Toyota, Chevrolet show off 2013 NASCAR 'Cup' racers

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Three-quarters of the new generation of NASCAR Sprint Cup cars, due to compete in the 2013 season, are now officially public. Ford was first out of the gate with its sexy Fusion, Dodge was next with its aggressive Charger, and now Toyota is showing off its revised Camry.

The Camry reflects the new freedom NASCAR is giving the manufacturers to personalize their racecars again after years of identical 'Car of Tomorrow' differentiated only by stickers. Toyota uses the front end of the sportiest Camry - the SE - as inspiration, and it's great to see the old-school TRD yellow-orange-red colour scheme on the display model.

Meanwhile, Chevrolet is ditching the Impala name in favour of an all-new SS performance sedan that will be in showrooms in 2013. It will essentially be a hot version of the rear-drive Australian-built Chevrolet Caprice that GM offers for police and fleet sales - and was already on sale as the Pontiac G8. We might expect it the street car to be built in Oshawa, ON since the SS and Camaro share much under the skin.

Obviously, the SS is still a 'concept' and it'll be a while before GM finalizes the design. Figure a late-summer reveal of both the racecar and production version... 

So which of the new designs do you like the most? The Fusion is the jaw-dropper, but that retro colour scheme has me leaning towards the 'Yota.