2001 Gmc Sonoma Sls (chevy S10) W/ Zq8 & Stepside on 2040-cars

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GM Design shows another early Hummer EV sketch

Like a new mother who's still so excited about her one-year-old baby that she can't stop showing ultrasound photos, General Motors is so excited about its biggest new baby, the battery-electric GMC Hummer, that it can't stop showing off development design sketches. The off-road monster with the 200-kWh Ultium battery pack debuted online on October 21 last year. The next day, the GM Design Instagram page posted some of the Hummer's early "theme sketches" leading to the production version. These had a conceptual flair to them, but were rather restrained. A month later, GM uncovered a series of development renderings showing off a much wilder truck bursting with more angles than a geometry text book. The archives have opened up again with a new "ideation sketch," this one between the first believable sketches and the second truck that Master Chief and Doomguy share on their days off.  All three sets of drawings show similar three-box proportions, it's the details that got a ton of love. On this newest sketch, the fenders flare a touch more than on the production truck, but the wheel wells are cut with the kind of clearance found on a Baja 1000 Trophy Truck. Out back, save for the tow hooks, the rear end is totally different than production. The sketch puts illuminated Hummer script across a narrow tailgate flanked by small square, taillights housing six individual elements. Beneath that, a bumper-less rear end puts nothing more than a sloped bash pate between the truck and the rocks it's just scrambled over. To our eyes, this is the best blend of production-ready comfort from the first sketches and zoot suit angles from the second that we've seen so far.  First deliveries of the GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 are expected before the year is out. When we get a chance to absorb the truck in its native habitats, we'll know whether there's cause for disappointment at what could have been. If so, with all this hunger among the monied for something different, we feel like restomodders have been given the perfect head starts on custom rebodied Hummers that would make things right. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

GM able to add diesel to half-ton pickups if market demands it

A few years ago, the trend in half-ton pickup trucks was ultra-luxurious trims, often with the words "limited" or "platinum" tacked on after the model name. That was well and good, but we like this latest fad a lot more - diesel engines. First, Ram came to bat with a 3.0-liter, V6 turbodiesel for the 1500, then Nissan announced that the next-generation Titan would be getting an eight-cylinder Cummins diesel.
Now, word is coming in from AutoGuide that General Motors can, if it so chooses, drop a diesel engine into its light-duty trucks. The plot thickens, though, as it turns out that said diesel would be the same one Ram is using for its truck. According to AG, that engine comes from VM Motori, which GM owns a sizable chunk of. Therefore, GM can snag the 3.0-liter, V6 diesel for its trucks just as easily, if not more easily, than Ram.
If it's so easy for the Detroit-based manufacturer to access the engines, why not offer the a diesel-powered Sierra and Silverado from the start, then? According to GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson, The General doesn't seem so confident in a diesel pickup outside of its HD offerings. According to Wilkinson, the cost-benefit ratio doesn't line up for customers, thanks to both the impact on the truck's sticker price and the higher price of diesel, in general (the national average for a gallon of diesel is 43 cents more than a gallon of 87-octane unleaded).

Mystery man buys fast food worker a new car

A mystery man bought a Tennessee fast food worker a new car. 34-year-old Jeff Smith told WKRN he was approached by an older stranger as he was exiting a grocery store. The two struck up a conversation about Smith's 1991 Geo Storm. The vehicle is falling apart; it has more than 350,000 miles on it, a cracked dashboard, no drivers side window, and a door that is literally being held closed by a small hook. The stranger asked Smith to follow him down the road to James Motors, but then asked the fast food worker to wait outside. Smith told WKRN, "He comes back out and says, 'How do you like that blue pickup?' I said. 'It looks great.' Then he said, 'Well, I bought it and it's yours now.' [...] It's just a blessing. It's the best thing that has ever happened to me." At first, Smith didn't believe this was even real. But the owner of James Motors showed up at the fast food restaurant where he works with the keys and title to the 2001 navy blue GMC Sonoma. The mysterious benefactor didn't want to be identified, but asked smith to do something nice for someone else in the future. Weird Car News GMC geo