04 Silverado C2500hd Regular Cab Utility Bed 6.0l Vortec V8 Gas on 2040-cars

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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.

Chevy Silverado Midnight Edition, Custom ready to stand out in pickup line

Chevrolet spent its Chicago Auto Show introducing a pair of fullsize pickups that promise image-conscious buyers a truck experience that goes beyond the standard range, with the murdered-out Midnight Edition and the um, not murdered-out, Custom. Let's start with the Custom, which adds 20-inch alloys, as well as chrome bumpers, mirror caps and door handles to the Silverado LS. Available in both V6 and V8 varieties, and with the customer's choice of two- or four-wheel drive, the Silverado Custom is the decidedly mellower example of Chevy's special edition styling. The Midnight Edition, meanwhile, throws subtlety out the window with a menacing set of visual upgrades. Based on the Z71, the Midnight adds 18-inch wheels, a spray-in bedliner and unique Z71 and Bowtie badges, all in black, of course. The front and rear bumpers, headlamp bezels, tow hooks, mirror caps and door handles, are also finished in the stealthy shade. Check out our live images of both special edition trucks, and let us know what you think down in Comments.

Is this GM's next electric crossover?

GM made headlines this week when CEO Mary Barra presented the company's electrification and automation plans at the Barclays Global Automotive Conference in New York. "We are committed to a future electric vehicle portfolio that will be profitable," Barra said, which could be taken as a jab at Tesla. In the presentation ( PDF here), though, we see a new vehicle in a slide titled "Leveraging existing BEV platform to expand in near term." The vehicle, seen above, accompanied the captions "New CUV entries" and "two entries by 2020." Is this a sneak preview of an upcoming electric crossover from GM? The image seems too realistic and intentional to be a random placeholder. If this is, indeed, an upcoming battery-electric CUV based on the Bolt, the question remains: Will it be a Chevy or a Buick? It has no visible badging, but it shares DNA from both brands. As Inside EVs points out, though, it does bear a resemblance to the Chevrolet FNR-X concept unveiled in Shanghai earlier this year. With two CUVs on the way, it's not unthinkable that there could be a version for each brand. In addition to this slide, the presentation includes plans for an "All new multi-brand, multi-segment platform" launching in 2021. The all-new modular battery system will cost less than $100 per kWh, providing higher energy density and faster charging. The platform will host at least nine different vehicles, including a compact crossover, seven-seat luxury SUV and a large commercial van. GM has said it will launch 20 new EVs by 2023, and that it targets 1 million EV sales per year by 2026. Many of those sales will be in China. Related Video: