Do you want to build your very own Camaro GS Racer featured at this year’s SEMA show? GM Performance Parts has the answer for you with the new $7,000 2010 Chevy Camaro body-in-white.

Starting early next year, GM Performance Parts will begin offering the 2010 Chevy Camaro body-in-white in their catalog. Marketed towards the competition racer set, the 2010 Camaro body-in-white will save both time and money. The package includes an assembled body structure, including front fenders, hood, front fascia, grille, roof, doors, rear quarter panels, trunk lid, rear fascia, complete floorpan and chassis rails. The cost of the package will run you $7,000, a far cry from the up-level SS model that would see the removal of 90% of its original content.

The parts needed to complete the package will include a powertrain, fuel system, suspension, interior components, glass and safety equipment. GM Performance Parts offers many of these parts through its online catalog and with such a large assortment of crate engine options listed on the GM Performance Parts website, it’ll be interesting to see what some of the grassroots racers will shoehorn between the rails of their build-your-own muscle car. Our ideal setup would be either the 6.2-liter supercharged LS9 or the brutal ZZ572/720R drag unit with its 572 cu. in. and 720 HP and 685 lb-ft of brute force.

GM Performance Parts Press Release:

Grand Blanc, Mich. – Racers who want to slip into something more fashionable at the
track next year will find the 2010 Camaro is just their size. GM Performance Parts will offer body in white packages of the new Camaro starting in the first quarter of 2009. The basic package lists for $7,000 and includes an assembled body structure, including the front fenders, hood, front valance/grille header panel, roof, doors, rear quarters, trunk lid and rear valance. The structure also includes the complete floorpans and chassis rails.

Racer must fill out an online application to be eligible to purchase one. The form is available at www.gmperformanceparts.com. Bodies will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. There is no limit to the number an approved racing team can purchase.

“This is the easiest and most cost-effective way to build a race-ready new Camaro,” said Dr. Jamie Meyer, of GM Performance Parts. “We envision racers using these bodies for all types of competition, from Pro Street and Competition drag racing to road racing.” The body in white includes only a painted body shell and no additional components or materials. The bodies do not have vehicle identification numbers, so they may only be used as racing vehicles that will never be licensed for street driving.

Racers will add powertrain, fuel system, suspension, interior components and glass (or sanctioning body-approved alternative), and safety equipment, then go racing.

“For the racers who would strip down the entire car and replace most of the components with racing-spec parts, the body in white saves time and money,” said Dr. Meyer. “Drag racers, for example, won’t have to worry about swapping out for a solid axle – they can just bolt one up and go.”

[via GM Performance Parts]

Transformers 2 Chevy Volt Gets A Name: "Jolt"

When we showed you the first Chevy Volt pictures from the set of the new Transformers movie, we all wondered what character GM’s little earth-saving electric car would be. Well, his name is "Jolt."

It’s been a while since we last gave you a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen update, so today we bring you the newest character in the TF2 lineup. We’ll give you some clues –- gleaned from the toy box these shots came from. He makes a habit of getting into trouble. He is chaotic and impulsive, always out for the next big adventure. If there is danger afoot, he is sure to find his way into the middle of it. Luckily, he’s got the fighting skills to get himself out of any binds he gets himself into. When he’s got his electro whips in his hands, he’s an almost unstoppable whirlwind of crackling energy. That’s right, GM’s halo car for all that is good will transform into an Autobot we've never heard of named Jolt. It just goes to show that the Volt really is out to save the world. We’ve got images of the Transformers 2 movie-line toy below.

[via Seibertron, TF08]

2010 Chevrolet Equinox explained in detail

Over the weekend, GM dropped the official details and images of the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox prior to its debut at the 2009 North American International Auto Show next month in Detroit.

Today the GM team has released a video of a “walkaround” the 2010 Equinox with commentry from some of the executives that worked on the new Chevy SUV.

Refresher: 2010 Chevrolet Equinox will be offered with a 182-hp 2.4L Ecotec direct-injected I-4 or a 255-hp 3.0L DOHC direct-injected V6.

Corvette ZR1 Braving Snowy Detroit Freeways

An illustrious reader captured this privately owned Corvette ZR1 slopping around Detroit's snowy I-275 just south of the infamous mixing bowl interchange. Considering the ridiculousness of this image, we thought you might enjoy captioning it.

The mixing bowl is the junction of I-275, I-96, I-696 and M5, and under normal conditions is actually a lot of fun to drive on. But combined with any amount of rush hour traffic or foul weather and it turns into a hellbroth of nightmarish traffic stagnation. This guy getting out of the bowl without losing it is a testament to how tame the big bad Vette can be. (Thanks for the picture Mason)

2010 Chevy Camaro LS Shows Off Rallye Style Wheels

Apparently Disney World's Test Track at Epcot of all places took delivery of their 2010 Chevy Camaro LS and a forum-head over at Camaro5 snagged shots which display a sweet, retro-style set of rallye wheels.

The obvious throwback to the old school Camaro warms the car-guy cockles. We actually think this Camaro adds a certain degree of tough-guy attitude missing from the other Camaros. Now if it can be had with a stripe running around the nose, we'll be in hardcore Camaro fanboy heaven. Please Chevy, make it so. [Camaro5]