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by DAN HEYMAN on FEBRUARY 4, 2011

For many, it’s been a long time coming, but workers at Chevy’s Oshawa assembly plant celebrated the the start of production of the new Chevy Camaro Convertible on Jan. 31.

It’s the second of three new GM models to be produced at the plant this year—it joins the 2011 Impala and will be joined shortly by the 2011 Regal. To help celebrate the start of production, Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Motorsports joined the workers at the launch. Hendrick cars have been winning NASCAR races for a long time, and the owner himself is a massive Camaro fanatic. So much so that he bought the original Camaro Coupe that rolled of the line as well as the first Convertible available for sale.

“As a Chevy enthusiast, it’s been exciting to see the Camaro return as such a world class, high performance car,” said Hendrick, who was joined at the event by one of his NASCAR Sprint Cup team drivers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. “The folks in Oshawa make some of the best products on the road, so the opportunity to meet them and thank them for what they do is a real privilege.”

“While I still enjoy my 1972 Camaro, I can’t wait to take home one of these awesome new convertibles,” said Earnhardt Jr. in a statement released by GM.

Those are ringing endorsements from two men who have been around Chevrolets for long time, both on and off the track. Also important is the fact that this is an all-new model for the plant. The fact that the plant and its staff is able to adapt to a new model hints at the potential for more products to be built there.

Dan Hamer, Oshawa plant manager said that “(t)he launch of the new convertible…further demonstrates the flexible capabilities of the award-winning Oshawa Assembly Plant .”

The Camaro Convertible will be available in two models, the V6-powered LT and the V8-powered SS. Two V-8s will be on offer—cars with manual transmissions get the more powerful LS3 rated at 420 HP, with automatics being paired with the 400 HP L99. Both are versions of the original LS3 that got its start in the Corvette sports car.

Look for the car to start hitting showrooms by the end of February, with prices starting at $33,995 for the LT.