Chevy Camaro comes to the UK

Up until now, if you wanted to buy your very own American muscle car here in the UK, then your choices were limited to one of the reputable import agents or handling the direct shipment yourself. Even the Boss 302 Mustang, that we ran on behalf of Ford Europe last year, doesn’t come with a UK price tag.

But now, Chevy are adding the all-American Camaro to their price lists, from Spring 2012, starting at £34,995 for the Coupe or £39,995 for the soft-top Convertible model.

That is stunning value for money, when you bear in mind that for £35k the Camaro comes with a 426 bhp 6.2-litre V8 engine. Just ponder on that thought for a moment – for the price of nicely specced Audi TT or BMW Z4, you get a genuine Automotive brut that will make your neighbours green with envy.

In addition to the standard models, Chevrolet is also offering, for a limited time only, the 2012 45th anniversary Camaro, finished in striking Carbon Flash Black with bespoke red and silver anniversary stripes, dark silver 20-inch alloys, a unique 45th anniversary leather interior with red, white and blue stitching and a one-off white-backed instrument panel. It’s priced at £36,495 for the Coupe or £41,495 for the Convertible.

All models come with a six-speed manual gearbox, but are available with a six-speed automatic transmission as a £1,500 option.

If your mind is busy spinning over the practicalities of running a muscle car here in the land of ‘compact’ diesel and hybrids, then you’ll need to know the following:

Performance: 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds (manual Coupe) and 5.6 seconds (auto Convertible). Top speed 155 mph (electronically limited). Rather strangely, the Camaro loses 27 bhp when fitted with an automatic gearbox, but that still means 399 bhp.

CO2 emissions: 329 (g/km) for the manual Camaro or 304 (g/km) for those fitted with the auto box.

Fuel consumption: 20.0 mpg (manual) or 21.5 mpg (auto). Both figures represent the combined cycle.

Weight: 1769 kg (manual coupe) and 1890 kg (manual convertible). Which is around the same weight as a 3-litre BMW 5 Series.

Size: 4836.8 mm (length), 1917 mm (width), 1360 mm (height). Slightly longer than a Ford Mondeo and around 4.5 cm wider than a Mercedes S-Class.

You can order a Camaro right now, from specially nominated dealers here in the UK, with first cars arriving in the UK sometime in April/May 2012. To find out where your nearest dealer is located, just call Chevrolet UK on 0800 923 6000.