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Junkyard Gem: 1973 GMC Sierra Grande Camper Special

Starting in the 1973 model year, General Motors introduced the "Rounded Line" family of C/K-series Chevrolet and GMC trucks, and sales of the pickup versions continued all the way through 1987. Nice examples of these trucks can sell for large money, but the junkyard teaches us that not all collectible vehicles are worth rescuing and fixing up. Here's a reinforcement of that lesson, courtesy of a first-year GMC C2500 Camper Special with the high-zoot Sierra Grande trim level, found in a self-service yard just outside of Denver, Colorado. I'm no GM truck expert, but I know enough to stay clear of the battles over what to call this pickup. Let's just say it's a three-quarter-ton, rear-wheel-drive third-gen C-Series with really cool badges. Yes, I bought this badge for my garage wall, and it was totally worth the $4.23. GM came up with the Camper Special package during the late 1960s, when removable pickup campers became popular, and for 1973 it included heavy-duty springs and a wiring harness made to plug into the connectors on slide-in truck campers. It also included woodsy-looking badges, but someone pried the ones off this truck before I could buy them. This may well have been a one-owner truck, because it still had original warranty paperwork inside. Here we see that it was purchased new on August 2, 1973 (which happens to be the day that George Brett got his very first hit in the big leagues) by a resident of Compton, California. Yes, that Compton. The build tag tells us that this Camper Special was born at the Fremont Assembly plant in California, which became the GM-Toyota NUMMI venture in 1984 and is now the Tesla Factory. I think most 1973 C/K pickups sold new in Colorado would have come from Pontiac Assembly in Michigan. There was a time, not many years ago, when a genuine 454-cubic-inch (that's 7.4 liters to those of you sweating under the oppressive weight of the French Empire's Measurement System) big-block Chevrolet engine would have been yanked out and purchased within hours of hitting the rows of a yard like this. These days, engine-swappers can get more power with less weight from any number of donor vehicles. If this engine is the original 454, it was rated at 240 horsepower and 355 pound-feet (down from 270 hp in 1972 due to emissions-related changes). This truck had a three-speed automatic transmission, like most optioned-up Detroit pickups of its era.

GM recalls 740,000 vehicles over daytime running light issue

General Motors is recalling over 740,000 vehicles due to a daytime running light issue that causes all of the affected cars to run afoul of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Vehicles affected by this recall are spread across many of GM’s brands. Models include the 2020-2023 Cadillac CT4 and CT5, 2021-2023 Buick Envision, 2022-2023 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, 2022-2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe and 2022-2023 GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL. GM says that the daytime running lights may remain on in these cars when the headlights are activated. This is a problem, because FMVSS rules require that the daytime running lights deactivate once the headlights turn on. If the DRLs remain on, GM says that could result in additional glare, thereby increasing the risk of an accident. The cause of this failure to deactivate the DRLs comes from body control module software that “under a combination of certain pre-conditions, could fail to deactivate the DRLs,” according to GM. Other GM vehicles were tested, but due to a difference in software or hardware, they remain unaffected. If this is reminding you of another recent GM recall, youÂ’d be right, as GM recalled another 340,000 vehicles for the same issue last month. After that original issue was found within GM, the company began looking into its other cars to determine if the population was larger than originally thought. GM found the additional vehicles included in todayÂ’s recall have the problem. The fix will either be via an over-the-air update or it will require you to bring the vehicle into a dealer for a software update, depending on which vehicle you have. Owner notification letters letting folks know what is necessary are currently scheduled to go out on January 23, 2023. Related video: Cadillac Escalade Infotainment Review

GM plans to restart production in Mexico on May 20

MEXICO CITY — General Motors is tentatively planning to restart operations at its auto assembly plant in the Mexican city of Silao on May 20, according to a message to workers seen by Reuters on Sunday, as the car industry prepares to exit the coronavirus lockdown. Separately, the president of GM's Mexican unit advised suppliers to prepare to resume operations. “We are now beginning a new phase given the Mexican governmentÂ’s official announcement earlier this week to consider the transportation manufacturing industry as essential for the countryÂ’s economy,” Francisco Garza, president ofGeneral Motors de Mexico, wrote in an email to suppliers dated on Friday that was viewed by Reuters. The reopening of the plant  in Silao would be a positive signal for the auto sector in North America, whose supply lines are highly interconnected between the United States, Mexico and Canada. The plant in the central state of Guanajuato has been idled for weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak. Workers had previously been told to plan to return to their jobs on May 18. A GM spokeswoman said the company could not confirm when it would restart operations at any of its facilities in Mexico because it is awaiting more guidance from the government. The message to the plant's workers came after the government on Friday clarified when the industry could begin easing restrictions imposed because of the health emergency. On Wednesday, the government said automakers could start going back into production from May 18. It then withdrew that advice and suggested the new start date would be June 1. Finally it indicated the sector, which forms the backbone of Mexican manufacturing, could begin operating as soon as next week if companies had the required safety measures in place. U.S. officials and its auto industry have pressed Mexico's government to get its factories open again because American operations depend heavily on parts from south of the border. However, some politicians are wary of opening too fast. Mexico registered its first case of coronavirus weeks after the United States and Canada and the toll of daily infections and deaths in the country reached new peaks over the past few days. The Silao production facility, which makes highly profitable pickup trucks for GM, is one of the biggest automotive plants in Guanajuato, a major Mexican carmaking state. Related Video: