1968 Chevrolet Camaro Ss on 2040-cars

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Old Car or New Car? 1993 Chevy Camaro vs 2015 Honda CR-Z

My daily life revolves around used cars. As a former fast-talking auto auctioneer, it was once my job to inspect, appraise, and liquidate thousands of cars throughout the United States. Since I put down my microphone and became a full-time car dealer, I have gone from auctioning off 150 vehicles an hour – yes, we really do talk that fast – to buying 150 vehicles every two to three months. I see and bid on everything from $300 Volkswagens that belch more black smoke than a diesel truck rolling coal, to $30,000 DeLoreans that hopefully can go at least 88 miles per hour. The auctions never run out of weirdness when it comes to cars because they sell over 10 million every single year. So with that big number in mind, let me tell you about these two cars that have about as much in common as Mel Gibson and Mel Brooks.Option A: 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Indy 500 Pace Car Edition View 24 Photos This 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Indy Pace Car has all of 4,187 miles on it. Neither of those numbers are a misprint and yes, those are multi-colored stripes on the hood. Every week, I find at least two or three museum pieces that have been stored in the private garage of an auto collector. As you can tell, there are some very broad strokes to the definition and tastes of a collector. It could be a guy who has an extreme case of what I call "Automotive Compulsive Disorder" who chucks 20 or 30 old cars into a field and lets the weather and elements have at them. I once knew a guy, a car dealer at that, who "stored" seven 1990s Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme convertibles in the Georgia sun, and within two years those cars turned into complete junk. The fact that he stored them in an open field he didn't actually own and near a public road didn't help either. A few of the local meth heads and kleptocrats decided to strip-mine his collection, from the radiators to the tops themselves. He had a brief time in prison in between the before and the surprise after and trust me, he looked like he had soiled his britches when he saw what happened to his personally prized Cutlasses. Then you have whoever owned this Camaro. Is it a one-of-a-kind? Nope. Just 1 of 125, and an insignificant number at that (#87). But let's open the door to this Camaro and see what we find. Oof! I don't remember this multi-colored silly string design as a '90s must-have. Wasn't this popular back in the 1980s?

Two More Recalls Push GM Total To 4.8 Million In A Month

General Motors announced two more recalls late Friday, bringing to 4.8 million the number of cars, trucks and SUVs the automaker has called back for repairs in the past month. The string of recalls, topped by an ignition switch problem in compact cars now linked to 13 crash deaths, has embarrassed the company and sidetracked its new CEO, who started work just over two months ago. GM has admitted knowing about the switch problem a decade ago, yet it didn't recall any cars until February. The recall delay has brought two congressional investigations and probes by the Justice Department and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Late Friday night, GM announced it would recall 490,000 late-model pickup trucks and SUVs because transmission oil cooling lines weren't secured properly in their fittings. Transmission oil can leak from a fitting and hit hot surfaces, causing fires, the company said in a statement. GM said it knows of three fires and no injuries. The recall affects Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickup trucks from the 2014 model year, as well as 2015 Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe SUVs and the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs. All have six-speed automatic transmissions. The Silverado is GM's top-selling vehicle and an important profit center for the company. The GMC Sierra also is among GM's top sellers. Dealers will inspect the transmission oil cooling line fittings and make sure they're securely seated, at no cost to owners. Also Friday night, GM announced the recall of 172,000 Chevrolet Cruze compact cars because the right front axle shaft can fracture and separate while being driven. The recall affects cars from the 2013 and 2014 model years equipped with 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engines. If a shaft fractures, the wheels would lose power without warning and the cars would coast to a stop. GM says it has warranty reports of several dozen shaft fractures. It is not aware of any crashes or injuries. Dealers will replace the shafts free of charge. The recall allows dealers to resume selling affected Cruzes. GM issued a stop sale order on the cars Thursday night. The recall also covers about 2,500 replacement shafts used to fix manual transmission Cruzes that were recalled last September. In all, GM has recalled 4.8 million vehicles since last month, two million more than the company sold last year in the U.S.

Nissan Leaf makes it 19 in a row for record sales; Chevy Volt drops 21 percent

The Nissan Leaf continues its streak of "best month ever" sales with 2,881 EVs sold in September. Compared to the 1,953 sold in September 2013, that represents an increase of 47.5 percent and, as Nissan itself must be tired of saying by now, it marks yet another best month ever, same as last month and now the 19th in a row. Okay, sure, we know, Nissan will tout this run for as long as it can, but we're certainly expecting it each month, so if it ever doesn't happen, it'll be interesting to see how Nissan talks about it. Year-to-date, Leaf sales are up 35.7 percent compared to 2013. In any case, Nissan's director of EV marketing, Toby Perry, sent AutoblogGreen a statement that said, "Nissan Leaf owners have turned into some of our best marketers, and they jump at any opportunity to share their enthusiasm with friends and family. Take National Drive Electric Week – a grassroots celebration of all things EV and the perfect platform for LEAF owners to showcase the benefits of going electric. After celebrating with EV owners in more than 130 cities across the country, we saw a significant increase in Leaf showroom visits with midweek traffic just as heavy as what we see on the weekends." Year-to-date, Leaf sales are up 35.7 percent compared to 2013. Over on the Chevy Volt front, things aren't quite as rosy. After coming off a good August (the best sales month of 2014 by almost 500 units), Volt sales were down to 1,394, a decrease of 21.1 percent compared to September 2013. So far this year, Volt sales are down 13.2 percent year-over-year. It's kind of a stretch, but perhaps people are already waiting for the next-gen Volt, which will be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January, to go on sale? Speaking of things we say every month, our in-depth round-up of US green car sales is in process and will be appearing soon. Until then, please discuss how these two long-standing plug-in champs are doing on the sales floor. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales hybrid sales