This picture says it all--the Ste.Therese, Montreal plant which made the
Camaro and Firebird is being demolished. Under terms of a Canadian Auto
Workers union contract, the 2.1 million square foot facility (Quebec's
only auto plant) is the only location allowed to build Camaro and
Firebird.
An interest-free $220 million loan from the Canadian government and
$100 million in tax breaks were supposed to keep the plant open until
2017. We can see why GM doesn't want to talk about Camaro--it's a sore
spot with Quebec's seven million taxpayers.
With Camaro's rich heritage, it's hard to imagine it being gone after
35 years. There's a lot of equity in the name and there's even a brand
new platform to build it on, so the big question is, can GM afford to
bring the name back and risk the legal wrath of the CAW and the
Canadian government? A good-faith effort on the part of GM to cover
Quebec's lost jobs would go a long way toward making the Camaro name
return.
The late '90s brought hard times on the Camaro, but you wouldn't know
it from the many Camaro and Firebird concepts rolled out at the SEMA
show year after year. Here GM CEO Rick Wagoner reveals one of the later
LT1-powered concepts circa 1996. He's smiling, but the writing is
already on the wall for the F-body.
Camaro fans will remember that GM touted the new-for-'93 Camaro as the
best-built Camaro ever. The Ste. Therese plant was updated for the 1993
model year with state-of-the-art manufacturing technology which
improved build quality, fit and finish, and paint quality measurably
over the previous third-gen model.
The fourth-gen Camaro was given the highest crash rating due to its
excellent occupant protection. The upgraded manufacturing technology at
Ste. Therese allowed for Camaro (and Firebird) to offer class-leading
safety at a bargain price due to it being a derivative of the previous
third-gen model. Nevertheless, the F-body was too dated and couldn't be
updated to satisfy future safety standards for any reasonable amount of
money.
Finally, in 2002 the Camaro went out not with a bang, but a whimper.
The 35th Anniversary Edition was nothing more than an overpriced
wheel/stripe package with an embroidered "trophy mat" in the trunk.
The Camaro's stablemate, the Pontiac Firebird, suffered a similar fate
to the Camaro. In 2002 it was ignominiously buried with a wheel/stripe
package. Early engineering prototypes of the TA anniversary package had
an LS6 engine which we even drove, but which never made production.
You wouldn't think a Buick would be the jumping off point for a Camaro,
but GM's new Zeta platform will be just that. The Velite will be
Buick's first important rear-wheel drive car since the turbocharged and
intercooled Grand National went out of production in 1987. Could we see
a hotted-up version of Velite hit showrooms? It's a distinct
possibility.
GM's product boss Bob Lutz says, "Firebird's day is gone."
Nevertheless, look for Lutz to endow Pontiac with performance models
such as GTO and Solstice in the coming years. The coming Zeta platform
which will underpin future Camaros will also be the basis for the GTO.
The Buick Velite, however, was not the first concept to showcase the
Zeta architecture, that accolade goes to the Opel Insignia, first shown
at the 2003 Geneva auto show. This is perhaps more indicative of what
the Camaro would look like than the Buick Velite.
We get our best idea of what the new-for-2007 Camaro will look like
from the members of cheersandgears.com, a website of and for GM
enthusiasts. This drawing by artist Chris Pauwels is said to be very
close. Many members on the site have close connections to GM and give
the rendering credence.
PHR commissioned computer artist and animator Kris Horton to smooth out
Pauwel's drawing. Horton added color, put realistic wheels and tires on
and modeled it in diffuse natural light. The resemblance to the Opel
Insignia is striking. Insiders say the base model will be a V6 RS and
the performance version will have a 5.3-liter V8 (that's 327 cubic
inches!) and be called SS. A year or two later, a more powerful Z28
performance model will follow on, perhaps with a 6-liter V-8.
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Rising from the Ashes
A new Camaro will be reborn in 2007, but getting there won't be easy.
On August 29, 2002, a bright red Chevrolet Camaro Z28 rolled down the
assembly line at General Motor's Ste. Therese plant outside Montreal,
Quebec, ending 35 years of automotive history. When this car rolled off
the assembly line, GM handed the pony car market over to its archrival,
the Ford Mustang. Since that time, not only has Ford had the pony car
market to itself, almost as if to spit on the grave of GM's F-bodies,
Ford displayed a concept version of the next new Mustang a matter of
months later.
From the time the Camaro and Firebird were introduced in September
1966, they developed a cult following. While GM's F-body had its ups
and downs, it became a mainstay at Chevrolet and Pontiac showrooms.
Over the years it was everything from a limited-production big-block
muscle car to an underpowered 4-cylinder economy car, much like the
vehicle GM's F-bodies were a response to, the Ford Mustang. With that
kind of history, it almost seems unthinkable GM would discontinue it,
yet they did.
The Cover Story
Publicly,
GM blamed slow sales, a deteriorated sports coupe market, and plant
overcapacity. John G. Middlebrook, GM vice president and general
manager vehicle brand marketing and corporate advertising pointed out
at the time that the sport coupe market combined with the increasing
popularity of trucks and excess manufacturing capacity made the
decision to discontinue the Camaro and Firebird unavoidable. Yet the
crosstown rival Mustang was selling extremely well, at roughly
150,000-plus cars per year. Still, even up to the very end, Chevrolet
Camaro and Pontiac Firebird comprised the second-best selling car body
in its class. Chevrolet's Camaro--which will be the primary focus of
this article--is also one of GM's best-known names, right up with
Corvette, and as easily recognizable as the Mustang name. Seems Camaro
could have continued with simply a new model. What happened?
GM isn't willingly giving out information on this, but there's been a
lot of speculation over the past couple of years, ranging from the
pretty logical to the somewhat bizarre. On various internet sites,
disgruntled fans post everything from "GM wanted to make trucks
instead" to "GM didn't care about the car" or that GM's Brand
Management from outside the auto industry had little to no experience.
It would seem the lack of commitment from GM management would be the
most plausable. Next to the Mustang, the F-body seemed stuck in time.
In the fourth-gen F-body's lifetime (which ran from 1993 to 2002) Ford
saw fit to give the Mustang two body revisions and three special
editions that were more than a paint and trim job (the Cobra, Bullitt
and Mach 1).
There is a lot of frustration in trying to get an accurate picture of
the Camaro and Firebird's future. GM has refused to discuss it in the
way they have discussed future Cadillacs, the recently introduced
Corvette, or their move towards rear-wheel drive in many of their
future cars such as Buick, Pontiac or Saturn. Ask about GTO, and you'll
hear that it's going to be a part of Pontiac's line-up for some years
to come. Ask about Camaro, and you get the feeling the GM reps want to
run for the door.
The Plot Thickens...
In the late '90s, GM was moving headlong into front-wheel drive
passenger cars, save Cadillac's future carline and the Corvette. GM put
more of its resources into trucks and SUVs at the expense of cars. All
of which most likely played a role in the demise of the F-body. Amidst
this trend away from RWD, there was unusual secrecy involving the
Camaro name, and the future role of GM's Ste. Therese plant. It's
virtually impossible to know all the forces that were in play, but
searching through tidbits in news stories and putting the pieces
together points to a difficult future for the next Camaro, possibly
even causing problems with using the name again.
Back in 1987, GM initially planned on closing its Ste. Therese assembly
plant, which would've put thousands of employees out of work. Opened in
1965, Ste. Therese was Quebec's only automotive assembly plant, and was
a key contributor to Quebec's economy. The Quebec government was
willing to go the extra mile to keep it open. Both the government of
Quebec and the government of Canada along with the local Canadian Auto
Workers union stepped in with an almost irresistible package for GM.
The governments granted GM a 220 million dollar (Canadian)
interest-free loan, payable in 30 years. Both the Quebec and Ottawa
governments each contributed 110 million each. GM also was awarded over
100 million dollars in tax breaks to keep the plant open.
This basic agreement helped the Ste. Therese plant win the exclusive
mandate from GM to produce the Camaro and Firebird. There has been a
lot of speculation on this in various F-body enthusiasts circles, but
in a statement regarding labor relations, this arrangement is stated
clearly on GM Canada's own media information website: "GM of Canada's
Ste. Therese, Quebec plant has the exclusive General Motors mandate to
assemble Chevrolet Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds."
At first blush, it could be assumed that GM--through interest-free
loans--was paid to keep the plant at Ste Therese open. The plant was
initially scheduled to close down around 1990, however, if GM had
closed the Ste. Therese plant back then, it would've hit the provincial
economy hard. It would've also hit the Quebec government hard which
would be faced with large unemployment compensations, a sizable idle
workforce and a departing major employer at a time it was trying to
attract new jobs to the area. It's very likely that had GM's plant
closing gone through back in 1990, it would have cost the Canadian
government far more than the cost of the loans.
This loan agreement came with the obligation that GM would continue to
make the F-body at this plant until at least 2001, unless the vehicles
made there were no longer profitable and had to be discontinued. There
apparently was also the belief on the part of many rank and file union
members and those that live in the area of the plant, that the factory
would continue operations the entire length of the loan (until 2017),
even with other vehicles if necessary.
Collision Course
Over the 10 years the fourth-generation F-body called Ste. Therese
home, over 900,000 cars were produced there. The end came in sight as
early as 1998, the year of the last F-body exterior update. GM began
looking at its plants with an eye towards reducing over-capacity, and
one inviting target was the Ste.Therese plant, which stuck out on the
balance sheet like a sore thumb. Certainly it would be argued by no one
that a plant under the control of the Canadian Auto Workers union is a
far "softer" target to shutter than a typical American UAW plant. The
Ste. Therese plant had a capacity to produce in excess of over 200,000
cars per year, yet in 1997 just over 126,000 F-bodies were produced,
making it one of GM's most underutilized plants in North America. The
plant was a dud, and to top things off, had a bi-lingual workforce
which was harder to train, long supply lines, even longer shipping
distances for finished cars, and marginal on-site storage for materials
and partially finished vehicles.
At around this time it is thought that GM first decided to suspend
spending on an F-body replacement, so it would probably be wrong to
assume there was a conspiracy to "starve" the F-body in order to close
the plant. Instead, it's far more likely that knowing the F-body would
be gone, it made no sense to continue spending on advertising and PR on
the F-body. This move likely hastened the F-body's demise.
Yet hope wasn't entirely lost by Camaro and Firebird loyalists within
GM. It is known that GM was in fact looking at other options for a new
F-body which included basing it on the latest "V" chassis, which had
just been introduced in Australia by Holden, and was the basis of the
Opel-made Cadillac Catera. Buick had considered importing or building a
version of Holden's Statesman, but that plan, along with building a
Camaro based on the same chassis, was shelved once the legal
ramifications of closing Ste. Therese were realized. It is also rumored
that GM looked into the possibility of basing an F-body on the "Y"
chassis that is the basis of Corvette, or a front-wheel drive chassis
(possibly sharing with the Malibu).
GM initially did plan on replacing the F-body, but by the late '90s,
the emphasis within the camp of then-product boss Ron Zarella was on
trucks, and that's where the resources went. As far as cars went, the
future at GM became front-wheel driven. This meant the end of the
F-body, independent of events at Ste. Therese.
One of the first questions is why couldn't GM simply base the next
Camaro on the previous chassis? One reason is that like the SN95
Mustang chassis, the last F-bodies got their beginnings well over 20
years ago, making them perilously close to being obsolete. There were
also new safety regulations coming that involved substantial changes in
side impact and rear collision standards. It would cost just as much to
create a new chassis as it would to upgrade the old one, so why not
make it modern? Besides, Ford was not-so-secretly working on a new
chassis for the next Mustang (the Fox-based Mustang's rear-mounted fuel
tank wouldn't pass muster under new impact standards).
Weeks prior to the end of F-body production, GM Performance division
head Mark Reuss told Detroit-based automotive press in a speech on July
10, 2002 that finding a suitable RWD chassis for the next Camaro was a
high priority. Yet within days, Reuss sent out a letter denying the
statement, saying GM was not "looking to replace, nor is there any plan
to replace the Camaro and Firebird." This brings up the next question
that has Camaro/Firebird conspiracy theorists wondering. Why not make a
statement on Camaro, and why the secrecy? GM has a policy of not
talking about future vehicles, but as the very public saga of both
Pontiac Solstice's and GTO's march to production shows, it's not an
inflexible policy. Although GM refers to the Camaro as being on
"hiatus," no one seems to dare talk about the future. Soon after Mark
Reuss made and retracted his statement on finding a chassis for the
next Camaro, it is known that there was essentially a ban by GM on any
mention of a future Camaro. The corporate line on Camaro was that it
would come back "someday."
Meanwhile, Pontiac General manager Lynn Myers and GM's new product
chairman Bob Lutz seemed to remove all doubt about a Firebird in the
future by stating that Pontiac was moving up market as a sort of
American version of BMW. This means performance across the board, but
also meant a more upscale crowd. Something not exactly represented by
the Pontiac Firebird. Even Pontiac's youth-oriented "pass it on" ad
campaign was viewed as the wrong direction, and ended up becoming
short-lived. Mr. Lutz said the ads sent the wrong message about the
division, that it is too down-market and not exciting and aspirational
enough. "It didn't show the kinds of people we wanted the brand to be
associated with," Lutz said. Even more recently in a conversation
reported by Ward's Auto World, Lutz acknowledged the end of the
Firebird by stating, "Firebird's day is gone."
The Backlash
So, with the door apparently closed on a Firebird, why is no one
talking about the Camaro? Though it's nearly impossible to get anyone
from GM to answer this, plenty can be answered by reviewing previous
press releases and stories from various news agencies.
The Canadian Auto Workers union local 1163 (the union that worked at
Ste. Therese) was furious at GM for closing the plant, and initially
took a defiant stand. President of CAW 1163, Sylvain Demers, called the
closing a "betrayal", and "an insult to all Quebeckers." Even then,
Quebec premier, Bernard Landry chimed in by saying, "We will not accept
this defeat...It is not honorable for GM...that after 25 to 30 years of
service they can tell workers 'We are leaving'..." CAW officials
attempted to convince GM that it would be more profitable to shut down
plants outside Quebec. The closing of Ste. Therese became an emotional
issue not just in the area, but also in the entire province.
The union scored a victory prior to GM closing the Ste Therese that
spared the plant from being demolished for one year. This was to enable
the union, various Canadian governments, and GM to find another use, or
buyer for the plant, sparing the jobs there. The union at the time had
tried unsuccessfully to bar demolition of the plant for three years
(until 2005) in order to make it part of the following national labor
agreement with GM. In the end, the efforts of all involved failed to
find another use for the plant.
Officially, GM wanted to tear down the plant because of their belief
the property was more valuable as a vacant lot than a 2.1 million
square-foot plant, much too large for just about any use other than a
high-production vehicle factory. Keep in mind, however, that the plant
also had a mandate that it would be the sole source for Camaros and
Firebirds. It now begins to come into focus that any comment on a
future Camaro or Firebird prior to the plant's disposal, via sale or
demolition, perhaps could very well create a situation where GM would
be compelled to keep the plant. From a legal perspective, it might be
construed that any future car that carried the name Camaro or Firebird
would have to be made at this plant, at least till 2017, the year all
Canadian government loans are to be repaid.
The Redemption
One could read into this that GM was the bad guy, but again, this would
be a bad assumption. A lot of good did come out of this situation. The
CAW and Canadian governments were active participants with GM in
looking for uses or a buyer for the plant for over a year. General
Motors greatly expanded employment at their Oshawa Ontario plants, and
moved many former Ste. There workers to other positions at various
other assembly and parts manufacturing plants. Over 90 percent of Ste.
Therese workers either were or will be eligible for retirement and or
pensions when the plant closed, or by 2005. GM also began working with
premier Landry to develop new areas for Quebec's automotive industry.
All these conciliatory efforts are apparently designed to pave the way
for a new Camaro in 2007, which PHR was the first to reveal last month.
It had been strongly hinted, and now confirmed, that GM was working on
a sporty car for Chevrolet which includes a 5.3-liter V-8 engine,
rear-wheel drive, and four-passenger capacity. This vehicle will be
based on GM's upcoming "Zeta" chassis being developed by Holden, GM's
Australian division. Production for Zeta is likely headed for GM's
Hamtramck, Michigan plant, which will soon be phasing out Cadillac
Deville, Seville and Buick LeSabre. Although at press time, full
details are not known about this car, but it is known that it will fall
into the same "ponycar" market the Camaro filled. An anonymous source
close to the vehicle project has told PHR that GM has asked Delphi
Corporation, the world's largest automotive supplier, to submit a bid
on the safety restraint (airbag) system and steering assembly for a
MY2007 Camaro. The only issue seems to be the final name and who will
supply sub-systems. At the time this is written, the Ste Therese plant
is being demolished, and it's expected the land it was on will be sold
by General Motors. Once this happens, it will be interesting to see if
GM is a little freer in talking about the future of the Camaro
nameplate.
When it's all said and done, the degree to which Chevrolet is free to
talk about an upcoming Camaro relies almost entirely on its relations
with the Canadian government and the satisfaction of the Canadian Auto
Workers union. We have no doubt there will be a "Camaro-like" vehicle
in our future, so the issue really boils down to the use of the name
and how litigious the lawyers feel about it. We hope they can overcome
their objections and let the good times roll!
By Guy McCoy, Johnny Hunkins / Popular Hot Rodding
Photography: Kris Horton, Martine Gingras, General Motors
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