1974 Gmc Jimmy 4x4; At, Convertible Hard Top, No Rust, Restored Custom on 2040-cars

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Chevy Express 1500, GMC Savana 1500 get the axe

Fans of truck-based, light-duty vans can officially pour one out for the Chevrolet Express 1500 and GMC Savana 1500, as General Motors has officially put its long-serving big/little rigs out to pasture. Things aren't quite as sad as they sound, though. The heavier-duty 2500 and 3500 vans will soldier on, in order to duke it out with the largest members of Ram ProMaster, Ford Transit and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter families.
The move does seem to make a lot of sense. According to GM, customers only purchase the 1500-spec Chevrolet 23 percent of the time, while the GMC captures a mere 7 percent of the Savana family's sales. With numbers like that, it's no shock that GM thinks it can shift some of its buyers into its van family's more capable variants. "We knew we could move a lot of our 1500 customers into 2500-series territory," said GM's Joe Langhauser, the product manager for the company's full-size vans.
It's not just simple sales figures dictating the move, though. The 1500 line is taking up some valuable factory space that will be better spent on an eagerly anticipated new product.

GMC Terrain adds AT4 trim, completing the set

"AT4 all of the things!" is GMC's new rallying cry, as the brand has announced that the off-road-themed trim level is coming to the GMC Terrain midsize SUV. The Terrain will join the just-announced 2021GMC Yukon and the 2021 GMC Canyon midsize pickup, both of which add an AT4 variant for the first time. The model designation was introduced on the Sierra full-size pickup for 2019, and spread to the Sierra HD and to the Acadia three-row crossover for 2020. AT4 content, however, varies widely by model. In the Sierra full-size pickup, the trim level brings a full slate of off-road gear including a two-inch suspension lift, a two-speed transfer case for the 4WD system, a locking rear differential, hill-descent control, Rancho shocks, skid plates, off-road tires, and more. The Acadia AT4, meanwhile, includes little more than standard AWD, black wheels and exterior trim, and all-terrain tires. It sounds like the Terrain AT4 will be closer to the Acadia in execution, with GMC promising a black-chrome grille and exterior design elements plus "confident capability and advanced technology." Hmm. The GMC Terrain AT4 doesn't arrive until the 2021 model year, which means this fall, so more specifics, including pricing, are still to come. But GMC couldn't wait to show the Terrain AT4, which completes the AT4 family photo seen above. Related Video:    

Meet Alex Archer, the engineer behind GM's power-sliding center console

In 2009, a GM manager complained to a 59-year-old GM technician about the hassle of retrieving items from a pickup truck bed after driving shifted the cargo. In two days, the tech had come up with the ideas that, ten years later, would debut as the MultiPro tailgate. The engineering teams kept the tailgate secret in part by hiding mock-ups in a locked storage closet in GM's Vehicle Engineering Center in Warren Michigan for two years. A piece in the Detroit Free Press reveals that another storage closet in Warren would play the same role in a different cloak-and-dagger operation, this time for the power-sliding center console in GM's new full-sized SUVs. During a meeting in early 2017, bosses gave the job of the console's creation to 24-year-old design release engineer Alex Archer, just two years out of Stanford University with a degree in engineering and product design.  This time, the catalyst for the feature was an internal GM think tank called co:lab, where employees suggest ideas. Execs gave Archer the task because "They needed someone willing to ask a lot of questions," her 36-month mandate to produce a six-way console that could be a standard cubby or a gaping maw able to swallow four gallon jugs or hide a secret compartment. Clearly, she succeeded. It took Archer and the team nine months to devise a prototype, another six months to get the green light for production. As with the tailgate, the team working on the console grew to include designers, production engineers, and suppliers. Archer, now 26, shepherded the process, and her name is on the patent. "It took a ton of people, I'm just somebody who stuck with it the whole time," she said. GM like her work well enough to produce the "Day in the Life" segment above, five months before the world would hear about the console. Archer's path to engineering was as unlikely as getting the job for the console. She had entered Stanford with plans to be a doctor. But an innovation class during her freshman year, and a sophomore summer spent helping her grandfather rebuild a 1937 MG engine recharted her course. Her grandfather told her, "You know, you could be an engineer for a car company." Consumer reaction to Archer's work won't be far off, the SUVs slated to hit dealerships soon. Meanwhile, she's busy on something that could be just as intense as the console: Restoring a 1955 Packard Clipper in her garage. Head to Freep to check out the story of Archer and the console. Related Video: