1968 Chevy Camaro on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Zombie cars roundup: Dodge has sold 3 new Vipers this year

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

New Chevy Malibu helps parents monitor teen driver's performance

For teens, a driver's license can represent freedom. For parents, it can represent fear. Now there's a way parents can alleviate some of their worries and monitor their teen drivers. The 2016 Chevy Malibu, which debuted Wednesday at the New York Auto Show, contains a new feature that tracks driving performance and helps inexperienced drivers rein in some of their more dangerous habits. Accessed through a password in the car's infotainment system, parents can learn how far their child has driven, how fast they've gone and how many times they've braked hard, among other features. "It's an in-vehicle report card that gives parents information," says Mary Ann Beebe, one of the lead engineers who designed the system. "It's meant to be used as a teaching tool. Parents can sit down and talk with their teen about, 'Here are some areas where you're doing well, and here's some where you can use improvement.'" Car accidents are the leading cause of death for teens ages 16 to 19, and only last week, AAA released a study that found their driving behavior can leave them particularly susceptible to crashes. General Motors had sought ways to help educate and train younger drivers. In an era where data can be harvested from cars, monitoring performance is one way to provide information. Parents access the Teen Driver system in the car through a PIN-number entered into the Malibu's infotainment system. The report card can only be seen in the car – so far, it's not available via a smartphone app, like some other types of on-board diagnostic information. The system is activated by the use of a specially programmed key fob that lets the system know who is driving the car. Once the vehicle recognizes the key fob, it takes preventive measures to ensure safer conduct behind the wheel: Until the driver and front passenger buckle their seat belts, the radio is muted. Safety systems such as forward-collision assist and electronic stability control are automatically turned on. Parents can preset preferred speed limits, and drivers will hear a warning if that sound is exceeded. "We have these great technologies, and we want to make sure we turn them on for the teen," Beebe said. There are no geo-location aspects of the program, and data is stored on the car, not uploaded to the Cloud or even seen by General Motors, she said.

Chevy Camaro is a good sport, wishes Ford Mustang Happy 50th

It was 1966 when Chevrolet launched its challenger to the wildly successful Ford Mustang, the Camaro. While the competition between the two brands was already healthy, the arrival of the Camaro set off one of the most intense, model-to-model rivalries in the industry.
That competitive spirit hasn't stopped Chevy and the Camaro from wishing Ford's iconic muscle car a Happy 50th Birthday as the Ford's April 17 anniversary rolls around. These two cars have been linked over the years, and while the rivalry took a break for a few years in the 2000s, today's competition between the Camaro and Mustang is as fierce as it's ever been.
You might recall that this friendliness when it comes to major milestones isn't too rare. Ford put on quite a display for General Motors' hundredth anniversary back in 2008. As the Camaro's fiftieth birthday approaches in 2016, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Mustang sending its best wishes to its Bowtie rival.