2006 Gmc Sierra 1500 Wt Standard Cab Pickup 2-door 4.8l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Disabled man realizes dream of driving with converted pickup truck

A man with a devastating illness is mobile once again thanks to a heavily modified pick up truck. He hopes he can help others in his situation gain the freedom of mobility they need to lead a normal life. Chris Sauerbaum has a physical disability resulting from chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy, a form of muscular dystrophy where the sufferer's immune system attacks their nerves. Sauerbaum lost both of his legs and is bound to a wheelchair. After 11 years of trying, he finally has a vehicle that he can drive. "You might as well be driving a Lamborghini," Sauerbaum told the York Dispatch as the driver side door extended to a lift to accommodate Sauerbaum's wheelchair. "Everyone comes up and talks to you. You come out looking like a Transformer." It wasn't easy getting transportation that fit his needs. First he bought a Chrysler PT Cruiser, which wasn't large enough to handle the equipment needed to convert the car for a legless driver. In 2013, Sauerbaum and his wife Heather Sloat appealed to local businesses and friends for donations. They raised $10,000 and were able to put a downpayment on a GMC Sierra. The truck then underwent $91,000 worth of upgrades. It was completely outfitted for Sauerbaum, with a large lift to bring his wheel chair up to the driver's seat and joysticks doing the work of peddles and the steering wheel. New York's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation paid for the conversion. "Think of it as a big remote controlled car. An 8,000 pound R/C car," Sauerbaum told the Dispatch. After a week and a half of learning the controls, Sauerbaum was able to drive with confidence again. He will no long need to rely on his wife to get him two and from work, an 80-mile trip each day. Sauerbaum and Sloat hope to start a nonprofit called Drive for Independence that will assist other wheelchair-bound people with the costs of getting a converted vehicle that suits their needs. "It's just one piece of the puzzle to get people to work," Sloat told the Dispatch. Related Video: Weird Car News GMC Driving Ownership Truck Videos disabled ms

Daily Driver: 2015 GMC Canyon

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, featuring impressions from the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2015 GMC Canyon, reviewed by Seyth Miersma. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Hey, guys. This is Seyth with Autoblog, and I'm here in the 2015 GMC Canyon pickup truck. The version I'm in is about as bare bones as this truck gets. We've got a convenience group package, which means I have things like a remote lock and unlock. I've got a spray-in bed liner and then I've got the very tiny but still useful infotainment system, which allows for things like hooking up your phone, [00:00:30] Bluetooth streaming music from my iPhone to the sound system, things of that nature. Really there's not a whole lot here. What you see is what you get. The interior is pretty basic. We've got gray plastic. We've got black plastic. We've got these gray cloth seats which I actually kind of dig. They've got a cool shape. It's comfortable in terms of the interior but it's certainly not fancy at all. You go back and look into the segment and you look at offerings from Nissan and Toyota and you'll see that this really feels pretty [00:01:00] plush certainly compared to their base level trucks. We've got the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder in it. Still makes 200 horsepower and 191 pound feet of torque. It doesn't feel completely slow but I'll admit that some of that has to do with the fact that I have a six-speed to play around with. I'm revving it up a little bit higher than you normally would with a pickup truck. It's not fast. It doesn't mean that it's not a little bit fun to drive. [00:01:30] We've come so far in terms of overall ride quality, noise vibration and harshness and things of that nature in all pickup trucks that it's frankly surprising to see something at the very bottom end in terms of price of the market be as good as this is. I think that you're going to get a lot of people who are into the truck lifestyle who like the look. You're going to get a lot of people who are moving down from bigger trucks that still want to have a little bit of capability. Then with things with a truck of this nature where you're talking about a [00:02:00] sub-$25,000 price point, you're just going to get a lot of people who want a vehicle of any kind, kind of a budget vehicle.

Driving the Kia K5 and Mini Cooper JCW GP, plus an interview with Jimmy Chin | Autoblog Podcast #637

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and News Editor Joel Stocksdale. They veer off right away into talking about their dream project garages. Next up is news, including some info on the next Nissan Z car, the Honda Fit being discontinued in the U.S., new Mercedes-Benz EQS details, and some talk about the new, electric GMC Hummer being adapted for the military. Then they talk about driving the new Kia K5 sedan and the Mini Cooper JCW GP, before they opine about the 1966 Pontiac GTO. Autoblog Senior Producer Chris McGraw interviews Oscar-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin about his collaboration with Ford for the Bronco reveal, and more. Finally, our editors help a listener in the U.K. pick a used vehicle in the "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #637 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Some thoughts on project cars News Nissan suggests the next-generation Z won't be electrified at launch Fit Is Gone! Honda drops subcompact hatch in U.S. Mercedes-Benz announces the electric EQS will offer over 435 miles of range GMC's electric Hummer could someday serve alongside the Humvee in the U.S. Army Driving the 2021 Kia K5 Driving the 2020 Mini Cooper JCW GP 1966 Pontiac GTO: Love it or hate it? We talk Ford Bronco and other adventures with Oscar-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: