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Saturday, May 7, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Cuban Classics, great photography of the last American cars in Cuba
0 comments Posted by korekore at 1:43 PM
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
RM to auction huge collection of muscle cars in Southern California
0 comments Posted by korekore at 12:03 PM
Muscle car fans and collectors take note - make sure to put June 19th down on your schedule. That's the day that RM Auctions has set to schedule off a private muscle car collection in San Diego, and more than 80 fine examples of American iron will be looking for new homes.
The auction will be highlighted by some of the performance icons of the muscle car era including an ultra rare 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88, a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle LS6 Convertible, a 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge, a 1970 Boss 429 Mustang and a pair of 1969 Camaro Z28s. The best part? All of the cars will be offered at no reserve. You can read more details about the auction in the press release after the jump or head over to RM's web site for the full list of cars up for sale.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Expanding its portfolio in the rapidly growing small car segment, Pontiac announced plans to bring the sporty, five-door hatchback Pontiac G3 to U.S. showrooms early next year. When it arrives, the G3 will provide Pontiac with a total of four vehicles capable of more than 30 miles per gallon on the highway.Successful in Canada (as the Pontiac G3 Wave) and Mexico (as a sedan model), the Pontiac G3 offers an EPA estimated 27 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway while providing the best shoulder and hip room in the segment for seating five adults.
"The small car segment has literally exploded in recent months, with sales up nearly 33 percent in the first six months of 2008 alone," said Susan Docherty, vice president of Buick-Pontiac-GMC. "With its proven success in other markets, we felt the time was right to bring the Pontiac G3 into the BPG portfolio for our U.S. customers."
The 2009 Pontiac G3 will join the all-new 2009 Pontiac Vibe (32 mpg) and recently enhanced 2009 versions of the G6 sedan (33 mpg) and G5 coupe (37 mpg) in Pontiac's "Over 30" club.
"More than ever, fuel economy is an important factor in Pontiac's formula of style and performance," said Docherty. "The Vibe, G3, G5, and G6 prove that you don't have to sacrifice sporty design and responsive driving to achieve impressive fuel economy."Generating 106 horsepower (79 kW), the Pontiac G3's 1.6L Ecotec four-cylinder engine is mated to a five-speed manual or optional four-speed automatic transmission. It will also feature an unusually rich mix of standard features for an entry-level car, including air conditioning, a CD/MP3 audio system with auxiliary input jack, fog lamps, rear spoiler, OnStar, and a host of standard safety features, including four airbags, that gain the Pontiac G3 a five-star frontal crash rating.
Interior space is optimized to comfortably seat five adults, including "theater"-style seating for rear seat passengers. The rear seats also feature a 60/40 split to offer up to 42 cubic feet of cargo space.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The coupe's roof is fixed aft of the B-pillars, with side windows and a rear liftglass for access to the cargo area. The roof panel is easily removed from the passenger compartment, and an optional soft roof cover stores in the cargo area.
The sleek lines of the new roof give the car a fresh appearance, only minimal changes were made to the body structure - it's a great example of building on an already solid foundation.
The Lightweight structure
The roof's structure was strengthened with additional support elements, including an aluminum roof bow attached with aluminum brackets. The bow and brackets are stiff, low in mass, a design feature that pervades the coupe's overall construction. The roof includes a lightweight sheet molding compound cover affixed to a rigid aluminum frame for additional lightweight support. A lightweight magnesium roof panel frame weighs just 31 pounds (14.2 kg) and can be removed by one person. The cover is also made of sheet molding compound.
The Interior additions
Much of the coupe's interior remains the same as that of the convertible. However, the area behind the seats was redesigned for easy access to the cargo area, and a storage tray was mounted directly behind the headrests.
Removing the folding-top mechanism made way for a new, flat cargo floor and several storage compartments. The cargo area's covered bins provide secure storage for smaller items. Cargo tie-down hooks help secure irregularly shaped items.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
With Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac named as GM's "core" North American brands, the Internet is rampant with all sorts of speculation about what General Motors plans to do with its "Excitement Division." Fact is, GM isn't there, yet. GM can't develop a plan until its finances are certain enough to take all its projects from being on hold, and then it has future corporate average fuel economy standards to consider. However, GM has said Pontiac is to become a "specialty" brand, while Saturn and Saab are under strategic review and Hummer is up for sale.
If GM doesn't cancel its Alpha small rear-drive program for a BMW 3 Series-size Cadillac, that platform could support a second-generation Solstice. GM's hope would be to make the Solstice a "world" sports car, like the Mazda Miata, and kind of like the Chevrolet Corvette. If there is a second generation, though, the Solstice is likely to continue in Europe as the Opel GT. This fits in nicely with plans we revealed last month for GM to combine Opel and Buick design.The G6 is older than the Chevy Malibu and Saturn Aura, and its replacement has been put on hold. It's Pontiac's volume car, so simply dropping it from the lineup makes Pontiac a "specialty" brand by definition. Vibe probably has another four years to its lifecycle.
Longer term, Pontiac will need sporty cars on small, lightweight platforms for fuel-efficiency if it's to remain viable. Consider a version of the Chevy Volt with a handling package, a coupe built on the Cruze platform and with more turbo boost, a U.S.-built car off the Delta platform or the Mini-fighter, still apparently in need of a division, that was spotted in late 2007 on GM's drawing boards. Better to update the brand with cars like these.
If GM defines Pontiac's "specialty" as baby-boomer-oriented cars like the G8, the division won't last much longer than that car's lifecycle.
© Source: motortrend
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