First look: Lookout Monaro - Camaro lives again!

GENERAL MOTORS took many by surprise by revealing a strikingly retro-styled, V8-powered coupe concept dubbed the Chevrolet Camaro at yesterday's 2006 Detroit motor show opening.

Similar in size and concept to the Chev SS concept first shown in 2003 and, curiously, at the San Diego show in late December, the two-door Camaro show car pays homage to its archetypal American musclecar namesake, the original 1966 Camaro.

While the rear-drive Camaro concept’s Corvette/HSV-like 298kW 6.0-litre LS2 V8, T56 six-speed manual transmission and staggered-diameter wheels (21-inch fronts, 22-inch rears) made for an unbeatable wow factor alongside Dodge’s equally striking Challenger coupe, the Camaro may not be just for show.

GM vice-president and product king Bob Lutz is its biggest fan and said at Detroit "all I have to do is persuade this man to pay for it," referring to GM CEO Rick Wagoner.

It’s believed that, if produced, the born-again four-seater Camaro would employ the same chassis architecture as Holden’s new-for-2006 VE Commodore, known as Zeta Lite.

Which raises the intriguing prospect: as Holden’s Monaro reaches the end of its Australian life and a VE-based replacement for the Holden-built Pontiac GTO remains uncertain, could the Camaro concept morph into Holden’s next-generation Monaro?