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Just the right Camaro can change your life

Not many people can say that their car directly motivated them into a career, but that's exactly the case for Adam Martin and his 1968 Chevrolet Camaro that he calls Lucy. Martin bought the pony car in primer when he was just 16, and it helped foster his profession in restoring classic cars. Beyond just being a very cool ride for a teenager, every change to Lucy was an opportunity to hone a new automotive skill for Martin. Whether figuring out how to paint a car or building the 454-cubic-inch (7.4-liter) big block V8, the Camaro offered a platform for experimentation. This latest episode of Petrolicious gets personal about the bond between man and machine for this 18-year ongoing project. And even if the story doesn't immediately grab you, Lucy has a great voice and can do a mean burnout. News Source: Petrolicious via YouTube Chevrolet Maintenance Ownership Coupe Performance Classics Videos petrolicious

GM Design shows what could have been and what might be

We periodically like to check in with GM Design's Instagram account to see what they're cooking up. Even better is when we catch a glimpse of an alternate history of what legendary designers from The General's past were thinking, though those ideas may not have made it into production. This week, for example, the account posted some illustrations from George Camp, whose career at GM spanned nearly four decades, from 1963 to 2001. One of the renderings is of what appears to be a 1971-72 Pontiac GTO Judge, but with two headlights instead of the production unit's quad beams. The rear departs from the canonical version most dramatically, with a massive integrated wing. Other bits that didn't make the production cut include large side vents, a gill-like side marker and rectangular intakes below the headlights that wouldn't be out of place on a modern design today. Amazingly, from what we can make out of the date, it appears that the drawing was done sometime in 1965, which makes it quite prescient.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by GM Design (@generalmotorsdesign) There's also a very aerodynamic interpretation of a Corvette ZR-1. To our eyes it splits the difference between the 1986 Corvette Indy concept and a fourth-generation F-body Pontiac Firebird, so perhaps parts of Camp's work on this sketch did make it into physical form. There's also a radical sports car concept from May 1970 that resembles the Mazda RX-500 concept from the same year, a Syd Mead-looking Cadillac coupe, and an Oldsmobile with a cool take on the company's trademark waterfall grille and elements of the Colonnade Cutlass at the rear. Other recent posts include a FJ Cruiser-like off-road EV, a sleek coupe with the Chevy corporate grille, and a rendering of a Silverado-esque pickup that looks far better than the current production version.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by GM Design (@generalmotorsdesign) It's pretty easy to lose hours in the account, but it's always fascinating to see GM's visions of what could have been and what might be. Related Video:

How a Texas Hyundai dealer became the Chevy SSR king

The SSR isn't one of the most appreciated vehicles in Chevy's long history. With a style amalgamating the look of a vintage hotrod, convertible and a pickup, it's really serving a niche market right from the start. However, a Hyundai dealer in Texas has turned selling the cult models into a booming business and has become the de facto king of the quirky truck. According to Automotive News, Paul Peebles runs North Freeway Hyundai in Spring, TX, but he's better known in the Chevy SSR community the premiere seller of the weird model through his used car network. The odd venture started in 2010 when Peebles wanted to boost his pre-owned business and bought several sporty vehicles. Among them were five SSRs, and he threw a cookout for owners to get the word out. Things just ballooned from there. Since then, Peebles' used car dealer has had a hand in 447 SSR transactions, and some of those are the same truck coming back to sell again. With just over 24,000 of them out there, that works about to two percent of the model's production moving through just one business. The dealership also sponsors an SSR owners' forum online. Being a major broker for a niche model also means that Peebles often gets rare examples of the SSR, including some of the Indianapolis 500 pace car versions, according to Automotive News. We even saw a bizarre one last year when the business put this shark-inspired truck on eBay Motors. The whole thing also works out well for Peebles' Hyundai business. Specializing in SSRs brings other performance models in as trade-ins, and they can draw folks to the lot to check out the collection. Then, maybe visitors can take a look at a Sonata, too.