The C7 Corvette Stingray is here!!!
Posted: January 13, 2013 Filed under: INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: 2014, 7 speed manual, C7, Chevrolet, Corvette, Gen V LT1 V8, Mind over motor, new, Stingray 4 Comments »
The new Corvette has finally been unveiled, and my, oh my is it stunning. Other Corvettes have all been a bit plain at their unveiling, but this new Corvette Stingray is legitimately stunning. I would even venture to say it is the most stunning Vette at its launch since the original Stingray, the C2. You can see all the details on Jalopnik, but in short its got a 450hp V8, all of GM’s latest tech toys, a 7 speed manual transmission, and higher quality befitting of a world class sports car. All in all, I am thoroughly impressed. Great job GM!!!
-Nick Walker
Spotted! 1958 Chevrolet Corvette C1, Woodward Ave, MI
Posted: December 24, 2012 Filed under: Classics, SPOTTED! | Tags: 1958, 283ci, C1, Chevrolet, Classic, Corvette, Detroit, Michigan, Mind over motor, V8, Woodward Ave Leave a comment »
I saw this beautiful C1 Corvette during my last night on Woodward Ave this past summer. I saw many of the great American cars this summer, but it was nice to leave off with true legend. The Corvette is still one of the fastest, most accomplished cars money can buy, and this was the first generation. By 1958 V8s were the norm in Corvettes, and the car was well on its way to becoming a legend. This read and white example is like the apple pie of Corvette heritage. Enjoy.
Test Driven: 6.0 swapped 2000 Chevrolet Silverado
Posted: December 6, 2012 Filed under: Off-Road Able, Photography by Dan Valanzola, Road Review, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 2000, 6.0, Black Bear Performance, cammed, Chevrolet, drag racing, Mind over motor, Nick Walker, Photography by Dan Valanzola, review, Silverado, swapped, Test Driven, V8 1 Comment »
The Silverado (by Dan V)
I have been around cars for a long time now, and it has gotten to the point where I generally know what to expect when I get behind the wheel of something new. Many cars have some surprising features, but usually these surprises are more of a nice touch, a cherry on top of the ice cream sundae; if you will. Every so often though, I find something that completely throws my expectations out the window. The Chevy Siverado you see above belongs to my photographer friend, Dan Valanzola, who has spent countless hours turning it into something entirely unexpected. Read the rest of this entry »
Test Driven: 2011-2012 Chevrolet Cruze (ECO and LTZ)
Posted: September 11, 2012 Filed under: Green & Economical, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: Blue, C-Segment, Chevrolet, Comeback, Compact, Cruze, eco, economy, LTZ, Mind over motor, Test Driven, Top Seller, turbo, USA, Winner 1 Comment »
GM has had a spotty history with smaller cars over the past 35 years or so. Its 1970s attempt, the Vega, was plagued with reliability issues stemming from an underdeveloped engine block and corrosion problems. The 1980s were no better, when the Citation (and its X-car brothers) became best remembered for massive recalls and a class-action lawsuit which ruined Chevy’s reputation for reliability (beyond its tarnished state). The Cavalier and Cobalt over the past years have been remembered as cheap transportation with little more than basic frills (although the Cobalt at least went fast with its SS turbo). However, the new Cruze, which has been on the market for a few years now, has quickly become a success, even outselling all of its competitors last month (and not for the first time). I’ve driven a few of them over the past 12 months and would like to share some thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »
Test Driven: 2013 Chevrolet Spark
Posted: September 6, 2012 Filed under: Green & Economical, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 1.2, 2013, 500, Car, Chevrolet, Chevy, Fiat, Fortwo, GM, iQ, Mind, Mini, motor, Nick, Over, Scion, smart, space, Spark, Walker 2 Comments »
The Chevy Spark has had a successful reception around the world since it came out in 2010. Now GM has brought it to the US market in hopes to peak the interest of younger buyers living in urban areas. It is a city car that competes with the Smart Fortwo, Scion iQ, and Fiat 500. The Spark is on the same chassis as the Chevy Sonic, but features notably smaller proportions that allow it to fit in with the city car segment. The Spark I drove was one of the first cars to hit showrooms, and given the buzz around these things right now I wanted to go try it out.
Spotted! 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray (Split Window Coupe), Woodward Ave, MI
Posted: August 22, 2012 Filed under: Classics, Muscle, SPOTTED! | Tags: 1963, 2nd, 327, 360, 63, Ave, Birmingham, C2, Chevrolet, Chevy, Ci, Corvette, Coupe, cubic, Fuel, generation, GM, hp, inches, injection, MI, Michigan, Mind, motor, Oak, Over, Royal, Split, Stingray, Window, Woodward 2 Comments »
The ’63 split window Stingray is the most beautiful Corvette of all time in my opinion. I liken the Stingray to being the “American E-Type” because it was of the same generation as the Jag and had a similar significance on car design. The 1963 model was the only year to feature the split rear window design, and after seeing it all of the subsequent Stingray coupes look a tad awkward without it. The car you see here was the top of the line ’63 Vette with a fuel injected 327ci (5.4L) V8 that produced 360hp. It was a brilliant machine, seemingly in Concours condition, and the owner had parked it in a great spot for photos. Enjoy.
The 2012 Woodward Dream Cruise: General Highlights
Posted: August 20, 2012 Filed under: EVENTS / PLACES | Tags: 2012, American, Auto, Birmingham, Cadillac, Car, Chevrolet, Chevy, Chrysler, Coverage, Cruise, Detroit, Dodge, Dream, Ferrari, Ford, gallery, Highlights, Hot, Jam, Lamborghini, Lincoln, Mercury, MI, Michigan, Mind, motor, Muscle, Oak, Over, photos, pictures, Plymouth, Porsche, Rod, Royal, show, Subaru, Toyota, Traffic, Truck, Woodward 2 Comments »
I was in attendance for this year’s Woodward Dream Cruise. This was my first time at the event, and it is by far the most epic traffic jam I have ever witnessed. The scale of the event is mind-boggling, with around a million people flocking to the Detroit area to see and show off cars of all types. I have a lot more material from the event, but this is a good overview of what was happening. Keep checking back for features on specific cars not shown here. Enjoy the gallery.
Spotted! A very stock looking Chevy Malibu, Woodward Ave, MI
Posted: August 15, 2012 Filed under: Modded, Muscle, SPOTTED! | Tags: 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 64, 65, 66, 67, Ave, big, Birmingham, Blower, Chevelle, Chevrolet, Cruise, Detroit, drag, huge, Malibu, MI, Michigan, Mind, motor, Muscle, Oak, Over, radial, Royal, set, slicks, Supercharged, Supercharger, up, V8, Woodward 2 Comments »
Yea, this car looks pretty stock, maybe some headers but that’d be about it. Race for slips?
Spotted! 1963 Chevrolet Impala Convertible, New Brunswick, NJ
Posted: May 11, 2012 Filed under: Classics, SPOTTED! | Tags: Brown, Cabriolet, Chevrolet, Classic, Classy, Convertible, Impala, Impala Convertible, Mind over motor, New Brunswick, New Jersey, NJ, Rutgers, Rutgers University, Senior Days, Spotted! Chevy, Sunny, Top Up Leave a comment »
While taking a walk around the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick, NJ, I ran into this very tasty ’63 Impala drop-top sitting in a parking lot behind the College Avenue Gym. I’ve seen it around town a few times since I started here in 2008 and this is the first time I’ve ran into it in at least a year. More pictures after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Test Driven: Chevrolet Sonic LTZ Turbo
Posted: May 11, 2012 Filed under: Green & Economical, TEST DRIVEN | Tags: 1.4, 1.8, Abarth, back, Chevrolet, Chevy, Compact, Cooper, Drive, Fiat, four, front, General, GM, Hatch, Hot, Inline, LTZ, manual, Mind, Mini, motor, Motors, Over, review, RS, S, SONIC, Test, Transmission, turbo, wheel 1 Comment »
Chevy Sonic LTZ Turbo
The Chevy Sonic comes from a line of shamelessly terrible econo-boxes. The first generation Aveo made car lovers cringe every time they saw one, and the Sonic is its replacement. So, things don’t look good for the Sonic if its family tree is anything to go by, but thankfully it seems the Sonic was adopted. Up front I will tell you that this car is a vast improvement, and tangible evidence of GM’s improvement over the last few years. I had seen the Sonic at a few car shows, and I thought it was pretty cool for what it was, but other than that I never gave it too much consideration. Then I recently started seeing comparison tests in magazines pitting the Sonic against the Fiat 500 Abarth and the Mini Cooper S, which peaked my interest big time. Read the rest of this entry »
GM: Greatness is just a few good decisions away
Posted: April 30, 2012 Filed under: AUTOMOTIVE INSIGHTS, INDUSTRY TALK | Tags: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 3.6, 6.2, America, Australia, Caprice, Car, Charger, Chevrolet, Chevy, come, Commodore, Dodge, G8, General, GM, Holden, HSV, Impala, LSA, Maloo, Mind, motor, Motors, Muscle, new, Nick, Over, Pontiac, Supercharged, to, USA, Ute, V6, V8, Walker 3 Comments »
It's a Pontiac G8, but with a Chevy badge
Ever since Pontiac was killed off as a result of the financial crisis, GM has not had a proper American sedan to compete with the successful Dodge Charger. The Pontiac G8 had been in this segment, but it came out right as many people became wary of buying GM products, due to their economic uncertainty at the time. A replacement for it has not yet been seen, although there has been talk of it coming back as the Chevrolet Caprice. I think this would be a great seller now, if GM’s lineup were structured properly, because they have basically recovered at this point and have been doing great things. Read the rest of this entry »
Street Wars 8
Posted: April 23, 2012 Filed under: EVENTS / PLACES, Photography by Dan Valanzola | Tags: 302, 350Z, 4G63, 8, AC, accord, airbrush, AMG, Art, Atlantic, Ball, Boss, C63, Camaro, Chevrolet, city, clean, Dan, drag, Dragon, euro, Evo, evolution, FD, Ford, GC, Genesis, Geo, GTI, GTR, Hatch, Honda, Hot Rod, Hyundai, import, Impreza, intake, Integra, Jersey, Lancer, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes, Miata, Mind, Mitsubishi, Modded, Modified, Monster, motor, Muscle, Mustang, new, Nick, Nissan, NJ, Over, Photography, race, racer, Rotary, RX7, slam, slammed, slicks, Stance, STi, Street, Subaru, Supercharge, Track, Truck, tuned, tuner, turbo, Valanzola, VIP, VW, Wagon, Walker, Wars, WRX, Z 1 Comment »
Photo by Dan Valanzola
We were in attendance for Street Wars 8. The show was a lot smaller than last year due to organizational issues, but there were still plenty of quality cars to see. Photos are by both myself and Dan Valanzola. Enjoy the gallery. Read the rest of this entry »
