Well, that changes now, because we've got this spotless '67 RS convertible for you; it follows in the footsteps of this purple '69 coupe. I'd seen this car at the Park Street Car Show, but it was surrounded by a crowd of other early Camaros and didn't really jump out at me.

This car gets the Murilee Stamp-O-Approval™ because A) the original 327 is still there, B) the original Powerglide isn't still there (the owner ditched the Slip-N-Slide for a Tremec 5-speed, and I say good riddance to a transmission that sucks for any use other than drag racing and beer labels; if you purists think that's a crime, feel free to take a break from studying hose clamp date codes to scrawl a venomous tirade in the comments), C) it's not red or black, and D) it gets driven on the street. Not every day, obviously, and it doesn't sleep on the street, but I caught it while its owner was using it to run an errand to the hardware store. The same hardware store, incidentally, at which I photographed the 1937 London Cab.

The General was late to the party started by the Mustang (and Barracuda), but the snazzed-up crypto-Nova hit the showrooms running and sold like crazy. In 1967, you could get a base V8 Camaro convertible for $2,809 (the Rally Sport option package pushed the price up to $2,914), versus $2,806 for a '67 Mustang convertible with the base 289. Meanwhile, the '67 Plymouth Barracuda V8 convertible went for $2,860. The Chevy had the most powerful base engine (210 horsepower versus 200 for the Ford's 289 and 180 for the Plymouth's 273), but all three could have been stuffed with a monster big-block if the customer's wallet permitted.

Frankly, it's pretty uninteresting.

This one feels more like a history lesson and a bit of a commercial for the Camaro. The entire first segment goes to great lengths to draw a line between the first generation car and the new one. The second shows the V6 production at the St. Catherine's engine plant, which shows off the very basics of modern engine manufacturing. Kinda... boring.

National Geographic]

Yeah, we dunno about the last part about suits, but Dewar's full comment on the Chevy Camaro Z28 indicate we should stay tuned for something "official" thanks to lots of excitement for it:

"We have not officially decided to bring back the Camaro Z28....lots of excitement to do it....so stay tuned."

Is someone calling Edmunds' Dan Pund a liar? [Fastlane]

Once again, the amazing Scroggs has come through with some excellent vintage racing footage, and he's also found this highly interesting article about AMG's early racing efforts for us. That's good news, because I'm off judging the Lamest Day 24 Hours Of LeMons in Ohio at the moment and may not have internet access to provide live coverage; this way you still get to see an improbable race car going for the win in a punishing endurance race:

As any muscle car owner knows, size does matter and for Chevy fan-boys, this graph probably won't disappoint as the Camaro bars tower higher than Dodge or Ford.

We saw the rear spoiler issue first-hand — one of the nuts inside the spoiler popped out and made a whole messload of racket when lifting the trunk to the fully open position. Damn Canadian Auto Workers — always socializing our muscle cars with their shoddy workmanship and, ketchup-flavored potato chips. Full TSB above and below.[via Camaro5]

[via Camaro5]
[via Camaro5]
[via Camaro5]

[Deregulated Media]

***IMPORTANT NOTE*** The following list is compiled from various individuals who are mostly experiencing isolated incidents. These are not issues every individual is having with their Camaro. Again, these are ISOLATED incidents that have mostly occurred to single individuals. By the accounts of owners on this site, most Camaros that have been delivered have been without problems. Please keep in mind that every first year production vehicle has more issues than later production years. This list is meant to serve as a comprehensive (perhaps overly) checklist of things to check for upon delivery, and should not be interpreted as widespread quality-control issues with the 2010 Camaro.

Also note: This list is mainly a checklist for things wrong that a dealer can immediately fix. A broken transmission or bad drive-shaft from dropping the hammer on this beast is something that they won't know until it actually happens. Thank you for submitting all your issues.

001. Loose Bolts that hold fluid back causing leaks (ex: on oil pan, tranny fluid)
002. Trunk Locking mechanism (issues with opening w/o adding down pressure to top of trunk first and/or emergency release appears to be loose keeping the trunk from locking properly)
003. Loose plastic paneling around the 4-gauges cluster, launch control, cigarette power plug as well as Left and Right A-Pillars Trim Loose, sill trim loose, and dash pannel where doors and dash meet popping open.
004. Loose Spoiler/installed correctly (Re-torque Spoiler bolts)
005. Wiper transmission cable overheating from engine causing a short circuit.
006. Matching Headlight Halos strength. (one defective being dimmer then the other).
007. Mismatched paint on parts of the vehicle (including gas door). As well as paint runs or clear coat runs. Paint Chips.
008. Loose Rocker Panel "Chevrolet" causing it to peel off.
009. Minor Problem With Window Indexing.
010. Ambient Lighting on doors defective.
011. Bad radiator (leaks).
012. Hood release/latch issues (won't unhook to open the hood).
013. Gap at base of ONStar Antenna.
014. Battery cable routing near the starter has been done.
015. Digital Speedometer is off. Also keeps going on and off.
016. Bottom pulley shakes and needs replacement per dealer.
017. Broken tranny.
018. Ignition Mechanism Issue with key getting stuck in car.
019. Non RS taillights installed on RS equipped cars (all 4 of them).
020. Rocker Panel aligned with body and clipped in correctly.
021. Bumper rubs with body
022. Trunk opens with switch and remote
023. Correct speedo/tach gauge ring color
023. Ambient lighting on drivers door as bright as passenger door
024. Doors gaps /alignment
025. Dirt/bubbles in rally stripes
026. Door panel not scratched from seat belt.
027. Shift knobs wearing out extremely fast could be faulty material
028. AC system stops blowing cold air in random durations, most likely blockage in AC drainage and/or AC draining into the car instead of beneath it
029. Clunking noise in changing gears
030. Trunk opens with remote and laser cut key
031. USB drive and aux port works
032. Squeaky Breaks
033. GFX installed correctly
034. Rims and tires in good condition (coming off carrier in bad condition/damaged)
035. Check for damage in the interior, basic procedure
036. Check the locking mechanism of both doors
037. Scraping sound for a second when backing up
038. SS emblem on trunk is loose
039. Loose interior windshield trim loose
040. The front GFX lip is not coming loose at the double sided tape
041. The front passenger brake rotors are not wearing with a dark colored groove
042. Hood latch handle on inside of cab doesn't retract properly (just hangs)
043. Scratches in seats
044. Oil cooler leaking
045. Once in every 10-15 times I unlock the car, the drivers side door is still locked, while
the locking knob on the door is in the "up" position
046. Faulty as gauge (improper readings)
047. Missing paint around the headlights
048. Bleed screw on clutch slave cylinder loose
049. Stickers on rockers peeling
050. Scratches on window pillars
051. Misaligned body & door panels as well as hood not centered properly (more to one side then the other)
052. Alignment of doors to dash interior the door interior seems to sag below the dash interior
053. Drivers side roof light( the one with the toggle switch) only works when its toggled over to the passenger side
054. Door sill decals peeling up
055. Paint swirls in driver/passenger door
056. Drive-shaft connection to the differential cracking when dropping the clutch
057. Tach Needle Sticking
058. Wiper motor wiring comes through bottom of the cowling-well in front of the driver. (The fix (decided upon between the dealer and myself) was to re-insulate the wires, cover the harness with a hard, slick plastic covering, drill a small hole in the bottom of the cowling-well (fill the hole with silicone) and use a cable tie down like the rest of the wiper harness uses to secure the harness to the floor of the cowling (the grommet will collapse downward with little force), far away from harm from the wiper arms.)
059. engine makes continuous clicking noise, starting roughly 5 seconds after engine starts
060. Door Sill plates wrinkled on outside edges (both sides)
061. Trunk gasket at bottom of rear window coming off
062. Uneven Dash (driver's side dash is lower then passenger's side)
063. Passenger/Driver's side Fender alignment off. (wheel cover well had to come off, then loosen fender bolt, and it pops right in place)
064. Key won't stay in folded position
065. Faulty Tail lights.
066. Weather stripping at back of rear windows loose (I can literally grab and peel it back).
067. Missing or peeling paint between trunk lid and spoiler (right rear section)—could possibly spread over time down the trunk lid.
068. Driver's seat makes clicking noises when set all the way back.

We know it's a new car that was rushed to market, but holy mackerel. Perhaps the most depressing part is the numbering convention, three digits, implying a possibility of triple digit defects. Yikes. [Camaro5]

We're happy to add Mr. Gray's shots to Jalopnik Car Photography Canon, which includes the work of such photographers as Dave Glass, Martin Taylor, Andrew Bush, Troy Paiva, and Paul Novak. Here's what Mr. Gray has to say about his American Cars project:

As the project grew, I realized I was approaching the parked cars in the same way a photographer would shoot a portrait. Whether gleaming and restored, or beat-up and deteriorating, each car had its own character and story. The American landscape serving as backdrop is also part of the story of these cars, which were mostly produced here in the U.S. before the decline of Detroit's big automotive companies. I photographed the cars as I found them, using mostly medium format cameras, as well as some large format and digital cameras.

[Kevin Gray Photography, Order prints from Etsy]

We realize this story line is getting a bit ridiculous, they are just wheel weights after all, but in the interest of fairness we figured we should point out that horsepower isn't the only place in the muscle car wars these three cars compete. Nope, it's the hefty load of wheel balancing weights as well.

One theory put forth has been the addition of the government mandated tire pressure monitoring system, which requires a pressure transducer and a wireless transmitter mounted inside the wheel, making this excessive amount of wheel weight necessary. This could reasonably be the case, but relying on tire techs to properly place weights to balance a wheel introduces too much variability for our engineering tastes. The TPMS mandate has been in the pipe for a long time now, so one would imagine the added heft of the module would be offset in the design of the actual wheel.

Or, it could have nothing to do with the TPMS system. Could just be a condition of huge wheels on low profile tires and delicate NVH requirements. We'll get to the bottom of things... eventually. Hey, the weekend is coming up and we've got wrenches to turn. (Thanks for the picture Brett)

Seems we stirred up the pot with our little observation and the guys over at Super Chevy got curious about the competition's car, so they went poking around some 2010 Mustangs and found an almost identical length of balancing weights. The conventional wisdom says if this much weight was needed, either someone doesn't know what they're doing or there's something wrong with the wheel or tire. We're starting to think these kinds of long strips will be getting more common as large wheels remain popular and lead wheel weights get phased out of usage after the California ban. (Hat Tip to Pres) [Super Chevy]

Though it may have faded from more mainstream attention, "Steampunk" is still around, tinkering, slathering things in wood and rivets and brass for reasons aesthetic. This particular design comes from John 'Jazz' Vernon, who does freelance designs for graphics and hot rods. Yes, it's ridiculous. Yes, it would be heavy and silly. But it does go to show how good we have it with the tuner cars actually making it to the street. Click here to revel in the full resolution detail. [Steampunk Workshop]

Shhhh, those are probably just "speed weights," you know, to keep the car firmly on the ground during high speed pace car duties.

While walking down 43rd St on the way from Jalopnik's Manhattan HQ to Grand Central, we spotted this red Camaro sitting right out front of the Avis rental place. After doing a double take we stepped inside to ask what it would cost to take this V6-powered Camaro out for a day or week and were surprised to hear that the rental rate's over $220 for a day and over $700 for a weekly rental on the new bowtied mullet-mobile. Obviously that's a New York rental car pricing, but even for New York it's highway robbery.

Shocking and awe-ing us even more was the news that this particular Avis, which had three Camaros added to their fleet last Friday, have only been able to keep the one out front — and only for half a day on Friday and a few hours yesterday. That means they've already made over $1000 on the three cars in just three days. How's that for a tidy little profit?

We called up Chevy PR and they told us the rental deal's exclusive with Avis as well as giving us a cute little anecdote about a customer who rented a Camaro from AVIS drove the car to a local dealer and immediately placed a deposit on a new Camaro. Well — all we know is at this price point we won't be renting one any time soon. We guess we'll just have to wait to see if GM's able to come through with a month-long "mid-term" loan for us on a Bumblebee-yellow Camaro SS with an RS appearance package.

GM PR's official comment to us on the Avis rental deal:

AVIS is a long-term partner and important customer of GM's. Although they have some SS models, the vast majority of the vehicles in their fleet are LT models. As you know, a lot of the focus for Camaro has been on the LT that delivers 29 MPG HWY and 304 Horsepower. We felt the relationship with AVIS could deliver us the "Life Enthusiasts" we seek to expand the buyer base for Camaro.

Has anyone ever assembled a table on the soporific qualities of various engine configurations? I’m not aware of any—but people with kids to take on long-haul trips would kill for one.

Perhaps—and I’m practicing wishful thinking here—the results would show that high performance engines strike a particularly tranquilizing note in the developing auditory cortex. Imagine the possibilities! Responsible family men could reasonably argue that a Camaro SS is nothing but a pacifier on wheels.

Over on my other site, we performed such an experiment with a Nissan 350Z, powered by a Tennessee-built VQ35DE V6 engine, good for 287 HP and 274 lb-ft. The car is an American import, with an MPH speedo and an automatic transmission—weird objects in metric, manual-happy Europe—and like all 350Z’s, the noise is so lovely all you want to do is curl up in a ball and listen to it all day. Since I can doze off in any car, be it powered by an inline four or a V8, a suitable test person had to be found. And nobody is more suitable than 18-month-old Polish cutie Gabi Popiołek.

We set the whole thing to a Sicilian lullaby—Eugene Ruffolo’s Piccolo Girasole—just to make sure. Suffice to say that Gabi, an even greater bundle of energy than her countryman Bob Kubica of BMW Sauber F1, was snoozing in no time.

Photo Credit: Balázs Fenyő, Video Editing: György Szeljak

The Peterborough Examiner reports demand has been so high that GM has scheduled the week of June 29th as a work week instead of the previously planned week off. They also report that flex line workers will begin working overtime every Saturday, June through August.

Apparently there's more of a demand for the General's new mullet-mobile than previously thought. Who'da thunk? [via DetNews]