( MotorAuthority ) - Despite the near-production looking cars we've seen running around the streets of several U.S. cities, Chevrolet has announced that the Camaro will be delayed until Q1 2009 and will be sold as a 2010 model. The coupe will arrive first, followed several months later by the convertible.
The guys who pull no punches over at The Truth About Cars dug up this little gem from Ward's Auto, which states that Chevrolet decided to cut out a late 2008 or early 2009 arrival of the Camaro because it would have meant a very short production run of 2009 model cars before it would have to switch over to 2010 models. Now the first production run can be a full model-year.
Dealers will start taking orders later this year, but no firm date has been chosen. With production scheduled to start at GM's Oshawa plant in Ontario, Canada in February 2009 the Q1 2009 goal should be well within reach, provided ramp-up and quality control go as planned. The company projects sales of 100,000 Camaros per year.
While you're waiting for your local dealer to start taking orders, you can check out some of our other coverage of the Camaro, which will be available in a number of variants from V6 base models to an SS V8 powered range-topper - and even a possible hybrid.