Letter from Valdosta

Camaro Defining Moments and Thoughts about Camaro5Fest
by Scott Settlemire

 I write this on an airliner headed back home to Detroit from Jacksonville and the very first Camaro5fest–the first of many, I hope!

 I was thinking about the 5th gen and about where we are and we've been. In that line of thought, I considered that, in every endeavor, there are "defining moments". Here is my partial list of Fifth Generation Camaro defining moments:

 1) When we started working on the first concept for a 5th gen Camaro, the GMX-280, but we killed it because it did not deserve the hallowed, "Camaro" name.

 2) When we started working on the "second" 5th gen. Camaro program

 3) When Designer Sangyup Lee drew the first rendering which, after many, many others, captured the true 'essence' of a 5th gen Camaro.

 4) When I first saw the full-size clay of the 5th gen.

 5) January 9, 2006, when the Silver Concept Camaro was first unveiled to the world at the Detroit Auto Show.

 6) The aftermath of the Detroit Auto Show, when it was apparent that the Camaro Concept was a huge sensation and a resounding hit!

 7) August, 2006, when we announced that we would, indeed, build the next generation Camaro and that it would be built by the great men and women at Oshawa Assembly.

 8) When the "contract" was signed, making everything official.

9) The first public sightings in Australia of the black and white IVERs

Content Director's note: "IVER", a GM acronym for "Integration Vehicle Engineering Release", is a prototype development vehicle. An IVER is generally representative of how the production car will look but it is not 100% accurate in appearance. Camaro IVERs were first spotted in Australia and Europe. Each was painted with a distinctive, but visually confusing, alternating black-and-white geometric pattern. Initially, they had camouflaging fabric covers, or "bras", over the  front and rear ends, however, one was spied braless and GM Vice Chairman of Global Product Development, Bob Lutz, said, "Let's take the bras off and let our enthusiasts enjoy the development." The result of Lutz's decision was the Camaro IVERS were probably the most photographed early-build models from any car company. Well over 100 Camaro IVERs were built and they were tested on every continent.

This intentional public display of the product development process and the obvious chatter it created amongst the Camaro enthusiast community on the Internet had some interesting and sometimes humorous consequences. None of the IVERs had headlights which even approached production appearance. At the time, GM was working on two headlight systems, reflector optic headlamps for base cars and halo HID  lamps for cars with the RS package, but chose not to let the public see how either system appeared. During an interview with Scott in which we tied up a few loose ends with this article, he told us, "Basically, we glued cheap projector beam lights like you'd buy at 'AutoZone' into the grilles. Well, people were up in arms about how they looked and I had to say, over and over again, 'Those are not the real headlamps!'"

10) When we received the first four, production-intent 5th gens.

11) Watching the wonder and amazement in the eyes of our "15 Disciples" as they saw, for the first time, at Milford (Proving Ground) those four production-intent Camaros.

ConDir's note: The "Fifteen Disciples" or just the "Disciples" were a group of Camaro enthusiasts whom Chevrolet retained to advise and counsel the design and development team. Early in the program, Scott Settlemire strongly felt that Chevrolet needed to involve the Camaro enthusiast community in the development of the 2010 Camaro. This was Spring of 2006. The Concept had already been shown, but Scott felt Chevrolet needed enthusiast input on: what the car's content should be, how to market the car, what people liked with Concept and past Camaros and what needed to be improved. Just as importantly, creating such a "panel" would let the Camaro enthusiast community to know Chevrolet valued it and was listening to its concerns about the 5th Gen car.

In time, Settlemire obtained approval to involve some Camaro enthusiasts and posted on a small web site something along the lines of "Chevy is working on a new two-door performance car. We want enthusiast input. Please send us 250 words or less on why you would make a good candidate to be involved in the development of this exciting new car."

The original intent was to select 12 people and three alternates. Chevrolet was emailed hundreds of essays and picked 12 + 3, but then, they felt bad for the alternates, so they were, also, included in all meetings, emails and trips to the Milford  Proving Ground to see and drive development vehicles. At first, the group was called "The Twelve Disciples " then then it was change to "Fifteen".

12) September, 2008, when we unveiled the first production-intent 5th gen to Camaro enthusiasts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

13) A doubly defining moment for me: taking delivery of "Thor", my beloved CTF SS/RS.

ConDir's note: "CTF" stands for Captured Test Fleet Vehicle. They are a longtime part of the vehicle development process at GM. Every model year, a batch of early cars of each model are built, usually a few months before start of regular production. They are assigned to specific GM employees and cannot be loaned to people outside GM. Every week, each driver is required to send reports about any problem the driver feels needs attention from an scratching noise that an interior panel might make (called an 'itch' by engineers) to fit-and-finish, to performance–in other words, they go over the vehicle with a fine-tooth comb and put as many miles on it as quickly as possible. Each CTF driver must make at least three reports per week. The goal is to accumulate a lot of miles across the entire fleet before a new model year begins to ship to dealers.

"Thor" was the name Camaro enthusiasts gave to an RS/SS Captured Test Fleet Camaro assigned to Scott Settlemire in 2009.  In the Spring, he loaned it to another GM Engineer and his Wife to drive to Fort Lauderdale. They posted on the Internet their stops on the way down and back and hundreds of Camaro enthusiasts awaited their arrival in several cities for a chance to look at and sit in the 2010 Camaro. The car was such a sensation on the Camaro Internet that enthusiasts had named it "Thor". Search www.camaro5.com with that name as a keyword, you will find several threads about Scott Settlemire's legendary "Thor".

14) March, 2009: the start of Regular Production at Oshawa.

15) April 17, 2009 and delivery to our first known retail customer in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Ok, fast forward to one year later when well over 1,000 Camaro enthusiasts and an estimated 500, 2010 Camaros descend on Valdosta, Georgia to celebrate the "Return of a Legend" at the first-ever Camaro5Fest. I still have "Perma-grin" as I think of what a great weekend it was.

Steve, Tom, Jeremy, and I arrived on Friday morning to unload about a dozen Camaro specialty vehicles at South Georgia Motorsports Park. After first scoping-out the event, my reaction was: "Holy F-car, Batman! This is going to be big." The place was crawling with car carriers and vans from a couple dozen vendors. Then, the Camaros and their owners began arriving even though the event didn't start until that night!

We went back to the hotel to get ready for the "Welcoming Cruise" and, as we made our way to the Host hotel, we saw more and more Camaros. We stopped at a local car wash so that the Detroit contingent could get the bugs (I call them, "Mustang crumbs") washed off the faces of their Camaros. The girl at the car wash was stunned at the sudden appearance of a line of 15 or more Camaros, waiting for a bath.

We arrived at the hotel and I got a lump in my throat as I surveyed the parking lots. My goodness! There were new Camaros as far as the eye could see–dozens and dozens of each color, plus many more in colors of which we've only dreamed. Over there was a section of Inferno Orange ones and over here are several black ones with orange stripes. Yellows there, Blues here and everywhere was the evidence of "Perma-grin", that look that says "Wow! I love this car and I love what it brings to me."

Chief Engineer, Al Oppenheiser, drove into the parking lot in one of the black and white "IVERs and a flock of people headed over to check it out and say, "Hello." to us. We brought a few Transformer Editions, including Thor, as well as a few Synergy Green Editions and that got another flock of Camaro fans headed our way.

And the hospitality! Everyone was so happy to be there. I thought to myself: "This is a dream-come-true! Camaro is back! " Oh, by the way–the famous Woodward Avenue billboard was right: Heaven couldn't handle all the noise.

Several members of local law enforcement lined up their police vehicles to block traffic for the largest Camaro Caravan I've ever seen. A couple hundred 2010 Camaros coming down the highway all at once makes people stop in their tracks.

Then, came yet another 5th Gen Camaro Defining Moment: two boys are riding their bikes along a back road as we approach. Their eyes are the size of saucers as they smile and wave and yell "Bumblebee!' at us. I remark to Joe Bella, one of the Moderators at www.camaro5.com who is driving 'Thor' as I ride in the passenger seat, "Those boys will remember this night for a long time. How will they ever forget seeing several hundred Camaros roaring by on this back road?"

There was such great fellowship afterward at the Holiday Inn until the wee-hours of the morning, meeting so many old friends and making new ones. As I continued to walk the parking lot, I was fascinated as I looked at each Camaro to see what the owner had done to make it his or her very own. There were so many details–some subtle, other not so subtle!

I love listening to all of the stories: of how they wanted a new Camaro or of what the Camaro means to them. I was told over and over again that "My Camaro is part of the family."

All these wonderful people coming up to me, shaking my hand and thanking "...everyone at General Motors for building such an amazing automobile." That's their words, not mine.

Early the next morning, the Georgia Countryside woke up to the "voices" of hundreds of Camaros invading SGMSP. It was a perfect weather for a day of drag racing, autocrossing, vendor exploration and just enjoying the experience of owning a new Camaro and meeting my fellow enthusiasts!

I think that Al Oppenheiser, Vehicle Line Director, Peter Kosak; Product Manager, Cheryl Pilcher; Marketing Manager, John Fitzpatrick; Accessories Manager, John Cox; Adam Denison from GM Communications and and myself went thru several Sharpies as we were asked to sign dozens and dozens of cars, books, and owner's manuals and we were delighted to do so!

I must recognize a very special person who came all the way from Oshawa to meet our enthusiasts: Mike Judge (aka "Super60") works at the Oshawa Plant building these magnificent machines. What makes him even more special is the countless hours he's spent on Camaro5 talking with our enthusiasts and providing them with signed lithographs, something which he took upon himself to do and for which we applaud him! Mike–it was so great to meet you in person and I thank you for your dedication as well as your kindness to everyone.

As I stood on the bleachers at the drag strip and saw the long line of Camaros staged to take each other on, I couldn't help but think of young, athletic men and women gathering to compete. Yes, they're only cars, but they have such presence and those headlights–are they cool, or what?! Am I crazy? Then I thought not, because, suddenly, an older gentleman came up to me, introduced himself, sat with me for a while then made the same observation–as if the Camaros really are personalities.

I spent some time walking around the vendors, watching as they showcased their wares, some of which I like to call "Camaroabilia", and others who sell products and components that enhance the performance or handing of the new Camaro.

After dinner, we enjoyed six laps around SGMSP's oval track then fireworks and finally, a trip back to the hotel for more Camaro camaraderie.           

This was the first 'Camaro5Fest' and the Moderators who pulled this activity together are to be commended. The event went off without a hitch. You'd have thought this was their 20th event, not their first!

Has the 2020 Camaro been a success?

Judging by the numbers, one might say "Yes!" But the real benchmark of success lies within the ownership experience. Is everyone 100% completely satisfied? No, unfortunately, I can't say that every last owner is. I'm not sure that our goal of 100% customer satisfaction will ever be met as it's probably not humanly possible, but...we will die trying!

What I do know is this: In 33 years with General Motors, I don't know that I've ever experienced quite what I did at Camaro5fest. I saw every age group, from all walks of life, from all over the United States and Canada and one thing brought them altogether: A new Camaro.

I can tell you that the team will never stop putting their all into this car. We'll never stop trying to continually improve it, so that you, our customer, will continue to experience the joy of owning a Camaro, the "Pride of Ownership" or, as I call it: "Perma-grin"

As I sat in a meeting the following Monday,  my mind drifted back to Saturday and I realized Camaro5Fest was another of those "Defining moments" and perhaps the best one of my career. I won't forget that it is you people, the Camaro enthusiasts, who made this all possible. Without you, there is no Camaro.

God Bless.

See you again at another Camaro show!

And don't forget–wear those safety belts!

Best Regards,
Scott Settlemire, Manager of Chevrolet/Cadillac Shows and Exhibits

"The Fbodfather"