Professional racing drivers not only know how to avoid wrecks in general, but when the inevitable happens, they also now how to take an impact, and try to brace the car for the least amount of damage and to keep themselves out of harm’s way.
Lead Chevrolet Camaro engineering, Al Oppenheiser, stated this is precisely why the alleged 2018 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 prototype was able to return to the Nürburgring the very next day, and continue testing. While he obviously did not confirm what the Camaro was, merely stating it was a test mule for possible future Camaro improvements, he noted the car sustained minimal structural damage and the car was not nearly as bad as it looked.
As for what his team is doing at the famed ‘Ring, he made it clear he won’t spill the beans, even if everyone sort of already knows what this latest, winged Camaro variant’s purpose is. He reiterated his team will always be pushing to make the Camaro better, and leave rivals scratching their heads as to how the Camaro team does what they do so well.
Comments
C’mon, Sean, why would you end your article this way? Those are your words, not mine. I run the Camaro program, and never even reference any of the other Chevrolet programs, as it is not my place to do so.
Al,
Foremost, we always appreciate you or any other person of GM leadership getting involved here, so thanks for reading!
Secondly, the story has been updated to reflect your comments. We made a judgement, and misinterpreted some of your words initially.
Cheers,
-Sean
Dear Al Oppenheiser,
i am from Germany and the new Camaro is a very appealing car even for the German market. But why does GM not offer the 1LE with the 2SS?
The 2SS with 1LE package(especially the e-diff) would be great for the German market since it would have all the bits for German roads apart from LED headlamps. You know that our streets and cities are serveral sizes smaller than American counterparts are so things like blindspot detection and a reverse camera are important over the big pond. In addition to that I think you heared the expression “The German Angst”. German media would kill the Camaro just for poor visibility. On the other side the German Auto Motor und Sport made a small review about the current Camaro and at least they were pleased with the performance of it.
In my opinion you should consider to offer the 1LE package with the 2SS trim.
Big Kudos to you on posting on this forum. I can’t imagine a German engineer in doing so. Keep the good work!
…Am I the only one that thinks it’s super cool that Al O. commented on here..?
Well, on the off chance that you happen to check back here again, I am absolutely passionate about the product that you and your team have given us. I’ve been completely obsessed with the Camaro since that concept was first revealed in 2006, and have followed it heavily every day since then. I am as passionate about cars as some people are about football teams, and I have been very proud to be a part of Team Chevy for many years now.
This car has been one of my biggest and most consistent forms of motivation to improve myself. Strive more. Take on more jobs. And I look forward to the day that I finally am able to pick up one of my own. The ZL1 is pure beauty, and I eagerly await any other alleged surprises the Camaro program may or may not have in store for us. Very glad to hear that this setback was only a minor one.