2002 Chevrolet Suburban K1500 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

New GM subcompact SUV spied, could be a Chevy or GMC

GM's pair of subcompact crossovers have been trundling along for a while now. The Buick Encore was the first for Americans in the 2013 model year, and the Chevy Trax that was based on the Encore (an encore of the Encore, if you will) arrived for the 2015 model year. Each has undergone a mild update, but these spy photos could indicate their replacements are in the works. Or not. For starters, we can't be sure which GM brand this new SUV is destined for. Though the timing and its flowing lines could indicate Buick, the thick horizontal bars visible in the grille would indicate otherwise. The next Encore being at least related to this is at least a possibility. Making the case for GMC are those thick grille bars, the fact that it extends far below the lights, and may even rise above them, similar to the Acadia. And that rising beltline isn't that different from that of the Acadia. Arguing against the GMC idea is the Encore, which is almost always sold in GMC-Buick combo dealers. Much as the Acadia was made smaller to eliminate confusion and in-house competition with the Enclave, it's hard to see GM opting to resurrect such an issue at the bottom end of the SUV market. That means we're leaning toward this little SUV wearing a Chevy bowtie. The split grille with a large lower section and small upper section is the brand's current design language, as seen on the new Malibus and Cruzes. The shape is vaguely Equinox-like. And like Buick, Chevy also has a subcompact crossover ready for replacement: the Trax. Now, our photographer reports he's seen another subcompact testing that has Blazer design cues, but in this crossover-hungry market, we wouldn't be surprised if two similarly sized but differently styled Chevy crossovers make the grade. It's a strategy that's working pretty well for Jeep. We'll no doubt be seeing more of these disguised test vehicles milling about the country in the coming months, so perhaps we'll eventually get a better idea of what this is before more official information starts trickling out within one or two years. Related Video: Featured Gallery GM Subcompact Crossover spy shots View 10 Photos Image Credit: SpiedBilde Spy Photos Buick Chevrolet GM GMC Crossover SUV buick encore chevy trax

Steve McQueen's last movie car, now Pawn Stars-owned, up for auction [w/video]

The last car Steve McQueen ever drove in a movie is officially up for auction. The 1951 Chevrolet Styline DeLuxe Convertible you see above is now owned by none other than Rick Harrison of Pawn Stars fame, but once ferried McQueen around the set of his last film, 1980's The Hunter. That flick saw the Bullit star play a bumbling bounty hunter and didn't exactly set the box office on fire. McQueen bought the car after production wrapped, and four years later it sold at his estate sale at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas.
Flash forward to 2003, and the convertible received a full restoration back to near-stock specifications. Hagerty Insurance estimates the car to be worth around $45,000 without the significant providence. Given its ties to one of film's most popular gearheads, the old Chevrolet could fetch up to 10 times that when it goes under the gavel in Ft Luaderdale, Florida on March 22. You can head over to the Auctions America site for more information. You can also check out the trailer for The Hunter below.

GM's Buckle to Drive teen safety feature comes to more models for 2021

In 2014, GM announced a feature called "Belt Assurance," which would prevent a vehicle from being shifted out of park until the driver and front passenger had buckled their seatbelts. Initially launched on certain fleet vehicles in 2014, the feature rolled out as a free option on the 2015 GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Colorado, Cruze and Silverado. At the time, GM said it would push Belt Assurance to more models if customers took to it. That appears to have happened; come 2019, GM repackaged Belt Assurance as Buckle to Drive, part of the automaker's Teen Driver System that bundled tech such as geofencing and speed limit warnings to help parents keep track of their children's driving habits. In that implementation, the system only works when Teen Driver Mode is activated, locking out the shifter and muting the radio for 20 seconds or until the seatbelts are buckled, whichever comes first. The system shows a visual warning in the gauge cluster, too.  For this model year, the Teen Driver System came standard on 10 Chevy models, but Buckle to Drive was only allotted to the Colorado, Malibu and Traverse. Later this year, the 2021 Camaro will join the Chevys outfitted with the Teen Driver System and will get Buckle to Drive in addition. GM Authority reports that for the 2021 model year, Buckle to Drive will also be picked up by the Cadillac CT4 and CT5. Previously, the Cadillac ATS, CTS, Escalade and XTS came with the Teen Driver System, but three out of those four vehicles are no more, and the 2021 Escalade makes no mention of the Teen Driver System nor Buckle to Drive among its safety features. Elsewhere around the GM empire, the Buick Envision and Encore GX include the Teen Driver System, as do six GMC vehicles, but it's not clear when any will be upgraded with Buckle to Drive. The tech could help save numerous teenagers' lives. On its page of teen crash facts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention writes that roughly 300,000 teens between the ages of 16 and 19 ended up in emergency rooms to treat crash injuries in 2017. Furthermore, "only 58.8% of high school students always wore seat belts when riding as passengers," and, "Among young drivers aged 15-20 who died in car crashes in 2017, almost half were unrestrained at the time of the crash (when restraint use was known)." Related Video: