Chevrolet's new 2014 Camaro Z28 surprised the New York Auto Show crowd today.

There aren’t many secrets in the auto industry, but Chevrolet pulled off a big one today, delivering the biggest surprise of the 2013 New York Auto Show with the unexpected unveiling of the new Camaro Z28 muscle car.

The highest-performance version of the updated 2014 Chevrolet Camaro was developed in a hush-hush program directly overseen by General Motors’ North American President Mark Reuss – who admits he wasn’t even sure until recently if he could convince his own bosses to give the project, codenamed HP, the go-ahead.

“I was never quite sure” it would pass muster with the folks who held the purse strings that would need to be loosened to get the money to finish developing the Camaro Z28, Reuss said during a one-on-one conversation with TheDetroitBureau.com. To try to make it happen, he laughed, “We built a mule,” a running prototype, and took GM CEO Dan Akerson for a ride. “It blew his mind.” Three GM board members followed and they apparently were equally impressed, as the Wednesday afternoon unveiling revealed.

A throng of automotive media gathered at the North Hall of New York’s Jacob Javits convention center had already gathered to see Chevy’s update of the base 2014 Camaro. Instead, the Z28 rolled onto the stage.

The Z28 comes with a six-speed manual and very few options, including no radio.

While final details have yet to be released, the pony car is expected to deliver in excess of 500 horsepower – at least 50 more than the recently updated Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.

But that number doesn’t begin to suggest what the Z28 will be capable of. For one thing, the super-high-performance 19-inch racing wheels and tires and stiffened suspension should help the flagship Camaro variant deliver 1G cornering – the sort of numbers that put it into exotic territory with the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini.

Meanwhile, Chevy engineers have gone to extremes to ensure that the Z28 is as light as possible, which will only increase handling and off-the-line performance. That involved some unusual steps like eliminating the foglights and swapping out the heavier LED taillamps on the base 2014 Chevrolet Camaro for lighter, if less sophisticated incandescent bulbs. The window glass is thinner. And there’s no audio system, and only one speaker – that one reluctantly left in the car to handle door chimes and other warning tones.

The new Chevrolet Camaro Z28 is expected to boast more than 500 horsepower.

Chevy did retain a backseat but substituted alternative materials to minimize the weight penalty.

For those who must have it, buyers can get an optional air conditioning system, but many are likely to skip that add-on because it adds mass and draws power away from the wheels.

The new Z28 has plenty of visual similarities to the base Camaro. Perhaps the updated pony car line’s most noticeable change is its face where designers essentially “flip-flopped” the upper and lower grilles, noted styling chief Tom Peters.

Walking TheDetroitBureau.com through the design details of both the base 2014 Camaro and the Z28, Peters explained that wind tunnel studies showed it to be “more efficient” to draw the majority of air for the engine and cooling system through that lower grille.

Indeed, most of the modifications for the Z28 model are specifically intended to enhance performance. That includes a large chin splitter designed to smooth airflow under the car, revised side sills, lips and spats to divert air around the Z28’s wider wheels, and a big rear wing that delivers significant downforce to hold the car to the pavement, even at triple-digit speeds.

“This is a vacuum cleaner,” said Peters.  “It really sucks down.”

The Camaro Z28 actually has smaller wheels and tires than the rest of the 2014 Camaro line and, counter to conventional wisdom, the front and rear rubber measures the same 19 inches.

“That’s the difference between design and styling,” stressed Peters, noting that the goal of the project was to maximize performance, rather than simply making the Z28 look hot.

The Camaro made a return to the market in 2009 after a seven-year absence. It has since become the best-selling car in the unexpectedly vibrant muscle segment, besting long-time rival Ford Mustang for the first time in decades.

The once-hallowed Z28 will make its return after disappearing from the market in 2002. Chevy isn’t saying what its production plans are but volumes are expected to be modest.