1951 Chevrolet Truck 3100 Standard Cab Celebrity Owned Pickup No Reserve on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Full-size trucks are the best and worst vehicles in America

You don’t need me to tell you that Americans love pickup trucks. And the bigger the truck, the more likely it seems to be seen as an object of desire. Monthly and yearly sales charts are something of a broken record; track one is the Ford F-Series, followed by the Chevy Silverado, RamÂ’s line of haulers, and somewhere not far down the line, the GMC Sierra. The big Japanese players fall in place a bit further below — not that thereÂ’s anything wrong with a hundred thousand Toyota Tundra sales — and one-size-smaller trucks like the Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado have proven awfully popular, too. Along with their sales numbers, the average cost of new trucks has similarly been on the rise. Now, I donÂ’t pretend to have the right to tell people what they should or shouldnÂ’t buy with their own money. But I just canÂ’t wrap my head around why a growing number of Americans are choosing to spend huge sums of money on super luxurious pickup trucks. Let me first say I do understand the appeal. People like nice things, after all. I know I do. I myself am willing to spend way more than the average American on all sorts of discretionary things, from wine and liquor to cameras and lenses. IÂ’ve even spent my own money on vehicles that I donÂ’t need but want anyway. A certain vintage VW camper van certainly qualifies. I also currently own a big, inefficient SUV with a 454-cubic-inch big block V8. So if your answer to the question IÂ’m posing here is that youÂ’re willing to pay the better part of a hundred grand on a chromed-out and leather-lined pickup simply because you want to, then by all means — not that you need my permission — go buy one. The part I donÂ’t understand is this: Why wouldn't you, as a rational person, rather split your garage in half? On one side would sit a nice car that is quiet, rides and handles equally well and gets above average fuel mileage. Maybe it has a few hundred gasoline-fueled horsepower, or heck, maybe itÂ’s electric. On the other side (or even outside) is parked a decent pickup truck. One that can tow 10,000 pounds, haul something near a ton in the bed, and has all the goodies most Americans want in their cars, like cruise control, power windows and locks, keyless entry, and a decent infotainment screen.

GMC Envoy could be returning as GM files for 'Envoy' trademark

The GMC Envoy could be on its way back, if a recent GM trademark filing is any indication of the future. To be exact, GM's trademark filing is for the name "Envoy," and is applicable to "motor vehicles, namely, sport utility vehicles, engines therefor and structural parts thereof." A victim of the recession and high gas prices, the original Envoy – related to the Blazer, and more recently the TrailBlazer and similar GM SUVs – was discontinued after the 2009 model year. In today's SUV-happy market of low gas prices, unearthing the somewhat familiar Envoy name makes a certain amount of sense. As soon as gas prices start trending in the other direction, we'll all be saying the opposite, though. What this SUV will take shape as is the big question now. With the Chevrolet Blazer well and truly on its way, there's every reason for a GMC version of Chevy's stylish new crossover sporting the Envoy name. Another, less likely, possibility is a Traverse-sized vehicle to slot between the shorter Acadia (10 inches shorter than the Chevy Traverse) and the body-on-frame Yukon. GM could come out of left field and make the Envoy a Buick too. It fits the bill with the "En" beginning, and Buick undoubtedly has crossovers in the works. We think that's even more unlikely, but it's important to remember that we're still in the speculation phase. Soon we'll drive Chevy's new Blazer, and perhaps have more news then. Check in next week for that. Related video:

Seeing the Detroit Auto Show via drone

Seeing the Chevrolet display at the Detroit Auto Show is worth doing this year, and not just because of the new Corvette Z06, Volt and Bolt concept. In order to attract the new kids, The Bowtie has gone what the old kids used to call "buck wild" with their show stand at Cobo Hall. A Corvette Z06, Trax, and Colorado are parked along a central aisle, called Mainstreet, at the end of which is a 20-foot-tall, 73-foot long transparent screen lording over the new Volt. Elsewhere are five more 20-foot-tall screens broadcasting nine stories today's Chevrolet wants to tell about its vehicles, from performance to belief in the power of play to its 4G LTE-equipped OnStar telematics service. Then there are the social media and virtual reality safety installations, the community presentations and more. Chevrolet flew a drone through the stand to show off what it's doing, which is has replaced eye-level video as the next best thing to being there. You can check it out in the video above.