1965 Chevy Impala Ss Convertible 327 V8 Automatic Restored Auto on 2040-cars

Auto blog

400,000 Chevy, GMC pickups recalled: Side airbags can explode

DETROIT — General Motors is recalling more than 400,000 pickup trucks in the U.S. because the side airbags can explode without warning and spew parts into the cabin. The recall covers certain 2015 and 2016 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500, 2500, and 3500 trucks. Documents posted Friday by U.S. safety regulators say the airbag inflator can rupture or the end cap can fly off on both sides of the trucks. Documents say three inflators ruptured in 2015 Silverados last month, one in Florida and two in Texas. All three trucks were unoccupied at the time, and GM says it has no reports of injuries. Dealers will replace both side airbag modules. The company says it has a limited number of replacement parts available. Owners will be notified starting Aug. 16 and they'll get a second letter when parts are widely available. About 9,000 of the trucks were recalled last year for the same problem. The company says a manufacturing defect allowed moisture into the inflator while it was being manufactured, causing corrosion. The inflators were made in Mexico by Joyson Safety Systems, the company that took over Takata. Back in April, Silverado and Sierra were among nearly 750,000 GM vehicles in a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation into non-deploying driver-side airbags. That investigation is ongoing. Takata is responsible for the largest recalls in automotive history, covering about 100 million inflators among 19 major automakers worldwide, including about 67 million inflators in the United States. Nineteen deaths in the U.S. have been attributed to Takata inflators. Only about 50 million of the 67 million recalled inflators in the U.S. have been repaired. This latest recall is a good reminder to go to NHTSA's recalls website and enter your car's VIN. Millions of recalled vehicles still pose a danger to their owners. Yours could be one of them.   Recalls Chevrolet GM GMC airbag Takata airbag recall

Chevy Corvette Z06, Ford F-150 Raptor join Lego Speed Champs

Get ready to park some performance machines on your desk: Lego's 2016 line of Speed Champions kits will add seven new vehicles for next year, according to an update to the database Brickset. These include some serious muscle like a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and Ford Mustang GT. There's also a listing called "Chevrolet Camaro Drag Race" and a very cool combo titled "Ford F-150 Raptor Ford/Model A Hot Rod". Fans of European performance don't need to be jealous, though. The database shows a kit called "Porsche 919 Hybrid and 917K Pit-Lane." Plus for fans of the Four Rings, the Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro and R8 LMS Ultra are also getting their own Lego models. Fourtitude appears to have some leaked shots, if you want to see what these kits will look like. Lego has partnered with Porsche, McLaren, and Ferrari and offers Speed Champions kits for vehicles like the Porsche 918 Spyder, McLaren P1, Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, and LaFerrari. The models in the series aren't as heavily detailed as the massive Mini Cooper or Volkswagen Bus sets, but they make up for that in value. The individual cars retail for a fairly affordable $14.99. The Formula One playset tops the current range at $99.99, but it comes with a truck, racecar and team figures.

Recharge Wrap-up: Ford HQ gets giant solar array, Chevy City Express gets 24 MPG city

Ford will be building Michigan's largest solar array at its Dearborn headquarters. With funding from DTE Energy, the solar carport will provide covered parking, as well 30 charging stations for electric vehicles. The array is expected to generate 1.13 million kWh per year for Ford's operations, and offset 794 metric tons of carbon emissions. Read more in the press release below. Chevrolet announced the fuel economy for the 2015 City Express, at 25 mpg combined. The cargo van is rated at 24 mpg in the city, and 26 mpg on the highway. Chevy credits the van's inline four-cylinder engine and continuously variable transmission for its impressive city mileage. For its customers - which are mainly businesses - "The fuel economy of the City Express will help stretch their dollar at the pump and give them the flexibility to invest the savings back into their business," says Chevrolet's Ed Peper. The City Express starts at $22,950. Read more in the press release below. Engineers at the University of Wisconsin have developed an efficient engine that runs on a diesel-gas blend. The engine, which uses a computer to control the blend proportions, is about 15 percent more efficient than the any diesel engine according to mechanical engineering professor Rolf Reitz. The team has put the experimental reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engine in a demonstration car - a 2009 Saturn. "This vehicle can do 50 miles per gallon," says Reitz, who believes the system could be improved further. Read more at Wisconsin Public Radio. The Southeast Alternative Fuel Conference and Expo will take place in October in Raleigh, North Carolina. Held at the NC Clean Energy Technology Center from October 22-24, the event will feature a variety of exhibitors, speakers and, most importantly, alternatively powered vehicles. "The three day conference will be a one-stop shop for fleet and transportation related decision makers to learn about return on investment, efficiency and alternative transportation fuels such as biodiesel, electricity, ethanol, propane and natural gas," says Anne Tazewell of the NC Clean Energy Technology Center. If you can't make it to Raleigh for the Expo, you can still enter to win a free two-year lease of a Nissan Leaf at the Center's website. Learn more about the event in the press release, below.