2010 Chevrolet Camaro

by Colin Mathews

Every parade needs a leader, every movement a hero. Especially when public opinion has turned sour, it takes an exemplary, energetic, and confident leader to turn the tide back to the positive. Harvey Milk was that person for the gay rights movement in the 1970s, pushing through ignorance and past Anita Bryant to bring newfound respect and dignity to a community. After spending two days in a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro in New York City, I’m convinced that this vehicle possesses a similarly tireless spirit and an uncanny ability to inspire. It’s the perfect candidate for GM’s own pride parade.

General Motors has its fair share of detractors right now. The buying public has increasingly shunned their products and as a result the company’s market share hasn’t stopped plunging since the 1980s. Autoworkers have been laid off en masse to adjust to these realities, creating financial struggles for numerous American families. Even Obama’s Auto Task Force, while sustaining the company with huge cash infusions, has had sharp words for GM’s management team and proposed viability plans. Is it possible for one product to help GM rise from its struggles and restore the public’s confidence, faith, and pride in one of the biggest American companies of all time?
These questions circled in my mind as I accepted an invitation to drive a V-6 Camaro after spending two days at the New York Auto Show. Would the denizens of Manhattan – with their impressive public transportation infrastructure, embrace of CO2-friendly living, and sea of hybrid taxicabs – simply hurl insults and disdain at this rough-and-tumble athlete?

As the Camaro’s broad shoulders emerged from the subterranean parking garage on 49th Street, a mellow V-6 snarl trailing behind, I noticed that all the sinew and testosterone were bathed in…um…bright yellow. Would I really enjoy a date out in public with a stunning guy whose herculean physique was wrapped in a tight tanktop and form-fitting jeans?
So much for subtlety and restraint. Climbing into this beast, which was already attracting gawkers, I felt an interesting mix of awe and awkward. I’d already gotten up close to the Camaro once, but at the time he was understated and elegant in black, bathed in the soft lighting of a gallery in the West Village. I was afraid that clomping down city streets in bright workout gear might prove a less enjoyable experience.

Open windows let in the breeze from a mellow spring day. They also let in the screeching brakes of an MTA bus that pulled up dangerously close to my window and flung open its doors. Yelled the driver in a delightfully local accent, “YO! Is that the new Camaro!? That’s hot! You do you like it?” Annoyed drivers leaned on their horns and careened around the bus, but the driver was far more interested in taking in the Camaro’s silhouette than he was about observing schedules or traffic flow.
Never having driven with New York City traffic in my life, I kept a tight grip on the meaty steering wheel and was pleased to note great road feel, impressive composure over horrible streets, and quick reflexes without a punishing ride. Learning to tango with New York cabbies was no small task (lanes are more suggestions than rules), but despite being in an extremely low slung car I had no trouble keeping the coupe scratch-free due to clear views out the front and side windows. The thick C-pillars definitely hamper rear-quarter visibility, but I found that planning well and adjusting the side view mirrors accordingly were a small price to pay for the arresting styling.

I hit rush hour traffic going uptown, got stuck in a long line behind road construction and a red light, and defaulted to what we do in Atlanta: opening the cell phone and blabbing to fight boredom. One of New York’s finest found this quite amusing, sauntered up to the window, and announced evenly: “you know that’s a $150 ticket and two points on your license, don’t you?” It struck me a second later that, oh yeah, cell phone use while driving in NYC is verboten. I winced, snapped the phone shut and threw it onto the passenger seat. The cop smiled wryly, asked me how I liked the Camaro, and waved me on without a citation.
A beaming Haitian cab driver (in a well-worn Caprice from the 90s) pulled up alongside me a bit later and proceeded to deliver a rapturous soliloquy on Chevrolet. “THIS IS THE NEW CAMARO! YES! I LOVE CHEVROLET! CHEVY IS THE BEST MAN!!”
A big-haired girl in an X5 from Jersey suddenly decided she wanted to go left from the middle lane of a swollen one-way avenue. I happened to be square in her intended path, but jockeying with the cabbies all day had prepared me: horn, mirror, gas, sharp left. The 304 hp V-6 rocketed me to safety, working in concert with a six-speed auto that dropped down two ratios in a blink. Disaster was averted by inches and I got to pepper the X5 with some nice V-6 wail, barking my displeasure with her driving. That was enough adrenaline for one day, so I put the 2010 Camaro safely into a parking garage and a stiff martini up to my lips.

The last performance on this Camaro Goodwill Tour took place on a side street adjacent to the Police Academy near Gramercy Park. I was on my way to return the car to the garage where the GM folks were likely paying a small fortune to keep it housed and prepped for the next journalist. I asked a policeman driving a Ford E-250 service van for directions. He obliged and then wanted to gab about the Camaro at length. The line of traffic ultimately stretched an entire block behind us, cabbies and delivery truck drivers fuming but not daring to make a peep. Now that’s power.
Who wouldn’t love a car that stops traffic, evades tickets, and forces smiles to the faces of even the most jaded New Yorkers? It draws you in with a ripped body, delivers a Germanic mix of ride and handling, offers impressive ergonomics, and generally feels like an athlete even in base form ($22,995). The Camaro laughs and tells everyone what a great time you’re having. So powerful is this car’s charm it even makes yellow spandex seem suddenly compelling.
The 2010 Camaro is here to recruit you…back into the GM fold.

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