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Eight months older than General Motors, Virgil Coffman clearly is not whom Chevrolet had in mind when it decided to bring back the Camaro.
But a bright yellow, 426-horsepower Camaro SS is exactly what Mr. Coffman, who turns 102 in January, wanted when he went to a Chevy dealership near his homein Decatur, Ill., in September. He ordered a "Transformers" special edition model, which isadorned with black stripes to resemble the character Bumblebee from theblockbuster movie.
Mr. Coffman hasn't seen "Transformers." He said he just liked how the special-edition Camaro looked - and that only 1,500 are to be produced.He traded in a Chevy Monte Carlo for the new car. "Driving by myself, I didn't need one of those big cars anymore." he said. "I wanted asportscar."
After learning of Mr. Coffman's purchase, G.M. flew him to Detroit this week to show him around a design studio and its Heritage Center, a museum filled with hundreds of cars it has built during his lifetime - and,of course, get a little publicity for one of the company's hottest-selling cars.
Mr. Coffman worked for G.M. from 1950 until 1973, first making bumpers for Cadillacs and later as a chemist. He has owned 35 to 40 different vehicles -mostly G.M., none foreign - starting with a "1920-something" two-door Chevy coupe. This is his first Camaro, and he says he likes it the best.
"The way it looks and the way it handles - you can't beat it," he said. "People you don't even know come up and talk to you in aparking lot."
Bob Lamb, a nephew who accompanied Mr. Coffman on his visit, said the sales staff at Miles Chevrolet was a bitskeptical of a 101-year-old man who came in looking for the $38,000 Camaro but more than happy to make the deal when they realized he was serious. "Hetold me, 'If I keep that 10 or 12 years, it will be worth about $100,000,'" Mr. Lamb said. "He's very optimistic."
Since September, Mr. Coffman, who has outlived his wife and three children, has put about 1,800 miles on his new car, though he has yet to take it more thanabout 50 miles outside of Decatur. And while he loves the powerful V-8 engine, he keeps his speed down - most of the time.
"Once in a while I like to kick it up," he said. "But I'm afraid to drive too fast and get a ticket, and then they might take my licenseaway."
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