New York show: The Camaro that roared

GENERAL Motors could afford to cut corners when redesigning the most track-ready Camaro ever sold in the US - they didn’t have to include air-conditioning.

The car-maker last night pulled the wraps off the 7.0-litre V8-monstered Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, as the model is known, with air-conditioning available only as an option for the track-focussed coupe.

However, while the Camaro, which shares its underpinnings with the Holden Commodore, was originally penned by the Commodore’s design team, GM North America president Mark Reuss told GoAuto that Holden had no part in the car’s track-focused redesign.

The range-topping Z/28 features a full aerodynamics package with a focus on generating downforce to help it stick to the track, and high-speed stability.

Holden’s performance-tuning arm, HSV, will probably be interested to know that the 7.0-litre V8 generates more than 373kW of power and a stump-pulling 637Nm of torque. HSV is yet to show Australia what it intends to do with its version of the redesigned VF Commodore due in a couple of months' time.

The Z/28 features about 90kg of weight savings over its road-honed version, and retains its rear seats, but Mr Reuss said the car-maker was “not finished with it quite yet”.

However, while the Camaro was at the front of GM’s go-fast line for development, Mr Reuss told GoAuto the car-maker had no intention of spinning out similar hardcore versions of the Australian-built Cruze small car, or the Malibu mid-sizer due on sale in Australia later this year.