1999 Chevrolet Extended Cab 3500 Tow Truck/flatbed Dually on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Is Buick's surprise Detroit concept a Camaro-sized coupe?

Tomorrow night marks the unofficial start of the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. Keep your eyes peeled for a number of reveals, including a surprise debut from Buick. Yes, Buick. And we think it's going to be something really hot. According to a report from Bloomberg, the Tri-Shield's secret car could be a Camaro-sized sport coupe concept. As Bloomberg explains, it'd certainly gel with the impression the company is trying to put out – that it's no longer a brand for those with one foot in the grave. Introducing a sports coupe, even as a concept, could certainly reinforce that message. And if it happens to make production – which is not a certainty, Bloomberg's secret source says – it could certainly help Buick drive its average buyer age down from 59. Bloomberg doesn't offer any speculation on Buick's new coupe, but we have no problem making educated guesses. Our most reliable conjecture is this: it will ride on General Motors' Alpha platform, which underpins both the Camaro and the Cadillac ATS. And with a certain twin-turbocharged V6 in the GM stable, we've got an idea of what kind of engine could be shown. That speculation will have to suffice for now. But don't worry, we'll have official details, live images, and video tomorrow when Buick unveils its new concept in Detroit's Eastern Market.

Junkyard Gem: 2005 Chevrolet Aveo LS Sedan

The story of Daewoo in North America took some interesting plot turns over the decades. First we had the 1988-1993 Pontiac LeMans, a rebadged Daewoo LeMans. A bit later, Daewoo began selling cars under its own nameplate here, with the Lanos, Nubira, and Leganza available for the 1999-2002 model years. Then Daewoo fled the continent and left warranty service of those cars in the hands of Manny, Moe, and Jack. With GM taking over Daewoo Motors after Daewoo's bankruptcy, we got some Daewoos with Suzuki badges here— the Verona and the Reno— while Chevrolet began selling the South Korean-built Daewoo Kalos as the Aveo for the 2004 model year. This car may not be a gem in the sense that you would want to own one, but it's a gem of automotive history and thus deserves its place in this series (especially because it's one of the rare 5-speed cars sold here). Many (maybe even most) of these cars ended up in the hands of rental-car companies and other fleet users, but we can tell from the three-pedal setup that this car went to a non-fleet buyer. We've had a couple of these cars compete in the 24 Hours of Lemons, where I work as a dignified and respected race official, and they've been amazingly quick on a road course in the hands of good drivers. Power came from this 103-horsepower Opel-designed four displacing 1.6 liters. The Nubira and Lanos got versions of this engine on these shores, too. The LS was the top trim level for the Aveo in 2004, so this car got air conditioning and a halfway decent audio system (by 2004 standards). The seat fabric is industrial-grade stuff, which would have held up well under the steady drip and/or torrents of bodily fluids coating the interiors of rental cars. The 2004 Aveo LS started at $12,045, which comes to about $16,675 in 2020 dollars, so it was a lot of commuter-appliance for the price. The following generation of this car became the Chevrolet Sonic, beginning with the 2012 model year. You can still buy a new Sonic, and the inflation-adjusted price is nearly identical to that of the original AveoÂ… though you might want to move fast if you really want one, because Daewoo stopped selling the Kalos in South Korea not long ago. If you want the rarest member of the Aveo family available in North America, find yourself a hen's-teeth Pontiac G3, the short-lived Pontiac-badged version. Speaking of the G3, here's the way it broke the hearts of gas pumps around the world.

Should heavy-duty pickup trucks have window stickers with fuel mileage estimates?

If you were to stroll into your nearest Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Nissan, or Ram dealership, you'd find a bunch of pickup trucks. Most of those would have proper window stickers labeled with things like base prices, options prices, location of manufacture, and, crucially, fuel economy estimates. But you'd also run across a number of heavy-duty trucks with no such fuel mileage data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA doesn't require automakers to publish the valuable miles-per-gallon measurement for vehicles with gross weight ratings that exceed 8,500 pounds. That makes it difficult for consumers to compare behemoths powered by turbocharged diesel engines – between one another, and between smaller, gasoline-fueled trucks. Consumer Reports doesn't think it should be this way, and it's spearheading an effort (PDF link) to get the government to require manufacturers to publish fuel economy estimates. In its own testing, CR found that heavy-duty pickups powered by Ford's Power Stroke, GM's Duramax, and FCA's Cummins diesel engines (which doesn't include the Ram's EcoDiesel) get worse fuel mileage than their lighter-duty gas-powered siblings. We're not so sure HD-truck buyers are unaware of this fact – big diesels don't really come into their own until big loads are placed in their beds or attached to their trailer hitches. Under heavy workloads, the diesel trucks will almost certainly return greater efficiency than a similar gas-powered truck. What's more, HD trucks with lumbering diesels in general make the driver feel more confident while towing due to greater torque at low engine RPM than gas trucks. They also offer greater max-weight limits. Still, we agree EPA fuel mileage estimates should be offered for heavy-duty pickups. And we think the comparisons provided by Consumer Reports might be interesting to potential buyers. Click here to see the results of CR's tests, and let us know what you think using the poll below. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty: First Drive View 22 Photos News Source: Consumer Reports Government/Legal Green Read This Chevrolet Ford GMC Nissan RAM Fuel Efficiency Truck Commercial Vehicles Diesel Vehicles poll gmc sierra hd chevy silverado hd