Fire at GM Design Centre destroys secret concepts, including perhaps the next Camaro

A major fire has ripped through General Motors’ Advanced Design Centre in California, potentially destroying several of the company’s most secret future models and possibly derailing plans for the much-rumoured Camaro revival.

The facility, located in North Hollywood, serves as the creative hub for GM’s next-generation concepts, where designers shape the future of brands like Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick. The blaze, which broke out earlier this week, is believed to have originated from lithium-ion batteries inside one or more concept vehicles.

Over 100 firefighters from multiple departments responded to the inferno, which filled the building with thick smoke, making access difficult. Authorities say the cleanup and damage assessment could take several days, with GM yet to release an official statement on the extent of the losses.

The centre was only recently refurbished after GM acquired the property in 2021, reopening last year as a state-of-the-art design facility. It reportedly housed several experimental vehicles, full-size models, and advanced clay prototypes many of which may now be lost.

Camaro comeback in question

The timing could hardly be worse for GM. Industry watchers had expected Chevrolet to preview its next move for the Camaro nameplate before the year’s end, possibly at the Los Angeles Auto Show in late November.

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Hints of a comeback had been building momentum. GM recently filed a Camaro trademark in Cambodia, and GM Design had teased a new-generation Camaro sketch on social media, fuelling speculation that a return was imminent.

While earlier rumours pointed to an electric crossover or sedan, the design sketch suggested something closer in spirit to the classic muscle car.

Whether that prototype was among the casualties of the fire remains unknown, but the incident has undoubtedly thrown GM’s future design timeline into uncertainty.