The first crash of a brand new car model usually happens within a few weeks of the deliveries. Somehow, a journalist has managed to wreck the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Camaro even sooner.
Jalopnik editor Patrick George was invited by GM to a track event, where he was allowed behind the wheel of a V6 Camaro pre-production prototype, which is probably worth its weight in gold.
Not surprisingly, GM was so peeved with the guy that they kicked him off the track, which is bad news if you wanted a detailed report of how the Camaro handled. So what happened?
"When the crash happened, I was the second Camaro mule in a train of cars following a lead driver in a Z/28. But as I came up on one corner, I made a mistake, took a line that was all wrong and braked far later than I should have, inducing terminal understeer. I think that’s what happened, at least. It happened very quickly, and adrenaline has a way of mucking with your memory. I probably wasn’t as focused as I could have been, since I was trying to talk and record my driving impressions into a GoPro at the time," said Patrick in his report.
Crashes are bound to happen when high-speed track action is involved, and GM reps should have known somebody might wreck one of their precious 2016 Camaros. So why did they decide to kick Jalopnik's man off Belle Isle State Park?
Patrick says he thinks it's because they leaked an official memo with embarrassing questions like "Why would you offer a four-cylinder in the Camaro? Didn’t you learn your lesson with the Iron Duke?" However, Jalopnik has repeatedly spilled the beans on GM products, including the new 2014 Corvette, which they showed a year before release.
There are many contributing factors that led to this crash. For example, Patrick probably shouldn't have been talking while driving an unfamiliar car down a track he know well enough. Also, turning the steering wheel more while you're in understeer, which he experiences for about 3 seconds, is not going to change anything.
Of course, GM didn't see the video footage from inside the car. They just decided to kick the editor off because " a lot of people didn’t want me there anyway."
Well, at least the guy owned up to his mistakes...
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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