So this is the text of the email that I received in my Inbox a few days ago:
The wait is over! The 2010 Camaro has arrived and
you're invited to see it in person!
Team Chevrolet at Northpoint invites you to the exclusive
preview of the all-new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.
Join us on Wednesday, May 6th from 5pm-8pm for the
unveiling of America's newest muscle car!
Enjoy games, food and beverages while
you experience the all-new Camaro.
Wow! Exciting! I can't wait, the anticipation is giving me a mild headache. Free food! Games (plural!) and beverages! And the Camaro! Time to get some great photos of me sitting in the driver's seat. So Gibby and I went to the dealer at about 5:30pm. I expected a big crowd, maybe police directing traffic to turn into the dealer, and cones set up with guided parking, etc. No. Instead, I just grabbed one of a number of empty parking spaces by the showroom, but not far from a line of 6 Corvette coupes parked right outside the dealer. Before we went inside, Gibby and I briefly looked at the Chevy Traverse out on the lot, then walked toward the showroom door. I was eagerly anticipating to open the showroom door and immediately see there, gleaming in front of me, the new Camaro - surrounded by throngs of excited people who had to get their picture beside it and sit in it. Smiling salesmen, rubbing their hands together... balloons, streamers, a band playing, basically a replay of all the excitement felt when the original 1967 Camaro was introduced on September 26, 1966. Instead, I saw a car under a cover. There were two (presumably) Camaros on the showroom floor, both covered. I asked the sales person why they were covered; he said that it was to build anticipation for when the covers would be removed at 7pm. Hmm.... no thanks, I'm not sticking around for another 90 minutes to see something I can see anytime by coming in here after tonight. Instead, since we can't actually SEE the Camaro, how about some Games! Gibby and I walked over to what looked like a miniature carpeted truck bed about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long with 6 large dice in it. Each die had a letter on only one side, and when you put all six letters together it spelled: M A C A O R. The salesman explained that (after I signed in by writing my name and phone number on their pad) they would video tape me throwing the dice. If all 6 came up with the letters face up, then I'd win a new Camaro! What are the odds! (1 in 46,656). So I grabbed the dice and gave them a toss. Only two letters came up, spelling: C A. It was then Gibby's turn. Unfortunately, he didn't even manage to throw the dice past the line that all dice had to cross, so he was disqualified. No free Camaros for either of us. Besides, I'd have to pay taxes on it anyway if I won it, so its more like winning a Camaro at a 60% discount (I'd have to come up with the ~$12,000 to pay the taxes on a $30,000 Camaro I "won"). O well, let's play some more games! The email did say games - plural. But the only other game I could find was to look around the showroom and determine the ratio of dealer employees versus actual customers/Camaro enthusiasts. I think the ratio was approaching 3:1 - maybe 2-3 other people were in the showroom that didn't work there. Boring game. Time for the food and beverage. The showroom had a table laid out with one of those veggie trays you can buy from Kroger, where all the vegetables are already separated into carrots, broccolli, etc. Then a couple of more trays of pre-made deli sandwiches. Plus some bottled water and coke cans. I grabbed a bottled water and declined the rest. What to do now? We soon realized, basically, nothing else, except go look at the 6 Corvettes parked out front. So we went out to look at them and chatted a bit with the salesman out there. I asked about Corvette convertibles, he said they only had had one convertible in the past 6 or so months, and they didn't even sell it to an individual, but transferred it to another dealer. And most of the corvettes the had now, were ones sent to them from Tom Jumper Chevy when it went out of business. In addition, he had only sold 1 Corvette total in the past 9 months. He also said that most of the Corvette sales they had recently (as well as other cars) were during the "Employee price" event months ago. I decided not to ask anymore. Why bother. For GM, the glory days were 1955-1972; it will never again be September 26, 1966. "The wait is over."
you experience the all-new Camaro.
Wow! Exciting! I can't wait, the anticipation is giving me a mild headache. Free food! Games (plural!) and beverages! And the Camaro! Time to get some great photos of me sitting in the driver's seat. So Gibby and I went to the dealer at about 5:30pm. I expected a big crowd, maybe police directing traffic to turn into the dealer, and cones set up with guided parking, etc. No. Instead, I just grabbed one of a number of empty parking spaces by the showroom, but not far from a line of 6 Corvette coupes parked right outside the dealer. Before we went inside, Gibby and I briefly looked at the Chevy Traverse out on the lot, then walked toward the showroom door. I was eagerly anticipating to open the showroom door and immediately see there, gleaming in front of me, the new Camaro - surrounded by throngs of excited people who had to get their picture beside it and sit in it. Smiling salesmen, rubbing their hands together... balloons, streamers, a band playing, basically a replay of all the excitement felt when the original 1967 Camaro was introduced on September 26, 1966. Instead, I saw a car under a cover. There were two (presumably) Camaros on the showroom floor, both covered. I asked the sales person why they were covered; he said that it was to build anticipation for when the covers would be removed at 7pm. Hmm.... no thanks, I'm not sticking around for another 90 minutes to see something I can see anytime by coming in here after tonight. Instead, since we can't actually SEE the Camaro, how about some Games! Gibby and I walked over to what looked like a miniature carpeted truck bed about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long with 6 large dice in it. Each die had a letter on only one side, and when you put all six letters together it spelled: M A C A O R. The salesman explained that (after I signed in by writing my name and phone number on their pad) they would video tape me throwing the dice. If all 6 came up with the letters face up, then I'd win a new Camaro! What are the odds! (1 in 46,656). So I grabbed the dice and gave them a toss. Only two letters came up, spelling: C A. It was then Gibby's turn. Unfortunately, he didn't even manage to throw the dice past the line that all dice had to cross, so he was disqualified. No free Camaros for either of us. Besides, I'd have to pay taxes on it anyway if I won it, so its more like winning a Camaro at a 60% discount (I'd have to come up with the ~$12,000 to pay the taxes on a $30,000 Camaro I "won"). O well, let's play some more games! The email did say games - plural. But the only other game I could find was to look around the showroom and determine the ratio of dealer employees versus actual customers/Camaro enthusiasts. I think the ratio was approaching 3:1 - maybe 2-3 other people were in the showroom that didn't work there. Boring game. Time for the food and beverage. The showroom had a table laid out with one of those veggie trays you can buy from Kroger, where all the vegetables are already separated into carrots, broccolli, etc. Then a couple of more trays of pre-made deli sandwiches. Plus some bottled water and coke cans. I grabbed a bottled water and declined the rest. What to do now? We soon realized, basically, nothing else, except go look at the 6 Corvettes parked out front. So we went out to look at them and chatted a bit with the salesman out there. I asked about Corvette convertibles, he said they only had had one convertible in the past 6 or so months, and they didn't even sell it to an individual, but transferred it to another dealer. And most of the corvettes the had now, were ones sent to them from Tom Jumper Chevy when it went out of business. In addition, he had only sold 1 Corvette total in the past 9 months. He also said that most of the Corvette sales they had recently (as well as other cars) were during the "Employee price" event months ago. I decided not to ask anymore. Why bother. For GM, the glory days were 1955-1972; it will never again be September 26, 1966. "The wait is over."
