Holden Camaro - Bumblebee to come to Australia?

[griffin]

This could well be a world exclusive news item. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any confirmation on this, so it is all just alleged at this stage. (I may have already mentioned it briefly in one of the Toyfair reports)

At the Melbourne Toy and Hobby Fair, we (Ian, Paul and I) saw an exhibit for a licensed model car distributor, with a heap of 'Movie Bumblebee' styled 2009 Camaro cars.



I asked the lady sitting there about why the Bumblebee display and cars, and she said that it was to coincide with the release of the *Holden Camaro* in Australia late 2008/early 2009.



Doing a bit of research and contacting Holden myself, I wasn't able to get any corroborating evidence, but did get a responce from Holden that didn't deny it either.
The US Camaro is being listed as an international release, but doesn't specify (that I could find) any particular countries other than America.

This was the reply I got from Holden Customer Service:

We would like to advise that as yet, Holden has not publicly released any information regarding future Australian sales of the Chevrolet Camaro.
Please check our website for updates.

So if this vehicle is released in this country, it would be fairly pricey (think of it as a replacement to the Monaro, which was about 60-100 grand). But I wonder if anyone would be keen to buy one if it was released in Bumblebee colours.
It might be unlikely that they would do a Bumblebee colour scheme release, but you never know, considering the amount of almost-free global publicity they got for the car and that black and yellow version.

As a side note - those model Camaro cars on display would not be Hasbro licensed, if they don't have any mention of Bumblebee or the Movie. They would be Holden/GM licensed. As such, this wouldn't really be Transformers News.

[iceburn]

i've saw them on display at the hobby shop (next to JB Hi-fi) in Chadstone today. Unsure of the price range. there is even those Radio-controlled cameros

[MV75]

Even though it's about time (way late) they replaced the Plastic fantastic eyesore that is the family commodore with a real sports car, I'd rather get a datsun gtr. Man that thing is killer hot.
________
Kawasaki Mt1

[E|dan]

i am not sure my self griffin..but my friend told me ( A hardcore CAR enthusiast) that the camaro is the upgrade version for the monaro for holden...and if my memory serves me right...we would see a few "new monaro's " soon on our streets...

[turtle boy]

from what i remember, the were going to kill of the monaros again.

[griffin]

Well Holden did stop producing the Monaro, but I guess they could still sell a car badged as a Monaro, like the US badged our Monaro as a Pontiac GT (I think that was the name). The ones on display at the Toyfair exhibit were being called Camaro though, not Monaro, (if I recall) so I'd expect the toys to be labelled the same as the AUS car name. But they could just be imported US toys with the Camaro name.
This is why I wanted to make sure this info was noted as unconfirmed at this stage, and we would need to wait until Holden makes some sort of announcement on the issue.

[Paulbot]

I would buy one in Bumblebee's colours .... if I could afford it.

[roller]

Lady in photo nice nice




i saw the 70's bumblebee on a WA car hoon tv show



yes i did

[iceburn]

Originally Posted by Paulbot

I would buy one in Bumblebee's colours .... if I could afford it.

whoever's going to Chaddy this week, please check out the price range from that shop???

[Tiby]

The Camaro is based on the Holden Commodore Platform, which is why they were testing some of them here. Since the Commodore is being sold in the US under the Pontiac badge, including the new ute, there is no reason why the reverse could not be true.

It has been rumoured pretty strongly that Camaro will make a 2009/2010 appearance in Australia. The US will be getting a variety of engines, including a turbo 4 cyl, which makes sense in the current petrol climate.

I am seriously toying with the possibility of getting one depending on interest rates. My dad had an original Monaro in the 70s with Bumblebeen colours so it would be great to mirror that with a Camaro!