2006 Hummer H2 Awesome Limousine on 2040-cars

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Are orphan cars better deals?

Most folks don't know a Saturn Aura from an Oldsmobile Aurora. Those of you who are immersed in the labyrinth of automobilia know that both cars were testaments to the mediocrity that was pre-bankruptcy General Motors, and that both brands are now long gone. But everybody else? Not so much. By the same token, there are some excellent cars and trucks that don't raise an eyebrow simply because they were sold under brands that are no longer being marketed. Orphan brands no longer get any marketing love, and because of that they can be alarmingly cheap. Case in point, take a look at how a 2010 Saturn Outlook compares with its siblings, the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave. According to the Manheim Market Report, the Saturn will sell at a wholesale auto auction for around $3,500 less than the comparably equipped Buick or GMC. Part of the reason for this price gap is that most large independent dealerships, such as Carmax, make it a point to avoid buying cars with orphaned badges. Right now if you go to Carmax's site, you'll find that there are more models from Toyota's Scion sub-brand than Mercury, Saab, Pontiac, Hummer, and Saturn combined. This despite the fact that these brands collectively sold in the millions over the last ten years while Scion has rarely been able to realize a six-figure annual sales figure for most of its history. That is the brutal truth of today's car market. When the chips are down, used-car shoppers are nearly as conservative as their new-car-buying counterparts. Unfamiliarity breeds contempt. Contempt leads to fear. Fear leads to anger, and pretty soon you wind up with an older, beat-up Mazda MX-5 in your driveway instead of looking up a newer Pontiac Solstice or Saturn Sky. There are tons of other reasons why orphan cars have trouble selling in today's market. Worries about the cost of repair and the availability of parts hang over the industry's lost toys like a cloud of dust over Pigpen. Yet any common diagnostic repair database, such as Alldata, will have a complete framework for your car's repair and maintenance, and everyone from junkyards to auto parts stores to eBay and Amazon stock tens of thousands of parts. This makes some orphan cars mindblowingly awesome deals if you're willing to shop in the bargain bins of the used-car market. Consider a Suzuki Kizashi with a manual transmission. No, really.

GMC could have used Jeep's prized grille design on its born-again Hummer

General Motors confirmed it's bringing the Hummer nameplate back on an electric, GMC-badged pickup by publishing a dark photo of its front end. The battery-powered drivetrain under the sheetmetal represents a tectonic shift, but we noticed another flagrant break with tradition: it wears six slot-like inserts instead of seven like on every previous Hummer and countless Jeeps. Adding an extra slot wouldn't have landed GMC in hot water. The seven-slot grille has historically been associated with Jeep, and the company proved it's willing to go to significant lengths to ensure another automaker — especially one it perceives as a rival — doesn't use it. Parent company Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) bitterly sued Mahindra over the Roxor's design, including its five-slot grille, and won in 2019, forcing the Indian firm to unveil a redesigned side-by-side for the 2020 model year. And yet, stylists would have very likely been able to get away with it on the Hummer. While General Motors owns Hummer, the brand traces its ancestry to 1970, when American Motors Corporation (AMC) purchased Jeep from Kaiser and changed the name of its General Products Division to AM General Corp. The division manufactured the rear-wheel drive, CJ-based DJ for the United States Postal Service and began developing the Humvee in 1979. Jeep and AM General went their separate ways when Renault began investing in AMC. Foreign companies weren't allowed to own defense contractors, and AMC had more to gain by gradually selling out to Renault than by keeping AM General, so it divested the division to LTV Corporation in 1983. Humvee production started shortly after, but no one protested its seven-slot grille because there was no risk of it stealing sales from a comparable Jeep model. It was manufactured exclusively for the U.S. Army, and civilian sales weren't planned. H2SUV View 4 Photos The original civilian Hummer released in 1992 must have raised more than a few eyebrows but, here again, it didn't directly compete with one of Jeep's off-roaders, so no one complained. It was huge, correspondingly expensive, and its portal axles made the YJ-generation Wrangler wet its pants. It's the H2 concept (pictured above) unveiled at the 2000 Detroit Auto Show that set off alarm bells in Auburn Hills. DaimlerChrysler's lawyers counted the slots in the chrome-plated insert that dominated its front end and shuddered when they reached seven.

Hot Wheels' 2022 Green Speed cars bring EVs to small scale

With more and more EVs hitting the market, it was only a matter of time before the new breed of cars would find representation in diecast form. For 2022, Hot Wheels is coming out with a new Green Speed series that puts the spotlight on a diverse lineup of electric cars. The five-car series features a fun mix of EVs from different manufacturers and in a wide range of styles. Some are completely bone stock. For a traditional luxury sedan, there's a Lucid Air in silver, complete with glass (or in this case, clear plastic) canopy. For fans of Teutonic 4-door "coupes" there's the Audi RS e-Tron GT in Daytona Gray. Ticking the truck box is a Hummer EV in a yellow that can only be described as a throwback to the H3. But because this is Hot Wheels, there are "hot-rodded" variants in the lineup as well. Rather than just a regular Nissan Leaf, they've elected to cast the carbon fiber-bodied NISMO RC 2.0 race car. Likewise with Ford, instead of the standard Mustang Mach-E, they've gone with the Mustang Mach-E 1400 drift car. This isn't the first time Hot Wheels has put out a Green Speed series. The line debuted in 2016 but reflected the limited EV choices in the real car market at the time. The only non-fantasy cars in the series were a first-gen Tesla Roadster, a Tesla Model S, and Chevy Volt. Hot Wheels revisited the line again in 2019, this time adding a Tesla Model 3 and a Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo. Hot Wheels also makes other mini EVs that don't fall into this specific line of models. If you want to collect 'em all, there's the second-generation Tesla Roadster concept, Cybertruck, Jaguar I-Pace, Pininfarina Battista, Porsche Taycan, and a Volkswagen ID R. Similarly, Matchbox has released a version of the Tesla Roadster with sustainable packaging to boot. If you must have an old school gasoline burner, Hot Wheels has plenty of options for you too, like, say, this snazzy FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser. The 2022 Hot Wheels Green Speed series should be on shelves at your local retailers now. Related Video: