Driving the Transformers Movie Camaro Concept

[TuffG929]

We knew what we had to do. Get the first photo ever of a 2009 Camaro doing a burnout — or at least a car that's a dead ringer for the 2009 Camaro doing a burnout.

So there we were last July near the set of Transformers, cruising along the roads surrounding an old aircraft hangar in Playa Vista, California. We were driving "Bumblebee," the Camaro that's the star of this summer's sure-to-be-blockbuster, looking for the perfect place to blaze the hides off its rear tires.

It's amazing that we even got permission. "A burnout?" one Paramount Pictures publicity person asked us. "What's that?"

Driving a Transformer
After lots of assurances that it wouldn't hurt their movie star except burn some rubber off the rear tires — and despite the agonizing trepidation of both the studio and General Motors — there we were cruising around Howard Hughes' old digs and shooting photos, trying to find the sweet spot where the light would perfectly catch the blue-gray haze.

With filming taking place so far in advance of production of the 2009 Chevy Camaro, getting the new Camaro into Transformers took massive cooperation between Detroit and Hollywood. The result of this effort is one of the most impressive automotive movie props ever built — a fully functional, fiberglass-bodied replica of the concept car first shown at the 2006 North American International Auto Show. It looks just like the concept car, only it's painted a better color and actually moves under its own power.

This is a movie prop, so it in no way necessarily indicates how the production Camaro will drive. In fact it has more in common with the just-discontinued, Aussie-made Pontiac GTO because under all that plastic there is a GTO — pulled straight out of GM's engineering R&D fleet. This feat is...


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[chrisbenz]

This is Great!

[Ultra Magnus]

I am in the wrong business!

[red_xtreme95]

SWEET...GTO powered Camaro....

[saturnsteve]

I cannot wait for this movie. My son is 3, and he is going nuts over it.

[boblutzfan]

Originally Posted by saturnsteve

I cannot wait for this movie. My son is 3, and he is going nuts over it.

I also can't wait for the movie. The previews rock. I will be puchasing the Blu-ray version as soon as it is released. This is one of the most impressive (based on the previews) special effects films in many years.

[importedtuna]

I think the Aveo would've made a better Bumblebee, but that Camaro is sweet.

[atomicshark]

I'd get that body kit for my GTO.

[camaro chris]

Awesome!

[axan]

Originally Posted by saturnsteve

I cannot wait for this movie. My son is 3, and he is going nuts over it.

Hey, I'm 27 and I'm going to go nuts over it.

[GMinTheDriveway]

I knew that was the way to fix the new Camaro. GTO POWER!

[PontiacBixler]

Originally Posted by importedtuna

I think the Aveo would've made a better Bumblebee, but that Camaro is sweet.

Take a look at Chevy.com/autobot....

Their Yellow Cobalt just screams Bumblebee to me. He even has the horns on his head of sorts.

I think GM should have been more in control of the Transformer designs for the movie than who ever did them.

The Autobot designs on the webpage are bitchin in comparison to the movie's.

BTW, I'm Theta Supreme on there. Challenge me!

[zeobandit]

Cool article!

[TuffG929]

those are some really nice hub cas

[Slideways]

Originally Posted by TuffG929

It looks just like the concept car, only it's painted a better color and actually moves under its own power.

I was at the NAIAS, and unless Bob Lutz moved it Fred Flintstone-style, it drove in under its own power.