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GM will no longer remove parts from trucks to calculate curb weights

Following last week's mild uproar after it was discovered that Ford and General Motors were removing some optional parts from their pickups to lower the curb weight and consequently increase the maximum payload, GM has come out and committed to a base curb weight for its upcoming Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon compact trucks (although it has yet to publish them) and its current Silverado and Sierra. The company will do the same for its heavy duty offerings, although those numbers have not been finalized yet.
"This will make our curb weight and payload specs more consistent with those of most other truck makers, making it easier for customers to compare vehicles," GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson told Autoblog in an emailed statement.
As GM notes - and as every manufacturer has noted since this story broke - customers still shouldn't take max payload ratings as gospel. Instead, they should refer to their truck's Tire and Load Label, like the one shown at the inset, which will offer detailed information on max payload, specific to their truck.

Son surprises his dad by restoring his 1949 pickup for Christmas

Norman Meal, an 83-year-old retired farmer from Rushville, IN, nearly missed his big Christmas gift when his son, Kyle, first presented it to him. Norman was oblivious and was looking all over the garage floor until Kyle pointed out a satin black pickup with a bow on it parked inside. This wasn't just another case of a child buying a parent a dream vehicle; the '49 GMC sitting there was Norman's very first truck that was restored and ready to drive. According to Fox 59 WXIN, Norman's father purchased the GMC in 1949, and Norman bought it from him in the mid '50s to use on the farm. However, for about the past 13 years, the truck had been rotting away in the garage of one of Kyle's friends. As a perfect gift to his dad, Kyle took the pickup to a restoration shop to make the old vehicle roadworthy again. Practically everything was replaced – except for the horn. Thankfully, Kyle filmed his dad's reaction to getting the GMC. Check it out and watch them take a drive in the heartwarming video above.

These are the 'Greenest' and 'Meanest' cars in 2015

As has become tradition, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has come up with a ranking of what it refers to as the "greenest" cars of 2015, and, by way of contrast, a list of the so-called "meanest" cars, so those who value eco-friendliness over all else can choose which vehicles they should or should not consider buying. As you may expect, electric cars make up the majority of the greenest cars on the list, but, perhaps surprisingly to many, the Tesla Model S didn't make the cut. It's worth noting, too, that where the electricity an owner uses to charge their electric vehicle has a big impact on its overall environmental impact. "A car that is charged using electricity generated from natural gas or renewables is going to have significantly less impact on the environment than one charged on a coal-heavy grid," says ACEEE lead vehicle analyst Shruti Vaidyanathan. The ACEEE's list for 2015 looks very different than it did in 2014. It's an interesting collection, though – and we're sure this goes without saying, really – we'd recommend doing a bit more research into each vehicle and how it might fit into your daily life before making any purchase decisions. Click here to see the ACEEE's list of the Greenest and Meanest vehicles sold in the United States in 2015. Green Bugatti Chevrolet Fiat GM GMC Mercedes-Benz Nissan RAM smart Toyota greenest greenest cars