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Steve McQueen's last movie car, now Pawn Stars-owned, up for auction [w/video]

The last car Steve McQueen ever drove in a movie is officially up for auction. The 1951 Chevrolet Styline DeLuxe Convertible you see above is now owned by none other than Rick Harrison of Pawn Stars fame, but once ferried McQueen around the set of his last film, 1980's The Hunter. That flick saw the Bullit star play a bumbling bounty hunter and didn't exactly set the box office on fire. McQueen bought the car after production wrapped, and four years later it sold at his estate sale at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas.
Flash forward to 2003, and the convertible received a full restoration back to near-stock specifications. Hagerty Insurance estimates the car to be worth around $45,000 without the significant providence. Given its ties to one of film's most popular gearheads, the old Chevrolet could fetch up to 10 times that when it goes under the gavel in Ft Luaderdale, Florida on March 22. You can head over to the Auctions America site for more information. You can also check out the trailer for The Hunter below.

GM cutting Chevy Sonic, Buick Verano production [UPDATE]

UPDATE: A previous version of this story indicated that Orion Assembly would be idled for seven weeks, from February 16 through April 6. This was incorrect. The factory will instead only be idled for the weeks of February 16 and April 6. The story has been edited to reflect this. General Motors has announced that the factory responsible for the Buick Verano and Chevrolet Sonic will be idled for the weeks of February 16 and April 6, with blame being placed on excess supply. The Orion Assembly plant, about 45 minutes north of GM's Renaissance Center headquarters, employs about 1,800 people, but they'll be given a pair of furloughs as inventories of the sub-compact Sonic and premium compact Verano reach 127 days and 84 days, respectively. That works out to 26,600 Chevys and 9,800 Buicks waiting for buyers. According to Automotive News, the compact Chevy sales bested the industry average in 2014, jumping up nine percent versus the the overall segment's eight-percent gain, while the Buick sedan's sales were down four percent. When asked about the shutdown, a GM spokesman told AN that it will "build to market demand," while also pointing out that the company did not comment on production plans. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Buick Chevrolet GM buick encore orion assembly

GM recalls Colorado, Canyon, and Malibu for airbag problem

The Basics: General Motors will recall and issue a stop sale on 1,740 total examples of the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado, Malibu, and GMC Canyon. This includes 1,579 units in the US and 161 in Canada. The Problem: The second stage of the driver front airbag inflator might not be present. If this happens, the airbag won't fill as quickly as it should in a high-speed crash, which could increase the risk of injury, according to Reuters. This is not related in any way to Takata's inflator problems, and these parts come from a different supplier. Injuries/Deaths: None reported. The Fix: GM will replace the vehicles' airbag assemblies. If You Own One: GM spokesperson Tom Wilkinson told Autoblog he wasn't specifically sure when recall repairs would begin but said it would be "shortly." He expects the fixes to happen "quickly" because of the small number of affected vehicles, and many of them are either in transport or already in dealer stock. More Information: GM recalled the 2015 Canyon and Colorado in 2014 for a completely separate airbag issue. In that case, a manufacturing error improperly wired the connectors. Related Video: GM Statement GM is recalling 1,579 MY 2016 Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Malibu vehicles in the United States and 161 in Canada to replace driver-side front airbags. The second stage of the airbag may not deploy properly in certain high-speed crashes. During a routine quality inspection, it was determined that a component required for a second-stage/high-output deployment was not loaded during the inflator build. Dealers will replace the driver-side front airbag assembly. There have been no reports of crashes or injuries related to this issue. This issue is unrelated to the ongoing Takata recalls.