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Baseball team to dress like Trans Am, complete with screaming chicken

Come to think of it, the Screaming Chicken actually sounds like the name of a minor league baseball team. Well, it isn't, but the famous logo of the same name that graced the hood of the 1970s Pontiac Trans Am will at least be making it to a baseball uniform this summer. The Lansing Lugnuts, a Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, will be rocking these special uniforms to honor the late Burt Reynolds and his film Smokey and the Bandit. By default, it will also be honoring the car the movie made famous: the 1977 Trans Am painted black with gold trim and, of course, the screaming chicken on the hood. This is a pretty good history of the emblem. So why the Lugnuts and Burt Reynolds? Although he claimed to be born in Georgia for much of his career, he admitted in a 2015 autobiography that he was in fact born in Lansing, Mich. After a few years, his family settled in Florida. Not exactly hometown hero stuff, but minor league baseball promotions have been made of more tenuous connections. The Burt Reynolds tribute night will be July 20, and if you want to get a screaming chicken jersey for yourself (I mean, wouldn't they be perfect for a cars and coffee?), the game-used jerseys will be auctioned off for charity after the game.

GM recalls 61k more vehicles in three campaigns

Following a stop-delivery order for its new midsize trucks and a rash of recent recalls, General Motors is issuing three more campaigns covering 60,575 vehicles in North America with 57,182 of them in the US. As of October 1, the automaker has issued a total of 74 recalls (see the ridiculously long chart to the right) this year covering 26,495,070 units in the US.
The largest campaign covers 46,873 examples in the US of the 2008-2009 Pontiac G8 and 2011-2013 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle imported from Australia. It's possible for the driver's knee to hit the key and make it move from the "Run" to "ACC" position while driving. GM says its Holden division is developing a fixed-blade key that's supposed to fix the problem by only allowing it to rotate toward the "On" position. There has been one crash caused by this fault but no injuries or fatalities.
The second recall is for 10,005 units of the 2004-2007 Cadillac CTS-V and 2006-2007 Cadillac STS-V because "the fuel pump module electrical terminal may overheat." This can cause a flange to melt and allow the pump to leak fuel. GM specifies that the remedy for the CTS-V is replacing the fuel module and fuel tank jumper harness, but it doesn't specify how the STS-V is being repaired.

Why Pontiac should come back and how it can be relevant again

When I was a kid growing up in Metro Detroit, our family was always entwined in the General Motors empire. My dad and some of our relatives worked for GM in various capacities, and we had our fair share of Chevrolet, GMC, and even Buick products in our humble driveway. However, it was my Uncle Ed that always had a vehicle from the one GM brand that always appealed to me the most: Pontiac. Seeing him pull up in his Pontiac 6000 and later the '90s era Grand Prix sedan that replaced it was always an exciting occasion, and both of these models also reflected the playful spirit that once defined the Pontiac brand. Back when Pontiac first got its performance groove on in the '60s, names such as GTO, Firebird, as well as Bonneville became iconic nameplates in the broader muscle car era. The '80s saw Pontiac lose some of its styling heritage, but also try new things at the same time including turbocharging as well as the mid-engine sports car with the flawed but still sleek Pontiac Fiero. When the Pontiac brand was shuttered in 2009, it was a mere few years after I earned my drivers license, and also when Pontiac was just beginning to regain some of its lost luster. Granted cookie cutter efforts like the Pontiac G3, (Chevrolet Aveo) G5, (Chevrolet Cobalt) and G6 (Chevrolet Malibu) certainly did not help matters during Pontiac's final years on the market, but two models in particular offered a compelling glimpse into what could've been for the storied brand. The first was the Pontiac Solstice roadster/coupe. Originally introduced as a concept back in 2004, and championed by everyone's fighter jet flying auto executive Bob Lutz, the Solstice was designed to be a serious competitor to the Mazda Miata, and while its interior ergonomics were flawed and the top solution not ideal. It proved to be a fun little car to drive, and also a sales success for Pontiac with initial demand exceeding expectations.This was especially due to its lineup of engines with the 2.0 liter LHU turbocharged four-cylinder engine delivering 260 horsepower in GXP variants. The second and (inarguably my favorite Pontiac model) was the Pontiac G8 sedan. Originating in Australia as the Holden Commodore VE, the G8 was designed to rectify the multitude of sins created by the last generation Bonneville. Front wheel drive was pitched in favor of rear wheel drive, and for the first time in a long time interior ergonomics and cladding free exterior styling were key building blocks for success.