UPDATE: Make That $41,000 For A Single Volt

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But that includes delivery charges.

(Cue crickets)

Chevy says it can make the argument that unlike the purely electric Nissan Leaf, which starts below $33,000 before tax credits, the plug-in hybrid Volt is a "real" car. And GM's working some math magic to make lease payments competitive with the Leaf despite the sticker spread.

Full details from The Detroit News.

And full credit to Edward Neidemeyer over at The Truth About Cars , who got past the price tag, hauled out the spec sheet and found the Volt's range extender (what you and I might quaintly call a "gasoline engine") requires.....

Premium fuel.

Post Title → UPDATE: Make That $41,000 For A Single Volt

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40,000 Volts Is Quite A Shock. So's One Volt For $40,000

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That's the price General Motors has arrived at for its 2011 electric Chevrolet Volt, according to Automotive News (free subscription required).

The announcement comes tomorrow, and the blow will be softened somewhat by a $7,500 tax credit...but, still...$40,000? A chunk above now-retired GM product guy Bob Lutz' prediction of "the upper 20s"...and significantly higher than the Nissan Leaf's $32.780 before tax credits.

Would you? And if not you, then who?

Post Title → 40,000 Volts Is Quite A Shock. So's One Volt For $40,000

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GM Unveils Chevy Volt MPV5 Crossover At Beijing Auto Show

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Chevy's getting this PR momentum thing down cold. Just days after WXYZ-TV in Detroit spotted one of the first pre-production sedan models of the electric Chevy Volt parked on the street, the wraps have come off a crossover Volt.

Full details, including more pix and the GM press release at Autoblog Green.

Post Title → GM Unveils Chevy Volt MPV5 Crossover At Beijing Auto Show

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TireKicker Time Machine: 1978 Chevrolet Caprice Classic

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(UPDATE:  Sharp-eyed TireKicker reader Paul Duca spotted the clues that this is in fact a newer Caprice. We've been able to narrow it down to 1982, '83, '84 or '85. Hit the comments section if you can help us pinpoint it to a single year. We'll change the headline and tags once we've got the right vintage)

It wasn't that long ago that you couldn't drive a city block without seeing three of these.

Oh, wait...it was that long ago. 32 model years since this '78 Chevrolet Caprice Classic rolled off the showroom floor...20 model years since its clean, classic lines were replaced by the dumpy upside-down bathtub models that themselves are becoming (mercifully) scarce.

                          

Hard to believe it now, but this was the downsized full-size Chevrolet...and GM was thought to be taking a big risk when it introduced this body style in the fall of 1976 as a '77 model. 637 pounds lighter than the previous generation, 10 inches shorter and 4 inches narrower.

What nobody realized until they saw the new one was just how badly the Caprice needed a diet. The big Chevy had been packing on the pounds since 1971 (kinda like Elvis at the time).

The new Caprice rapidly became its own benchmark.

                                  

Even in the desert Southwest, where these were a best-seller and where cars don't rust away, these aren't everyday sights anymore in any condition, which makes finding an intact, clean original all the more wonderful.

The NADA guides suggest $800-$2,000 would be enough to take one in this condition home, if you could find one and an owner who wanted to part with it. The best one on earth might set you back $2,500.

                                  

Back in the 90s, the buzz was that these were being bought up used and shipped by the boatload over to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where they hated the new 90s Caprice styling even more than we did, liked the looks of this one, knew it was virtually bulletproof (in terms of reliability..."bulletproof" tends to be taken more literally in certain parts of the world) and that its air conditioning system could allow the Caprice Classic to double as a meat locker.

If true (and there do seem to be a lot of ads for them from Kuwait online), let's hope they didn't take too many and that there are plenty still here in the USA...hiding in retirement community garages...their 55-year old buyers now 87 and ready to hang up the keys after finding the Caprice a good home.

Post Title → TireKicker Time Machine: 1978 Chevrolet Caprice Classic

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TireKicker Time Machine: 1971 Chevrolet El Camino

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Now here's a genuine survivor....a 1971 Chevy El Camino that hasn't been jacked up, painted metallic whatever or any other attempts to make it look "bad".

                          

In fact, these delicate paint accents, hand-done and signed by the artist, are the only appearance mods to this 39-year old El Camino. And from the looks of them, they were probably done in the 1970s.

                          

Aftermarket wheels? Nope...this ElCam has what it wore rolling off the assembly line.

                          

In fact, the only modification is a non-cosmetic one...the addition of a spray-in bedliner. Extra points for the single crushed beer can.

                           

And this particular vehicle is packing the second most potent powerplant offered in '71...the 400 (formerly known as the 396). As with all 1971 cars, some detuning had taken place...the engine that made 350 horsepower in '70 was only good for 300 this time around, but waiting until '72 would have been a mistake. It dropped to 240 (as the 402) then.

    

As with this week's '55 Chevy Two-Ten and '62 Chrysler 300, this one could use a little TLC (in fact, it could use it more than the others) but it's complete and honest...just how we like our TireKicker Time Machines.

Post Title → TireKicker Time Machine: 1971 Chevrolet El Camino

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Chevrolet Posts Topless Photos To Facebook: 2011 Camaro Convertible

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It's just a fact of modern life...drop your top in front of a camera, and it's going to wind up on the internet. But this isn't the work of an ex-boyfriend a disgruntled GM employee...not an invasion of presumed privacy by the long lens of Brenda Priddy.  Nope, Chevrolet has found its inner exhibitionist and outed the 2011 Camaro Convertible with the first official photos (two of them).....on its own Facebook page.

Oh, Chevy, you tease.

Post Title → Chevrolet Posts Topless Photos To Facebook: 2011 Camaro Convertible

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TireKicker Time Machine: 1955 Chevy

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Welcome to a new feature...TireKicker Time Machine. And what better way to start than the car widely credited with beginning the "modern" era of post-war cars...the 1955 Chevy.

                          

You usually see these either customized or over-restored, and in a higher trim level, at Saturday cruise nights and classic car auctions. But this one appears to be a well, but not obsessively preserved original...parked in a downtown Phoenix parking lot on a weekday afternoon.

                          

This one's all there...right down to the original hubcaps...an accomplishment after 55 years.

                          

If you cropped this photo to eliminate the contemporary cars and the historic license plate and told me it was from the late 50s or early 60s, I'd see no reason to doubt it. This is what these cars looked like back in the day.

The side trim tells me that it's a Two-Ten 2-door sedan...the middle model between the top-of-the-line Bel Air and the base One-Fifty.

                         

                                                    (graphic from 55classicchevy.com)

Post Title → TireKicker Time Machine: 1955 Chevy

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Chevy Volt On The Street

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The first pre-production Chevrolet Volt electrics (built just last week) are popping up on the street in Detroit.

A crew from ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV caught one parked in the Motor City and has a slideshow here.

Post Title → Chevy Volt On The Street

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2011 Camaro V6 To Mustang: I'll See Your 305 And Raise You 7

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A mere two weeks after Ford announced a 305 horsepower rating for the 2011 V6 Mustang, (one more than the 2010 Camaro's 304), the Bowtie Boys are upping the ante by raising the horsepower rating for their six to 312.

Full details (how they did it, new colors, a heads-up display and production date) from the GM press release here....and discussion on the GM Inside News forums here.

                                  

Upgrade your Mustang from a stock hood with aftermarket Mustang hoods from AmericanMuscle.

Post Title → 2011 Camaro V6 To Mustang: I'll See Your 305 And Raise You 7

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More Chevy Volts Roll Off Assembly Line

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One week after the first "manufacturing validation" example was built, three more Chevolet Volt electrics have rolled off the assembly line. They are the first of a few hundred preproduction models that will be built this spring and summer.

Full details from The Detroit Free Press.

Post Title → More Chevy Volts Roll Off Assembly Line

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6 Million GM Light-Duty Trucks Under Fed Investigation: Rusty Brakes

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The feds say they've had 110 complaints, 37 confirmed by dealer inspections. Full details from Automotive News (free registration required).

Post Title → 6 Million GM Light-Duty Trucks Under Fed Investigation: Rusty Brakes

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2011 Chevrolet Volt: First One Built

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The first "manufacturing validation" example of the Chevrolet Volt electric car went down the assembly line earlier this week.

The Detroit News reports that several hundred more will be built for evaluation and testing before production of for-sale cars begins this fall.

Post Title → 2011 Chevrolet Volt: First One Built

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