2007 Chevy Avalanche 4x4 5.3l V8 Leather 22" Wheels 58k Texas Direct Auto on 2040-cars

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'84 MotorWeek Cherokee, Bronco and Blazer comparison indulges your SUV nostalgia

These days, truck-based, full-frame SUVs are somewhat of a rarity on the auto landscape due to the rapid rise in popularity of easier-driving, car-based crossovers. Although, without the gradually building popularity of these chunky, high-riding vehicles decades ago, it's unlikely that America's roads would be filled with so many CUVs today. In its latest dig into the archives, MotorWeek has found a 1984 comparison test of a trio of these early Sport Utility Wagons, as long-time host John Davis called them, that helped get acceptance of this segment going. This is a red, white and blue test of the SUVs from American automakers at the time and pits the Chevrolet Blazer, Ford Bronco and Jeep Cherokee (specifically in Wagoneer guise) against each other. Driving manners and interior usability are considered in the evaluation, but Motorweek actually takes these vehicles off road, too. Among the bigger revelations is the improvement in on-road ability in the past 30 years. While specific 0-60 times aren't given, all three models take around 10 seconds just to get to around 50 miles per hour in the 500-feet on-ramp acceleration test. Check out this clip to see just how far this segment has progressed in the past three decades or just get a blast of nostalgia from these now vintage models. News Source: MotorWeek via YouTube Chevrolet Ford Jeep SUV Off-Road Vehicles Classics Videos Ford Bronco chevy blazer

Next-generation Chevrolet Colorado breaks cover in new spy photos

The next-generation Chevrolet Colorado broke cover in this fresh set of spy photos this week, giving us a glimpse of what to expect when GM's compact trucks are replaced in what is expected to be either 2023 or 2024.  Thanks to its still-extensive camouflage, this prototype doesn't give away a ton about the new Colorado's styling, but in profile, it appears as though the swoopy, upswept rear cab line might become a thing of the past. We wouldn't be surprised to see the new Colorado adopt a more angular, squared-off look more akin to that of its big brother, the half-ton Silverado. The Silverado is also expected to donate what may be the new Colorado's only powertrain. Taking a cue from Ford, Chevy is expected to offer the next-gen Colorado with just a turbocharged four-cylinder engine — the new corporate 2.7T in this instance. The large, 310-horsepower four-pot can easily take over for the 3.6L V6 currently available in the GM twins and one-up the 270-hp Ranger to boot. This would mark the end of both a V6 and diesel option being offered in GM's midsize trucks, and tracks with the company's slow, silent effort to eliminate lower-margin models. We say "trucks" because, well, whatever happens with Chevy is likely to translate to GMC. The Canyon will be due for replacement at the same time, and will likely carry on as a re-skin of Chevy's offering. We're not yet certain exactly when Chevrolet will start selling the next-gen Colorado, but given the reasonably complete state of this prototype, we expect it won't be long now. Rumors suggest it could hit the market in 2023 as a 2024 model.  Related Video: The Best Midsize Pickup: Ranger vs Gladiator vs Tacoma vs Colorado

A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.