[DGthe3]

the order of things is Concept->Prototype->Pre-Production->Final Production

Differences are that a concept is merely an idea, nothing needs to work. Prototypes are fully functional, but need testing and some tweaks. Pre-production is exactly the same as the final production in terms of the dimensions of parts, but the parts are all specially made and assembled by hand. Final production is what we can start buying in 2009. The good news is that to go from one stage to another takes progressively less time. it took nearly 2 years to go from concept to prototype. Pre production cars will be appearing in about 6 months. The final production one will be about 6 months after that.

The camaro is on its way.

Oh, and I wouldn't read too far into the 'big v8' comment. Consider how many engines are under 3L. So a big V8 nowadays is any v8 over 5L. surprising considering that the first Z/28 had a 'small' 302 cu (4.9L) engine