With production underway, the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro will soon be racing to dealers and shortly there after be thundering down America’s streets. While we have not yet been able to purchase a production model for testing, we have had seat time in this reborn performance classic.

This week, I drove a new Camaro SS on some of the rural roads surrounding our Connecticut test track, and I came away impressed. During my drive, the Camaro even passed one test not included in our rigorous test program of more than 50 separate evaluations and thousands of miles of driving - but more on that in a bit.

I was a kid when the 1969 Camaro first appeared on the streets --the model year said to provide inspiration for the new one. The ‘69 struck a chord in my young gearhead mind at the time, and I remember bicycling to the local dealership to get a better look. Full disclosure: The ’69 Camaro has been something of a favorite since. (Make mine an RS/SS convertible, please, with a 350/350 and four speed. Color is negotiable.)

The new Camaro does take some styling cues from the ’69, and even has similar rectangular gauges on the console. Thankfully, however, it does without the houndstooth upholstery that was offered to the Woodstock generation back in the day.

Thankfully, however, Chevy hasn’t gone overboard with the whole retro thing, instead blending some classic Camaro styling elements into a thoroughly modern design. Unlike some retro designs of the recent past, the SS doesn’t look like it’ll become a rolling caricature of itself in a few years. And sitting on a modified Pontiac G8 platform with independent rear suspension, its handling, steering, and braking are anything but retro.

Which takes us back to that first, unofficial test I mentioned earlier. While cruising sedately along one of the roads near the track, enjoying the sound of the Camaro’s burbling V8, I came upon a sullen teenager, maybe fourteen years old, walking alongside the road. He couldn’t have been much older than I was when the ’69 came out, although his period costume of backwards baseball cap, oversized coat, and pants several sizes too large made him look for all the world like a rural “gangsta.”

Tough guy look aside, it was obvious he knew what he was looking at when he spotted the Camaro. His stone face erupted into a big grin, and he offered an enthusiastic wave.

Forty years later, the Camaro still has it.

--Jim Travers