Camaro convertible has a 312-horsepower V6 engine rated at 29-mpg highway. The SS model has a 6.2-liter V8 engine producing 426 horsepower.
Call it a Bowtie blowout or another example of GM’s comeback, but unless Ford pulls off a Christmas miracle later this month, Chevy Camaro will take the annual sales leadership crown from the Ford Mustang for the first time since 1991.
Part of the reason is that a reorganized General Motors Company is no longer splitting pony car sales between Pontiac Firebird and Chevy Camaro models – but that’s only part of the story.
The Chevy Camaro design is hot and is besting the Mustang with only one model in Chevrolet showrooms – a two-door coupe that’s been in short supply all year long. GM’s Oshawa, Canada, Assembly Plant has been running overtime since June 2009 to keep up with demand for Camaro.
Mustang has coupe, convertible and performance models, as well as numerous aftermarket conversions and a stable Ford dealership network that didn’t suffer the travails of bankruptcy.
No matter.
Year-to-date through November, the sales tally is 75,685 Camaro versus 68,264 for all Mustang models.
Camaro sales are up 40% percent so far this year (2009 was only a partial year for the redesign), while Mustang sales are up 13% percent compared to last year. General Motors engineers have caught Ford’s napping as the 2011 Camaro DOHC V6 engine is now rated at 312 horsepower at 6500 rpm, and 278 lb-ft of torque at 5100 rpm. That’s a lucky seven horsepower more than Mustangs brand new, much hyped V6.
The once badly outclassed 2011 Dodge Challenger just appearing has an all-new 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine that is now rated at 305 horsepower – 55 more horsepower than the previous V6 engine that made the car a footnote in the sales race at 33,461 YTD.
This certainly gives the Camaro muscle and sales bragging rights, but it may not be enough to outrun the 300 pounds lighter Mustang. Here, the calibrations of the traction control systems are very much in play.
Moreover, before the e-mails start, I admit there is an element of absurdity about the whole horsepower race here and elsewhere, since electronic chassis and traction control systems at automakers curb maximum engine output under many conditions to maintain stability. To paraphrase an Old Blue Eyes song (that’s Sinatra you kids) – what’s the point if you can’t do it sideways?
Nonetheless, it gets more exciting next year as the $30,000 Camaro convertible joins the Bowtie lineup next spring as Chevrolet celebrates its 100th anniversary followed by other derivatives, including a reborn Z28 performance version. The standard Camaro convertible will have the 312-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 and the SS model will get the 6.2-liter V8 rated at 426 horsepower.
Over to the Blue Oval to respond.
