Good news for the 5th Gen Nation! According to a thread recently posted on Camaro5, production of the 2012 Camaro ZL1 has officially kicked off at GM’s Oshawa assembly plant. Chevy dealerships that will be receiving a ZL1 allocation were sent a letter from GM Marketing Manager John Fitzpatrick to let them know what to expect in the coming months. Fitzpatrick says that ZL1 production will start out slowly and gradually ramp up, with extra diligence being put into the quality control of the first few ZL1’s that roll off the line. He also added that the dealerships shouldn’t expect their ZL1’s to start arriving until early-to-mid-March.
Additionally, an ordering issue with the carbon fiber hood insert was addressed. Apparently GM was having a bit of trouble with one of their carbon fiber suppliers, and any ZL1’s that were ordered during a certain cycle will not be equipped with exposed carbon fiber insert. The hood insert will still be made of carbon fiber, but will be the base-black painted version and not the super-nifty exposed version. The issue has been resolved, and now ZL1’s can again be ordered with the exposed carbon fiber insert.
Which leads me to my next point: Honestly, who in the world should really care about what kind of hood insert they have if they are actually getting a new ZL1? And will the black-painted hoods be rare and collectable 20 years down the road?