1987 Chevrolet Elcamino Ss Standard Cab Pickup 2-door 5.0l on 2040-cars

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The USPS needs 180,000 new delivery vehicles, automakers gearing up to bid

Winning the New York City Taxi of Tomorrow tender was a huge prize for Nissan, even though the company is still working through the process of claiming its prize. The United States Postal Service has begun the process to take bids for a new delivery vehicle to replace the all-too-familiar Grumman Long Life Vehicle, and that will be a much larger plum for the automaker who wins it, perhaps worth more than six billion dollars. The Grumman LLV is an aluminum body covering a Chevrolet S-10 pickup chassis and General Motors' Iron Duke four-cylinder engine. The USPS bought them from 1987 to 1994, and the 163,000 of them still in service are a monumental drain on postal resources: they get roughly ten miles to the gallon instead of the quoted 16 mpg, drink up more than $530 million in fuel each year, and their constant repair needs like the balky sliding door and leaky windshields have led the service to increase the annual maintenance budget from $100 million to $500 million. A seat belt is about as modern as it gets for safety technology, and the USPS says that assuming things stay the same, it can't afford to run them beyond 2017. Last year it put out two triage requests for proposals seeking 10,000 new chassis and drivetrains for the Grumman and 10,000 new vehicles. The LLV is also too small for the modern mail system in which package delivery is growing and letter delivery is declining. The service says it doesn't have a fixed idea of the ideal "next-generation delivery vehicles," but it listed a number of requirements in its initial request and is open to any proposal. Carriers have some suggestions, though, saying they want better cupholders, sun visors that they can stuff letters behind, a driver's compartment free of slits that can swallow mail, and a backup camera. The request for information sent to automakers pegs the tender at 180,000 vehicles that would cost between $25,000 and $35,000 apiece, and it will hold a conference on February 18 to answer questions about the contract. GM is the only domestic maker to avow an interest, while Ford and Fiat-Chrysler have remained cagey. Yet with a possible $6.3 billion up for grabs and some new vans for sale that would be advertised on every block in the country, we have a feeling everyone will be listening closely come February 18. We also have a feeling the LeMons series is going to be flooded with Grummans come 2017. News Source: Wall Street Journal, Automotive News - sub.

GM recalls trucks and SUVs for brake pedal problem

The Basics: General Motors will recall over 473,000 North American examples of the 2015-2016 Chevrolet Silverado HD, GMC Sierra HD, and police pursuit versions of the Chevy Tahoe. These include 426,573 vehicles in the US and 46,837 in Canada, according to Reuters. The Problem: The brake pivot nut can loosen over time, which can render the pedal inoperative. This would be a danger to drivers trying to stop the vehicles. In some cases, the "Service Engine Soon" light might come on. Injuries/Deaths: None reported. The Fix: Dealers will inspect the pivot bolt, and if necessary they will apply adhesive to it and reinstall the part with increased torque. If You Own One: "We expect to start customer notifications shortly," GM spokesperson Tom Wilkinson told Autoblog. Related Video: Transport Canada Recall # 2016053 Recall Date 2016/02/04 Notification Type Safety Mfr System Brakes Manufacturer Recall Number 20760 Units Affected The number of vehicles or components affected by the recall. 46,837 Category Light Truck & Van, SUV Recall Details On certain Heavy Duty and Police Pursuit vehicles, the brake pedal pivot nut may become loose, causing the brake pedal to be loose or inoperative. If the brake pedal becomes loose or inoperative, it could interfere with the accelerator pedal, and/or the driver may be unable to safely stop the vehicle through application of the brake pedal, potentially affecting stopping distances and increasing the risk of a crash causing injury and/or damage to property. Correction: Dealers will inspect the pivot bolt installation to determine whether the vehicle has already received the production remedy. If not, the dealer will add adhesive to the nut, and reinstall the nut at an increased torque. Note: This condition may result in the "Service Engine Soon" light illuminating, and brake lights may stay on longer than expected. Make Model Model Year(s) Affected CHEVROLET SILVERADO 2015 2016 CHEVROLET TAHOE POLICE PURSUIT VEHICLE 2015 2016 GMC SIERRA 2015 2016

Buick Velite is a not-so-Volt-like plug-in hybrid concept for China

Is the Buick Velite a Volt by any other name? That's a question worth asking after General Motors said that the Buick Velite concept vehicle will make its global debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show later this month. GM says the car "will provide a template for upcoming models being launched under the Buick Blue new energy vehicle strategy." Whether that means the Velite is a variant of the second-generation of the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in is open to interpretation. Some automotive publications, including Autoweek, are saying that's the case, but GM China doesn't mention the Volt in its press release, only saying that the car is a "high-performance" plug-in hybrid vehicle. As we know, GM doesn't use the "PHEV" descriptor for the Volt, which makes us thing the Velite's powertrain is more like the Cadillac CT6 PHEV. Either way, the concept was developed by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), which is a joint venture between GM and Shanghai-based SAIC. As far as the name, GM has been shopping the Velite moniker around for a while now. The automaker first used Buick Velite for the convertible concept vehicle it showed off at the 2004 New York Auto Show. More recently, GM in 2014 filed to use the name for the US variant of its Opel Cascada four-seat convertible model, which debuted in 2013. As for the second-generation version of the Volt, that model appears to be gaining favor in the US. Domestic sales of the Volt through October have surged 64 percent from a year earlier to more than 18,500 units. The new version boosted its all-electric range by 40 percent to 53 miles while increasing its power output by 20 percent. Related Video: News Source: General Motors via Autoweek, Automotive News-sub.req. Green Buick Chevrolet Electric Hybrid PHEV buick velite