Unveiling at Terry Labonte, Greensboro, NC

[Edrock]

OMG!!!!! WOW!!! They had 3 Cammies up there, a black V6, Mr. Hendricks’s personal Silver Ice Metallic V8 (VIN# 00002), and the Cyber Grey Pace car from the Richmond, Va. race this past weekend. Jeff (my salesman) got me special permission to sit in the pace car and rev the V8 engine. Wow! The seats are incredible and the steering wheel feels wonderful. The clutch is like a feather compared to the Mustang. The exhaust is too quiet though. Gonna have to upgrade that. Didn’t get to test drive one though but there’ll be time for that later. Also, Terry Labonte himself was there. Was standing right beside him and didn’t even know it. We talked for about 20 minutes about the cars we’ve had and so on. He’s a very quiet and humble person and extremely nice. I was impressed with his demeanor. I bought a hardback book of the history of the Camaro and he autographed it for me. Oh! And get this! FOX8 news was there and found out I was a “pre-order” customer and interviewed me for about 10 minutes. They are going to show a mock up “unveiling” of the car tomorrow morning around 7:20. The piece of the interview with me will air on Friday morning during the news (I guess during the 7 AM hour) and again at 5 PM so we’ll have to DVR it for sure. Jeff and the Terry Labonte management were very happy and thankful for me doing the interview. Guess they liked what I said. I took a bunch of pics with my BlackBerry but will share just a few for now. Enjoy.

[texasbill]

AWESOME!

[topgun1]

So I took a long lunch today and brought a couple of my coworkers with me. I believe there was at least one other person from Camaro5.com but do not recall his name, although he is in one of the pics! Got to Terry Labonte Chevy in Greensboro, NC around noon. Probably ended up with a few hundred folks. People and dealers were asking me about the website too since I wore the shirt and were excited about seeing the thread. You could feel the excitement. There were 3 cars wrapped in their covers and to me they were like Christmas gifts I couldn't wait to open. People started multiplying soon, signed in, entered in some drawings, and signed up for test drives of the LT. I signed up for the 3:15 slot. They provided lunch, which was an added bonus. The local news crews were there with their cameras, and a couple of mustangs and challengers showed up (and the mustang owner ended up trading his for an SS). About 45 minutes later, they removed the covers off the cars and underneath lied a black LT, a silver SS and a SS Pace Car all tricked out. You could hear a collective gulp when the covers were removed.

Terry Labonte was there and gave an introduction and signed autographs. The silver SS there was VIN # 002 owned by Rick Hendrick, along with his 1969 silver Z-28. Also on tap was a 2002 "Dick Harrel" special SS with a 427 cid putting out 630 hp, with Corvette brakes and Fiske forged wheels. For those that do not know, Dick Harrel was a pretty famous Chevy drag racer back in the day.

So there were intros on the 3 new Camaros and a little meet and greet. I didn't hear too much though--I was drunk off looking at the SS! So I take a bunch of pictures (which are attached) and then head back to the office where it was hard to concentrate on working, knowing I'd be test driving the car later. So I come back to the dealer at 3 and I finally get to test drive it (the LT). It was so cool to see the dealers as excited as everyone else, because this is the first time they have had the cars there also. We do about 4 mile test drive on local streets. My first impressions were that the steering wheel was solid, a good thickness and very comfortable, the seats were well bolstered and felt great, the cockpit had an indescribable feel. I punched it right when I got out of the lot (dealer with me) and that was the smoothest V-6 I've driven--sounded fantastic, took it to red line, tested the cornering and braking. I got to an intersection and a guy in a BMW almost wrecked into someone with tires squealing because he was checking out "my" ride!

I put the pedal down after coming out of the intersection and hit about 75 mph. The suspension handled like it was on air, didnt' feel alot of bumps and the exhaust sounded stout from both inside and outside the car ( I saw a previous test driver pull out on my way in). This was an automatic so i tested out the paddle shifters and was pretty pleased. I won't rant about the visors but man, they are small as everyone has said. overall, loved the car, my heart was racing and I'm definitely getting one and it was everything I thought it would be--and that's just the V-6. The event confirmed my need for the Camaro for sure.

The guys at Terry Labonte are great, were very excited and are not selling any Camaro above MSRP like alot of other dealers and brands and they're not pushy and are very knowledgable. I'll be working with a dealer here soon on getting me one ordered, which will be at least September before I would receive though.

Well, my pictures are attached, hope you all enjoy. Oh, and to top it all off, I won the drawing they had for those who test drove--and it was for tickets to the 2009 Sprint Cup All-Star Race at Charlotte Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 16!

[mbauer14085RS/SS2010]

great pics brother. cant wait to get to drive my 2ss this summer. i was going to preorder back last year but all the dealers near me were being greedy thinking they would charge 5 grand over msrp. i decided to wait and just ordered last week and got my dealers last allocation for april.

[levi1922]

thanks for the pics and the review!
i wish my dealer would have had something cool like this.
maybe they will when they actually have a car haha

[Joe in T.O.]

What a great writeup and great pictures too!

[Whitten]

Oh would you look at that...a finished GMMG Dick Harrell car now that is rare.

[PMD GTO]

Thats pretty cool. I guess #00002 is making the rounds. I saw it two 2 and a half weeks ago at Hendrick in Cary.

[camaro5]

Great smile from a Happy Camper!

[topgun1]

There's the guy I saw at the dealership! hey Edrock. When you were in the pace car, I was the guy that asked the dealer with you to have you rev it up one more time!

[topgun1]

Thanks for the comments guys. yeah, the 2SS they had there was pretty much what I want to order--SIM with gray stripes, RS package, sunroof, 6 speed, then throw in the ABL package, fuel filler cap, hurst shifter and I'm good to go!

You know I didn't see anything in the specs and accessories marketing materials the dealers had regarding the ABL package. This is still an option correct?