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A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

Camaro spy shots show subtly different grille, front fascia

It looks like there some changes in store for the Chevrolet Camaro - the only thing is that we just don't know what Chevy has up its sleeve. Looking at these spy shots, we'd initially be inclined to think that there is just a minor facelift or a new special edition, but upon closer inspection, there are a few oddities about this car that definitely have us intrigued.
The most obvious difference on this prototype is the slightly restyled front fascia with a smaller lower air inlet and the two-bar grille. Then we get to some of the car's mysterious details. For starters, this fascia has the SS vent above the grille, but it looks to be blocked off. Granted this could just be a one-off piece used for testing. What really piqued our interest was at the rear of the car where it has quad exhaust outlets that are used on the ZL1. Could this be the LS7-powered Camaro that we reported on back in December?
At this point, your guess is as good as ours as to what we're looking at here, so let us know in the comments what you think this could be.

2015 Chevy Colorado takes Motor Trend Truck of the Year calipers [w/videos]

The final winner of Motor Trend's prestigious Golden Calipers has been named, with the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado taking the title of 2015 Truck of the Year, likely shocking those who thought Ford's all-aluminum, next-generation F-150 would take the crown. But win the Colorado did, beating not only the new Ford, but two other brutish Blue Ovals in the F-450 and Transit. The midsize pickup also bested its brethren from General Motors, beating the heavy-duty Chevy Silverado 3500, GMC Sierra Denali 2500 and the GMC Canyon, the Colorado's fraternal twin. After an unprecedented two-year stint with the Golden Calipers, Ram sat this year's awards out. Most impressive about the Colorado's victory isn't that it simply beat the US market's other trucks, it did so with a unanimous vote. Praise from MT's editors focused on the trucklet's price, spacious interior, fit and finish and performance. Former Autoblog staffer Jonny Lieberman called the Colorado's steering the best he'd "ever experienced on any truck, full stop," in MT's awards article. "After days of testing, hundreds of miles on the road, and our most rigorous truck testing program to date, our editors unanimously selected the Chevy Colorado as our 2015 Truck of the Year," said MT boss Edward Loh. "Colorado is a smart, capable, and refreshingly honest truck that makes a strong value and efficiency statement. It's perfectly sized and suited for the needs of many of today's truck users." The Colorado joins the 2015 Volkswagen Golf and 2015 Honda CR-V among Motor Trend 2015 award winners. Scroll down for video commentary from General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Loh and a clip of the Golden Calipers being handed over. Also, check out GM's full press release on its big win. The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. MOTOR TREND Names Chevrolet Colorado 2015 Truck of the Year Midsize pickup outclasses competition in design, engineering, efficiency, safety and more 2014-12-03 EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – After its most comprehensive truck evaluation program in history, MOTOR TREND has selected the Chevy Colorado as its 2015 Truck of the Year®. MOTOR TREND's Truck of the Year program is only open to all-new or significantly updated trucks and vans for the upcoming model year.