"Before the show," Tom Henry said in an email the day after GM Style, "I got to talk to Tom Peters He said his team '...nailed the Camaro Concept rather quickly in the design process.' and I think a lot of people agree. Cheryl Pilcher, Chevrolet's Camaro Production Manager, told me that the production car is extremely close to the concept and we don't have to worry it will change too much. That's more good news, from my perspective as a dealer. On the bad news side, it still sounds like production won't start until the last quarter of 2008 so we have 2 years to wait. I also got to talk to John Fitzpatrick, Camaro/Impala Marketing Manager. Since those two products are managed by one person, they must be on the same platform. Sounds to me like a V8, rear drive Impala is on the way."

GM Style kicked-off with hip-hop artist and Def-Jam Records CEO, Jay-Z riding in a concept GMC Yukon Denali painted “Jay-Z Blue”, the star’s signature color. In the audience was his girlfriend, "Dream Girls" star, Beyonce Knowles and seated next to Beyonce was GM CEO Rich Wagoner. Clearly, "The Rick" had a hard job that night--along with our Boss who reported, "GM Style is a Hollywood-like show with stars escorting cars down a runway. There seemed to be a good mix of press, celebs and VIPs. It was quite an honor to get an invite. Celebrities on hand included: musician John Legend, MTV's Nick Cannon, "Veronica Mars" star Kristen Bell, "America's Top Model" CariDee English, Vivica Fox, Pro Surfer Laird Hamilton and his wife, model and beach volleyball superstar Gabrielle Reese, "Curb your Enthusiasm" star Cheryl Hines, entertainer Nick Latchey, actor Christian Slater, "Dancing with the Stars" personality Mario Lopez and "Dreamgirls" star and Oscar nominee, Jennifer Hudson, to name a few. Talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel, was Master of Ceremonies. The cars which got big responses were the Chevy concepts: the WTCC Ultra, Sequel and the T2X concept. I saw a lot of upper level GM Execs. There seemed to be a lot of beautiful women walking around, too." (Yep, that was rough duty we assigned you, Boss, watching the likes of Beyonce, CariDee English, Cheryl Hines, Vivica Fox...)

As each celebrity walked or drove onto the runway, they were greeted by 100 or so of the top GM dealers in the country along with nearly a thousand GM executives, VIPs and media, however, as M.C., Jimmy Kimmel, put it, "Tonight, the cars are the stars." And if it hadn't been before, it became obvious when the final, four-wheeled celeb rolled onto the runway.

GM Style's big draw was the debut of the Camaro Convertible concept car, the obvious and expected spin-off of the Camaro coupe which was a sensation at the '06 Detroit Show. With special effects of which Hollywood might have been proud, the turntable at the end of the runway lifted the Camaro into the air, spinning around as smoke billowed. As it settled back down, Carmen Electra and the other celebrities surrounded the car, waving farewell to the crowd. To view a streaming video summary of GM Style, click here.

"No doubt the star of the show was the Hugger Orange Pearl, 2010 Camaro Convertible which came out last," Tom emailed. "That car got a long, loud  standing ovation. The noise level was unbelievable. Considering the standing O, there is no doubt this car is a home run."

After the fashion show part, three-time Grammy winner John Legend performed. His debut album was released in late 2004 and quickly went platinum. Since then, he's become one of today's dynamic performers. Fresh from her New Year's Eve performance on MTV, breakout, hip-hop artist, Lady Sovereign opened for John Legend.

So, what did all this cost? You think anyone at GM is going on-record about the price of that Saturday night soiree? Heck no! We'll guess the General burned-through several million bucks on probably the most lavish event any car company has done for the NAIAS. We saw Mark LaNeve, GM North American Vice President for Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing, that night and he looked pretty happy, regardless of the price. Lastly, this interesting trivia: GM built a temporary pavilion just east of its Renaissance Center Headquarters on the Detroit River to house the event. It was longer than a football field, climate-controlled and able to accommodate a runway for the cars and stars along with the thousand or so invited guests. By the end of the following day, the big tent was gone and it was hard to tell a huge show like that was ever there.

After covering GM Style, our fearless correspondent attended "Industry Days" at the North American International Automobile Show. He schmoozed, asked questions and listened to the buzz about the new Camaro, so we pumped him for info. The interiors of the two concept Camaros are not the same. We asked him about that, "I don't think the interiors we are seeing are representative of the final product, I believe it is still too early for that."

"The Silverado 427 Concept was at GM Style and had a crowd around it, man—I could sell a few of those! (Webmaster: no doubt, Boss, I mean, heck--who wouldn't want a flashy pick-up truck with a 427 in it?) I didn't see it at the Auto Show, though. The Volt was at both and looked pretty good. I hear we will get that in a few years, but they are still working on battery technology to extend its range. The Chevrolet T2X, kind of a sporty compact SUV, looked good too.

"But, from the perspective of Chevrolet products I can really sell and sell soon, I think the 2008 Malibu is the most significant. The all-new Malibu was not at GM Style and was only shown at the Auto Show, where it world-debuted. I saw a lot of the competition from Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Ford looking it over. I haven't heard of anyone who didn't like it. Evidently the clinics were very strong on it. As dealers, we are really excited to have a kick-butt sedan we can get some sales volume out of."

And which celebrity looked the best at GM Style? Well, it was a toss-up. The Boss picked Petra Nemcova. The Webmaster's staff picked CariDee English. But, we were all in agreement on the coolest car: the Camaro Convertible.