Enthusiast site Camaro5 has gotten its hands on yet another batch of 2009 Camaro interior shots, this batch showing an even more dressed up automatic transmission version of the car. There’s an interesting bank of gauges down by the shift lever, and one photo also shows an intriguing display in front of the passenger seat.
Overall it looks as if the interior quality is coming up though it’s still a bit difficult to make any real judgments without seeing the cabin live and in person. Click through to Camaro5 to see the rest of the story or on the thumbnails below to see an older set of spy photos, and then share your thoughts with us, in comments.
Now that GM has given a hybrid powertrain to the new-for-2008 Malibu, Chevrolet’s mid-size runner has a lot more to bring to the table and offers a real stiff competition for the Toyota Camry. We like the Malibu’s styling and interior refinement, but after a week in our test fleet, we’re having doubts about the Chevrolet competing with the likes of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive.
Click through the jump for our full driving impressions and click the images below to open a gallery.
1966 Chevrolet (Shhh, it’s really a GMC) Dale Earnhardt Tribute Van, complete with:
- Advanced checkered flag theme
- Three Intimidator murals, A Portrait of Dale, The Crash, and The Big Oval In The Sky
- Extra creepy Jesus head
- Several platitudes
- American flag topper
- Two-tone Pergo flooring with Chevy “bow tie” inset
- Carpeted walls
- Wall of NASCAR with twin speakers
- A thousand tiny reminders that life is sad, glorious, and ultimately too short
- “Only going up in value”
It’s been well established that the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu has been a sales leader for General Motors, easily surpassing the popularity of the out-going model. Interestingly though, J.D. Power and Associates is reporting that a fair amount of import owners are opting for new Malibu’s as well. Nearly one-fifth, 19.8 percent, of all trade-ins for the new car were imports. That number is up significantly from 12.5 percent for the last generation car in 2007.
Malibu is claiming conquests from the Japanese brands at a 4.6 percent better rate than last year. The combined percentage of trade-ins from the likes of Honda, Toyota, and Nissan was up to 9.7 percent in the first quarter of the year.
Overall Power ranked the Malibu as number 17 among the top-selling 20 models for the first quarter of 2008, and the fifth- best-selling midsize conventional sedan.
Click through the jump to read the full break-down of the J.D. Power Malibu trade results.
Despite recent reports from United Auto Workers officials and industry pundits, General Motors said yesterday that it would not soon run out of axles for its Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6 sedans.
GM’s group vice president for purchasing and supply chain, Bo Andersson (pictured), indicated that the automaker was in solid shape for continued production, responding to a question of when the axle supply would run out by saying, “Based on the way I see it now, never.” Andersson declined to provide the specifics but said that GM has, “a good plan for handling the potential shortage.”
The automaker had been thought to be running low on a key component for the rear suspensions of the Chevy and Pontiac sedans, and shutdowns were predicted for the GM plants in Orion, Michigan and Fairfax, Kansas. With dealer inventories of the sedans running to about 40-days, the prevailing thinking had been that GM would need to step in and broker a deal between American Axle and the UAW.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
These days it can be awfully hard to remember the workaday origins of the average American sport-utility vehicle. With styling and interior appointments that would shame luxury cars just a decade ago, today’s SUV may retain some of the prowess of its humble precursor, but the package it comes in is amazingly more civilized.
Surely not what Chrysler stylists had in mind when they first penned the PT Cruiser, this “rockcrawler mudbogger 4×4 custom” is a collision of style and intent.
The enterprising builder has used the evergreen K5 Blazer (a 1979 here) as the basic platform for his monster Cruiser, dropping the Chrysler body and interior on the Chevrolet running gear. It’s fair to say that said running gear has itself been substantially toyed with; in this case the 4-inch BDS suspension lift and 36-inch tires make the biggest impression.
For those who love the look of a beastly PT but are concerned with the reliability of the package (sensibly), the seller has thoughtfully offered a personal drivetrain warranty of 30 days or 1,000 miles. You might be sick of scraping the top of your garage by then anyway.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Want to see exactly how General Motors is progressing on the production version of its Chevrolet Volt electric car? Well, thanks to a little sneakiness on the part of WWJ 950 radio reporter Jeff Gilbert, now you can.
Gilbert was among a group of reporters that was invited by GM to come and take a look at the latest stages of testing for the much ballyhooed Volt, and despite strict security on the part of the automaker, was somehow able to walk out with the footage for this rather comprehensive walk through video. On display is The General’s battery laboratory, a production Volt model undergoing aerodynamics testing, as well as an honest to god test mule…that looks strangely familiar. Watch and learn.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Spotted! Camaro SS Test Mule The Camaro spotting bonanza is still going strong with this new video arriving to show what would appear to be the car in SS trim, out for a mountain stroll. Though it’s not terribly clear, this video also affords the first slice of what the new car sounds like. Enjoy.
While we’ve run across eBay Motors auctions before featuring cars with virtually no wear after many years, this 1969 Chevrolet Corvair is the first one we’ve encountered that was still in its bag.
According to the seller, this Corvair was sold in 1969 for $1,900, delivered by truck to the original owner’s house, and then promptly prepared for long-term storage. The car comes complete with the original keys, license plate screws, and a fuel tank that’s never seen a drop of fuel. It’s considered, unsurprisingly, by the Corsa and Corvair Society to be the lowest mileage 1969 example in existence.
The complete time capsule state of affairs for this Corvair is fairly impressive, but as with all cars that have been preserved this completely, we wonder what a future owner would plan to do with it. Driving the car would compromise its ridiculous virginity, and spending $25,000 just to look at a car seems like a rather large waste. Perhaps the GM Heritage Collection is looking?
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
As the United Auto Workers strike against General Motors supplier American Axle draws on the, list of affected GM plants and products continues to grow. GM reported today that its Toledo, Ohio transmission plant is shutting down, but the company fears the strike may soon take a more high-profile victim.
The UAW reported that GM is quickly running out of an American Axle-supplied knuckle used in the rear suspension of the hot-selling Chevrolet Malibu. If the strike persists, reports indicate that Malibu production will come to an end sometime in mid-April. GM’s Orion, Michigan and Kansas City, Kansas plants would likely both be shut down.
Many UAW workers are hoping that GM will step in to help end the strike at American Axle, a scenario that seems increasingly likely as more and more of the automaker’s operations are forced to go off-line.
Shop chairman of UAW Local 5960, Mike Dunn, said of the strike and pending end to Malibu production, ” I’m hoping GM can help resolve the strike before that happens, but we’ll stand by our striking union brothers and sisters at American Axle if not.”
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
For the second time today Camaro5.com is hot on the Camaro news tips, this time presenting images form the General Motors Accessories design studio. The related photos show a pile of Camaro adds, still in clay form, and attached to the body of a be-striped prototype.
The list of modifications in the photos include; seven-spoke wheels, RS and SS stripe packages (left and right sides of the car respectively), grille insert, rear fascia blackout, platform-style wing and ducktail spoiler, fuel-filler cap, two ground effects kits, slotted brake discs with red calipers.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
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