Chevrolet Camaro is Back, Still Turning Heads

By Darren Brown, News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- For years the Chevy Camaro conjured up images of acid-washed jeans and mullet hairdos, but the newest incarnation of this American muscle car caters to a more mature audience.  And it's that audience that GM and its local counterparts are banking on.

The Camaro was first introduced in 1967, and it quickly became one of GM's hottest sellers, but over the years the Camaro seemed to lose its identity, and production stopped in 2002.

But it's back, and according to Rob Stanley, Vice President of David Stanley Auto Group, its hard to keep in stock.

"It's probably the number one seller in their entire segment," Stanley said.  "Everyone is buying this car."   

And the Camaro also got a boost from both "Transformers" movies.  One of the characters, Bumblebee, changes from a '72 model into a new model in the first installment, and continues a prominent role in the sequel.

"It might as well have been a GM commercial," said Stanley in reference to the sequel.  "But it was a cool GM commercial."

Of course I couldn't pass up the chance to take the new SS out for a spin myself. 

It moves...really well...much better than my '78 Rally Sport that I drove when I was 18.  And it's a heck-of-a-lot smoother.

"It's not like your father's Camaro, or your grandfather's Camaro for that fact," Stanley laughed.  "It's a lot smoother than they used to be."

But I was surprised at the number of stares that we got as we drove the new Camaro around.  At stoplights, at stop signs, and even on the highway, drivers were almost breaking their necks to get a glimpse of the latest American muscle car.

I guess some things never change.