August 17th, 2014              

    I managed to schedule a car that is appropriate for the weekend - snagging a Camaro SS Convertible for the Woodward Dream Cruise and the Back to the Bricks events. I managed to take it up Saginaw Street into Flint for the Back to the Bricks rolling cruise on Thursday night before taking it to St. Clair Shores for Samantha's soccer game on Friday night. Unfortunately, while we were on our way home from the game we had a little incident with a deer. We had almost made it before we saw a deer race in front of us when we were approximately 4 miles from home. I had the cruise control set at 52mph (in a 50mph zone), and I slammed on the breaks to slow down as much as possible. Although we didn't manage to evade the deer, the damage to the car was minimized and relegated to a smashed in grill and a small wrinkle in the hood. I'm sure the plastic front piece will probably end up needing to be replaced as well, as there was a small deer hair eyebrow just before the hood. The police arrived at the scene at wrote up a report, for which I would need when I turned the car in to work. He also made quick duty of the deer, as it didn't move from the spot when it ended up after making contact with the front of the car. He was moving, however, so one quick shot ended any movement. Scared the crap out of the girls, but it the end it was probably the humane thing to do...

    As for the car itself, what can I say besides I want one! This is the first car that I have driven that really makes me miss our old Camaro, and I could very easily see myself tooling around in a new convertible (or used even). Not only is the car powerful (with 426hp), but it also returned very respectable gas mileage - we averaged 19.7mpg over the entire week, including cruising up and down Saginaw Street and Woodward Avenue as well as sitting in a construction zone on our way to Sam's soccer game. The kids didn't seem to mind the rear seat legroom, as the seats were molded to allow for knee room while the feet fit underneath the front seats. While the trunk space isn't what you could call humongous, it managed to swallow up a couple of folding chairs and backpacks for Sam's game with the top down. With the top up, the trunk space is fairly respectable. The heads up display was a nice touch, one that I wish GM would install in more vehicles. The front seats were heated, although I would do my best not to have to use this car in the winter! The major drawback to a "toy" vehicle such as this is the $45,270 sticker price that this car carried (and it's two years old now...). Some day!

2013 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible 2LT
	The front three-quarter view of the Camaro.
	The side view of the car.
	The Camaro logo on the front fender.
	The deer hair eyelash that was left upon impact with the deer on our way home Friday night.
	A closer look at the smashed in grill after making contact with the deer.
	This particular Camaro sported Brembo brakes, which we put to good use while slowing down while trying to avoid the deer.
	The mirrors are tiny on this car, and rear vision is blocked by the huge blind spots caused by the convertible top. Thankfully it was equipped with a rear-vision camera.
	This Camaro was old enough to sport the old style tail lights.
	The rear seating area.
	The front seats.
	The door sill sports the Chevrolet bowtie in a pattern.
	19.7mpg over a weeks worth of driving.
	A look at the instrument panel.
	Some of the Camaro's sport gauges on the center console, reminiscent of the early cars.
	A look at the radio and HVAC controls.
	The trunk is limited when the top is down, but is fairly roomy when it is up.
	The side view of the Camaro with the top down.
	The front three-quarter view of the car with the top down.
	A look at the front of the Camaro.
	The headrests are embroidered with the "SS" logo.
	The car came with a tonneau cover for the top, but we only used it sparingly.
	A look into the inside of the car with the top down.