Rick Hendrick, owner of four NASCAR teams under Hendrick Motorsports, picked up the first Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in person at GM’s Oshawa Assembly Plant yesterday as production of the 580-hp, 556 lb-ft of torque American sports car kicked off.

Hendrick is clearly a die-hard Camaro enthusiast, having purchased the first 2010 Camaro Coupe, the first 2011 Camaro Convertible and now the first Camaro ZL1 available for public sale all through Barrett-Jackson auctions. Even better, all three of his purchases had all proceeds benefiting local charities.

The first ZL1 to ever leave the production line features a black exterior with the optional Exposed Carbon Fiber Weaved Hood Insert and power Sunroof. The interior was packed with black leather with suede microfiber inserts on the seat and dash and also on the steering wheel and shift knob.

“Through a disciplined approach and a relentless focus on execution, the Oshawa team has worked efficiently to ensure a successful, high-quality launch of the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1,” stated Dan Hermer, plant manager at the Oshawa Assembly Plant.

The Chevy Camaro ZL1 starts at $58,000.

GALLERY: Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

GM has announced “Chevy Happy Grad” as the winner of their Route 66 Super Bowl Ad contest, created by 26-year old Zach Borst of Long Island. The winning ad will be aired during Super Bowl XLVI and had already received over 32-million views between December 22 and January 14.

The best part about this ad is how easy it is to relate to it, considering we’ve all probably received gifts we never wanted, or mistakenly thought a certain gift was ours. The ad was filmed on location out in Long Island near Borst’s home and beat out 400 submitted scripts and 198 films from 32 different countries.

“We asked filmmakers to depict life’s journey and how Chevrolet is there along the way,” said General Motors Global Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick. “When I saw Zach’s spot, I had to laugh, because the situation is something many families can relate to – expectation and reality. ‘Happy Grad’ clearly shows the passion that Chevrolet elicits.”

Borst has been producing films since his childhood and has founded Goat Farm Films, his own production company based out of New York.

Check out the winning ad after the break.

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Sure, it was pretty comical to watch Adolf Hitler get upset over the announcement of Shelby’s GT500 trumping Chevy‘s Camaro ZL1 on paper, but now things have gotten pretty serious with Camaro Chief Engineer Al Oppenheiser predicting that the ZL1 will be quicker to 60-mph than the GT500 and even calls out the GT500′s Nurburgring time.

“We’ve done simulations. We predict that the ZL1 will be quicker to 60 than the [2013] GT500… We ran the Nürburgring and released a time. Ford took the GT500, too, and never released a time. I guess you can draw your own conclusions,” Oppenheiser said openly at an Arizona drive event for the Camaro ZL1.

Now on paper and for those that believe numbers never lie, the Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 with 650-hp and 600 lb-ft of torque in a 3,850-lb body should easily outpace the Camaro ZL1′s 580-hp and 556 lb-ft of torque in a heavier 4,120-lb body. But Oppenheiser has no doubt that the ZL1 would be quicker around Nurburgring than the GT500.

It’s a bold claim surely, but it could be warranted given that the GT500 still features a solid rear-axle while the ZL1 sports all-independent suspension with third-generation Magnetic Ride shocks and a high-tech traction control system borrowed from the Corvette ZR1.

Hopefully it’ll get settled one day, ZL1 versus GT500 on a real track with the same driver. Until then, it’ll remain a war of the words.

GALLERY: Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

[Source: Autoblog]

More than four decades ago, the Ford Mustang became America’s first “pony car” and has established itself as the segment leader ever since. However, in the last two years, Mustang’s closest rival, the Chevrolet Camaro, has incontestably dethroned the Mustang as the new sales leader.

When the Chevy Camaro beat the Ford Mustang by 81,299-to-73,716 units in 2010, analysts believed it was down to buyer excitement over a newly-released Camaro. Surprisingly, sales figures of 2011 revealed that not only did the Mustang not regain its spot at the top, but the sales gap actually widened. Last year, Americans bought 88,249 Camaros and only 70,438 Mustangs.

Little explains why the Camaro has pulled ahead in sales while the Mustang lagged behind. Even when comparing performance figures between the two machines, the difference is negligible as the Camaro only has fractionally more horsepower while it carries a couple of more pounds than the Mustang. Price wise, the MSRP of the Mustang V6 and GT are both less expensive than its Camaro counterpart.

Competition between the two rivals promises to intensify for 2012. On the Chevrolet corner, Camaro is preparing a high performance ZL1 producing an outrageous 580-hp, capable of reaching 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 184 mph.On the Ford corner, the new Mustang Shelby GT500 answers the ZL1 with a staggering 650-hp, promising to reach speeds beyond the 200 mph holy grail.

No doubt, the GT500 is a statement car in its purest sense. If Camaro manages a threepeat for 2012, could the Mustang’s failure come down to its long-criticized live rear axle?

GALLERY: 2012 Camaro ZL1

GALLERY: 2013 Ford GT500

Finding a mint condition 1968 Chevy Camaro SS is pretty tough. Finding one with 400-hp and just 5,251-miles, well that’s just a gem. Now one sporting a unique and bright orange paint job like this one? We’ve got ourselves a winner.

Priced at $59,900, this ’68 SS sports a PPG O’So Orange paint job that has been meticulous sprayed onto the car and is “jaw-dropping in the sun.” Supposedly it cost over $10,000 just to paint the vehicle and with immaculate bodywork with completely straight panels, this Camaro is as clean and as pristine as they get.

Under the hood is a 377-cubic inch small block built by Chuck Spanel pushing out more than 400-hp. Power is transferred to the wheels through a four-speed manual transmission from Muncie. For wheels, it runs a staggered 18-inch front, 20-inch rear Coys setup that were installed less than 100-miles ago.

On the inside, the immaculate interior consists of black and gray leather with modern bucket seats and custom door and side panels. This Camaro is a true hot rod with a bit of contemporary tuning sprinkled in, making it an excellent retro resale.

GALLERY: O’So Orange 1968 Chevy Camaro SS

[Source: RK Motors]

Built by Ringbrothers and designed by Sean Smith, this custom 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Coupe can be yours if you’re heading to Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale, Arizona auction.

One of the nicest ’69 Camaros we’ve seen in a long time, the exterior Mineral Gray/Pewter finish looks immaculate in the photos. The Hunter Green interior is unique while the Camaro packs a 454-cubic inch Ram Jet ZL1 under the hood, numbered 193 of 200. The engine is combined with a six-speed Viper transmission.

On the outside, custom one-off Budnik wheels in a staggered setup adorn each corner. Stopping power has been enhanced with 15-inch rotors and Baer’s six-piston calipers. The interior is race-inspired with a Tilton pedal setup, MOMO steering wheel and custom Classic Instruments. Lightening the body is a carbon fiber hood, trunk, deck lid, bumper and brake ducts.

GALLERY: 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Coupe

[Source: Barrett-Jackson]

It’s always interesting to see German tuners wrenching away on American muscle, as is the case with these two Chevy Camaros. YACO Racing out in Germany and Fastforward Motorsport in Belgium are separately working on different Camaros for GT3 racing and both teams are producing some impressive results.

YACO Racing has partnered up with SaReni United and Reiter Engineering on a pair of V8-powered Camaro GT3 race cars and are planning to campaign them in the German ADAC GT Master Series and GT3 European Championship. The car has been spotted doing some pre-season testing out in Italy at the Adria Circuit and will have its racing debut next year.

Fastforward Motorsport’s Camaro takes a more subtle approach but definitely looks just as race-ready as YACO Racing’s GT3 Camaro. It recently was testing out at Circuit Zolder and sounds incredible in the video.

Check out a video of Fastforward Motorsport’s Camaro GT3 below

GALLERY: YACO Racing / Fastforward Motorsport Chevy Camaro GT3s

[Source: Jon Sibal]

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Chevy gave everyone a pleasant surprise at the 2011 SEMA Show, unveiling a new-generation Camaro COPO Concept, ready to take on the NHRA Eliminator drag racing class. The engineers involved with the COPO Concept project took their new baby out to Bradenton Motorsports Park out near Tampa, Florida for some test runs and it’s looking very promising.

Unfortunately no actual times were mentioned in the video as the Camaro did some shakedown runs down the quarter mile. But the behind the scenes look throughout the video shows off what the team is working on as they’ll surely make the Camaro a competitive 9-second drag car. It’s worth mentioning that the team is testing multiple different engine setups in order to find what’s best.

Check out the video of the Camaro COPO Concept after the break.

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Hertz has expanded its Prestige and Adrenaline Collections, now offering the Cadillac CTS, Chevy Camaro SS Convertible and Corvette Convertible for rental in 2012.

In their desire to offer their customers a greater variety of exciting cars that they can rent, Hertz’s Adrenaline Collection will now feature the 6.2L V8 powered Camaro SS and Corvette convertibles. The Camaro SS comes packing 400-hp and a six-speed automatic transmission while the Vette has 430-hp and a six-speed manual. The Adrenaline Collection is available in California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, New York and New Jersey.

The Prestige Collection now adds Cadillac’s CTS to its lineup, featuring a 3.6L V6 with 318-hp, NeverLost GPS, satellite radio and Bluetooth capability. Hertz’s Prestige Collection is available in Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

We could only imagine what Chevrolet was thinking about the Camaro ZL1 when the specs for the much more powerful Ford GT500 were released. Of course, Chevrolet took the high road of taking credit for inspiring the GT500′s power, but on the Internet, Ford vs. Chevrolet fanatics raged war as each came to the defense of their brand.

And then there’s this video. Quite possibly one of the top 10 best things on YouTube. Some very talented and clearly comedic individual took a clip out of the 2004 film Downfall, laid some cleverly written subtitles on it and Hitler suddenly does a fantastic job playing Chevrolet.

You see, Hitler’s all excited about debuting the Camaro ZL1 at the Los Angeles Auto Show, thinking it’s done a fine job besting the 550-hp GT500. Oh wait, the GT500 has 650-hp? Uh oh. Hilarity ensues and the references to Internet culture are abundant from thread size references to mocking Michael Bay and his Transformers movies. And of course you can’t end any video making fun of Chevrolet without jabbing the Volt.

Watch the hilarious video after the break – warning for subtitle language.

[Source: The Smoking Tire]

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We could be wrong about this, but we always thought the idea of a limousine was for added comfort and a sense of luxury while going from point A to point B. So label us confused when we spotted this eight-passenger, stretched, matte black, Chevrolet Camaro up on eBay with a current bid of $28,100 at the time of this posting.

As if the look of the stretched Camaro wasn’t silly enough, a glance at the red and black interior proves just how ridiculous of an idea this was. Package it with the dual rear gullwing doors, LED lighting in the wheel wells, and the multiple TV screens and you’ve got an official 140″ head shaker. It also sports 14,655-miles on the odometer and the reserve still wasn’t met.

We’re hoping whoever ends up buying this awesome Camaro gives it over 700-hp and takes it down the quarter mile.

Check out the video after the break.

GALLERY: Stretched Chevrolet Camaro Limo

[Source: eBay]

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Gas, tires and insurance probably don’t matter much if you’re in the market for a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro or Ford Mustang, but safety does.

The  Camaro and Mustang GT come with more-or-less comparable horsepower and grunt off the line.  What the test drive won’t show you is that the Camaro is the first car to earn a perfect rating from the  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

NHTSA uses front, side and rollover tests to determine a vehicle’s safety during a crash and have strengthened their standards since 2011. The Camaro earned a perfect score in all categories, where the Mustang only earned four of five stars in the front and side crash tests.

The front-end tests are conducted at 35 mph and the side crash at 38.5 mph, as well as a slower 20 mph side-impact test against a narrow pole. Finally the NHTSA uses a mathematical calculation to determine how likely a rollover is.

To be fair,  most muscle car fanatics would call this story incomplete. The Dodge Challenger among many other cars have yet to be tested for 2012.

The next best-rated were the Honda Accord and Kia Optima, earning a five-star rating in each category except the side-impact tests where they only got four.

[Source:  NHTSA]