There was an article in today's newspaper about the effect of the plant shutdowns on the local GM dealerships, and it said that one dealer about 10 miles from me actually had a Camaro presently in the showroom. So, not having seen one in person yet, I drove down there, and sure enough it was there -- a Victory Red LS with RS option. But get this, it was under a cover! And yes, it did have a sign on it, saying to come back for the May 6th "unvailing" (yes, that's how they spelled it...)
Despite the gorgeous day today, 75 degrees and bright sun, the dealership was a ghost town. So I was there alone with the two salesman for probably half an hour, BS'ing about Camaros and muscle/pony cars in general. After a few minutes of getting friendly with these guys, the lead guy looks around as if he's being monitored or something, and says "check this out." It was all I could do to not laugh out loud at the absurdity of the whole secrecy thing, but I went along with it...gladly.
He then proceeds to lift the cover off the rear of the car. Even though I am definitely in the market for the 2SS and the 2SS only, the V6 Camaro is the best V6 pony car there ever was. True dual exhaust, massive 275/40R20 tires, and independent rear suspension -- I mean how do you beat that? And if it had the 6-speed manual, it would even have a posi rear...
But I digress. A few minutes later, and the salesman now has the cover off the driver door so I can see the interior. I was duly impressed. The steering wheel and gauges look spectacular!
That was the extent of my "sneak peek" however, and I was not able to sit in the car. Still, the trip was more than worthwhile. It was fun talking muscle cars with the two salesman, who both were way more knowledgeable about the car's finer points than my Mustang salesman was. And not only did I get to see about half of it, but I also got a copy of the dealer's "2010 Camaro Details Book," instructing the dealerships how to market and sell the car, and specifically how to compare it to the Nissan 370Z, Mitsubishi Eclipse GT, Mustang GT, and Dodge Challenger R/T! The book is spiral bound, 30 pages, and was the worth the trip even if I had just gotten that.
Anyway, since everyone likes pictures, here's one of the stupid cover:
