LOOK FOR CAMARO, FIREBIRD RETRO RESURRECTIONS

Two General Motors sports cars -the Chevrolet Camaro and its platform cousin, the Pontiac Firebird - are bound for the history books.

But if history repeats itself, so sometimes do discontinued car lines. They can come back with new looks for repeat runs. The Camaro and Firebird will go out of production in 2002, but may resurface a few years later with retro looks.

The same thing happened with the Thunderbird, a car Ford stopped making two years ago, but will bring back in reincarnated form in 2002.

Camaro has been hurting lately, with sales falling from 75,000 units in 1996 to about 50,000 now. Likewise, Firebird sales haven't set the world on fire. Both cars are made at a Canadian plant in Ste. Therese, Que.

GM proudly and rightly says the Camaro started out as a true muscle car 30 years ago, and remains one to this day. It will be interesting to see what it might return as.