1970 Chevrolet Nova Base Coupe 2-door 5.7l on 2040-cars

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Question of the Day: Worst year of the Malaise Era?

The Malaise Era for cars in the United States spanned the 1973 through 1983 model years, and featured such abominations as a Corvette with just 205 horsepower (from the optional engine!) and MGBs with suspensions jacked way up to meet new headlight-height requirements. There were many low points throughout this gloomy period, of course. The horrifyingly low power and fuel-economy numbers for big V8s during the middle years of the Malaise Era make a strong case for 1974 or 1975— the years of Nixon's resignation and the Fall of Saigon, respectively— as the most Malaisey years. But then the GM-pummeling debacles of the Chevy Citation and Cadillac Cimarron could make an early-1980s year the low point. 1979, the year of the ignominious Chrysler bailout? You choose! Related Video:

Crash victim found still inside car 6 hours after it was towed away [w/video]

Police near Dayton, OH, have quite a confusing case on their hands after the victim of a crash early on New Year's Day couldn't initially be found. Six hours later, the man was discovered lying on the vehicle's floorboard at the tow yard. The unidentified person was admitted to a local hospital in critical condition with possible leg injuries. The police first responded to the scene of the crash around 3:00 am on New Year's Day when a Chevrolet Impala hit a utility pole and drove through a fence, according to WHIO News. The authorities claim that they searched for the man for an hour and a half and came up with nothing. The car was then hauled away to the yard, which was only about 500 feet away. The tow yard worker found the man around 9:00 am and called 911. However, he was clearly dubious about the injured man's predicament and suggested to the operator that he might have returned to the Impala. Police are still investigating the incident. According to WHIO, authorities might have somehow missed the man in the sedan during the search. Alternatively, he could have left the scene of the accident and later returned. Watch the video below for more about this bizarre case. The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. News Source: WHIO via Yahoo Autos Chevrolet Police/Emergency Videos Sedan

GM: Without LG Chem, we couldn't build Bolt EV [UPDATE]

It's absolutely no surprise that General Motors has a thing for LG Corp. The Detroit automaker and the Korean parts supplier have been working in public on electric vehicles ever since it was announced that LG Chem would supply the battery cells for the Chevy Volt in 2009. LG Chem was even named GM's 2010 Supplier of the Year. But, yesterday, the connection between the two companies was strengthened with the announcement that LG Electronics would be supplying a number of components for the upcoming Chevy Bolt electric vehicle. The Bolt is expected to be able to go about 200 miles and will carry a price tag of about $30,000 (after incentives) when it arrives in 2017 or so. LG's new components can be found almost everywhere in the Bolt. They include the battery pack and the battery heater, a new motor, the power inverter module, the electric climate control system compressor, the on-board charger, high-power distribution module, the accessory power module, and power line communication module. Oh, and then there are LG Electronics' advanced display technologies like the new instrument cluster and a new infotainment cluster. LG Electronics also supplies parts for the 4G LTE OnStar system, just like it does in other new Chevys. If that all sounds like a lot of components to you, you're right. Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, said that without the expanded relationship with LG, GM would not be able to bring the Bolt to market (insert old ironic quote link here). "I think GM was lacking that [electrification knowledge] in a very complete way for many years, I'll just be frank about that," Reuss said. "I also think that on an electrified basis, this requires a long-term commitment and trust that sometimes is violated on a more short-term, regular, traditional basis. I think we have found something completely different with LG and I think that has become a widely talked about and duplicated want from our purchasing and corporate standpoint with our supply base." The "this" that Reuss is talking about here is the OEM-supplier relationship, something has evolved with the LG-GM situation. Previously, the automaker-supplier relationship used to be more like a dictator telling underlings what he needed, Reuss said, and that was a bad idea. "Today's competitive landscape requires a different approach, especially in electrified vehicles," he said.