Camaro Coming Down Under!!

[poita]

Love driving to Brissy and going passed this place.
Seeing what toys he has outside


http://carsguide.news.com.au/site/ne...referrer=email

The Chevrolet Camaro has missed the boat to Holden showrooms but will still soon arrive in Australia.

The VE Commodore-based retro coupe is coming as a private import and cars will be available in the back end of the year.


They won't be cheap, but the man who plans to land the first Camaro says he can deliver a right-hand drive car to match the original Chevrolet quality.

The job is done by Performax International, which has been operating for more than 20 years and specialises in importing and conversion on a wide range of popular American vehicles. Its biggest seller is the Chevrolet Silverado pickup but the Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Mustang are both popular.

The first Camaro — a top-line SS V8 — is already sitting on the docks in California and Nick Vandenberg of Performax cannot wait to get it to Australia and start the conversion and compliance work.

"The Camaro is an exciting car. It's a car that people know a lot about. It's a buzz car and people are talking about it," Vandenberg says.

"There is already quite an anticipation created by GM Holden doing the car. Since they have made their decision not to do right-hand drive we can at least supply a small number for Australia. We think we'll do a few cars a year and that will justify it."

Performax, which is based on the Sunshine Coast at Gympie in Queensland, has its conversion team on standby and Vandenberg says the work will be done with a state-of-the-art setup.

"We have invested hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in this business," he says.

"We can do a 3D scan of a dashboard, then get it digitally onto a CAD drawing and reverse engineer it into a three-dimensional mould for our plastic injection moulding machine.

"We have a team of three guys to handle all of the compliancing. And one of those is the CAD man who does all the computer work.

"It's almost the quality of original equipment. And we are the only people in Australia with this equipment. It will be a seamless right-hand drive conversion with full Australian Design Rule compliance and a factory warranty."

Vandenberg is expecting the Camaro to generate a lot of interest but the biggest question cannot be answered yet. It's the price.

"The thing that determines the cost is the cost of the conversion. Until we get the car here we can only give an approximation.

"For a top-line car SS as a manual or auto it's going to be somewhere between $120,00 and $150,00. We sold a convertible Corvette the other day for about $200,000, so it will definitely be cheaper than a Corvette."

Vandenberg says the Silverado is a solid base for the business but it's muscle cars which generate the real following.

"We've done quite a lot of Corvette conversions. We do the Ford Mustang as well. We only got compliance for that early last year and we were flooded by people," he says.

The timing for the Camaro is still not set but the plan is locked and loaded, based on low-volume compliance.

"The car is currently sitting on the docks. It will take four or five weeks to get here, so it will be towards the end of the year before it's ready," Vandenberg says.

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[Wraith]

It's coming, then it's not coming, then it's coming again......I'm confused LOL

Sold through that Queensland group it'll cost a small fortune just like the Corvettes...

[nuggz]

i saw one on the road in berwick about 2 weeks ago!!!

just saw this big red thing and when i realised it was too late to get a second look or a photo

[poita]

well theya re predicting 120-150k Ange

should be interesting

[Wraith]

well theya re predicting 120-150k Ange

should be interesting

Don't know about your thoughts Pete, but that's way too much for me for that car...

If it landed and was sold through GMH it would be much less than that, around half that price point in fact...what a shame

Approaching 150k opens the door to some real un-ignorable car choices out there, but I suppose for anyone who really has their heart set on one, if this is the only way to get one - go for it

[poita]

the thing is, these guys will sell em

last time i went to brissy i drove past there, on the way back tehre where 3 cars not in the lot

wether they where test driving or what i dont know

but the turn over of stock that bloke does seems to be pretty huge

[Wraith]

the thing is, these guys will sell em

last time i went to brissy i drove past there, on the way back tehre where 3 cars not in the lot

wether they where test driving or what i dont know

but the turn over of stock that bloke does seems to be pretty huge

Most definitely, there's a niche market for them just like the Corvette conversions they do

Someone who really wants one and can afford it will get one for sure

[kabel]

For that type of money I would be looking at a GTR or an M3 !
Although I do love "Good-Ol`-A-Merican-Muscle"
remi-NISSAN-ing about the old days......................

[Manda88]

even a mustang would be a viable option and its still muscle

[HappySlapper82]

well theya re predicting 120-150k Ange

should be interesting

Would you though? GTR would be my choice for that kind of money