We reported a while ago that GM would be displaying a soft-topped Camaro at the Detroit Motor Show. A concept of the soft-top Camaro was shown last year at Detroit and was approved for production using the Zeta rear-wheel-drive platform, the same platform that is used in the latest Holden VE Commodore. The VE Commodore is manufactured by the same people that made the awesome Monaro and usually the Camaro is supposed to be a good indicator of what the next-gen Monaro will be like. According to a Holden Australia spokesperson in an interview with Drive, the Zeta platform is capable of producing a convertible body-style.

This is not the first mention of a drop-top Monaro either - back in ‘04, a one-off soft top version of the Holden ‘Marilyn’ (Marilyn Monaro - geddit?) was built as a design and engineering exercise but there were inklings among the Australian motoring world that it would be introduced in 2007 with the new model.

While there is no official word from Holden about a soft-top Monaro, the Aussies will have to be content in the knowledge that they get to see the new Camaro well before us - Denny Mooney, the Holden boss, says that prototype Camaros will be on Australian roads before Christmas while they will only hit the U.S in 2009. And who knows, hopefully in a while you may be tossing up between buying a Monaro convertible or a Mercedes 4-door convertible.

A Monaro convertible sold in Australia could mean there would be a Vauxhall version to be sold in Europe.