The headline on this piece was too good to pass up!

From theTruthAboutCars.com:

Take a good look at this Chevy truck’s bed, if you can: six inches from the front of the bed, there’s a seam. That’s where the extra inches were welded on to make a Longhorn, America’s only 8 1/2 foot long production pickup. Why bother with six extra inches? To make room for one more Hooters girl, obviously. Weight distribution, for the ever larger slide-in campers that were all the rage back then. The C30 Longhorn could take a twelve foot camper, without the horrendous sway that was so common to see back then, with folks trying to haul camper and big families in their half-ton trucks. How many vacations turned (over) into nightmares? This nice truck with a 402 CID big block is available for sale, with an asking price of $14,500! Not to be left out, Ford had a solution to the camper problem too.

Read the full article here.

Back to the Volt here. That is one out of this world looking battery pack for those of us seeing it for the first time. I have now seen the future and it is shiny!

From the Detroit News:

Brownstown Township — General Motors Co. assembled the first lithium-ion battery pack for its Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car today.

The event drew U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre and a host of federal, state and local politicians who heralded the battery’s production as a symbolic step toward remaking Michigan’s economy and the nation’s manufacturing sector.

Chu’s presence underscores the importance that the Volt and other alternatively powered vehicles could have on cutting consumer reliance on foreign oil.

Read the full article here.

Chevy appears to be stepping it up with these new apps via OnStar to make the Volt even more unique and trendsetting. Maybe it’s a sign of things to come!

From the Detroit News:

Las Vegas — Chevrolet Volt owners will have access to smart phone monitoring and control applications for their vehicles, officials from General Motors Co. and OnStar announced Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show.

OnStar President Walt Dorfstatter and Maria Rohrer, director of Chevrolet Volt marketing, made the announcement during a press preview event Tuesday that precedes the world’s biggest electronics and technology show.

The announcement follows Ford Motor Co.’s recent release of advanced smart phone apps for Sync-equipped vehicles.

Read the full article here.

Looks like the old rivalry between the Mustang and Camaro is back in full swing with the Camaro beating the Mustang for 5 straight months. We’ll check back next summer to see what the battle looks like! The real winners here are the consumers with a choice between 2 fabulous rides!

The Camaro outsold the Mustang by more than 3,000 last month — the fifth month in a row that Chevy outsold Ford since bringing back the storied car this spring.

Per the Detroit Free Press:

The battle between the two cars has been raging since the original Camaro went on sale in 1966 as a rival to the Mustang, which had launched two years earlier.

GM officials say the Camaro might even outsell the Mustang this year, which would be the first time it topped the Mustang since 1985. Through October, GM has sold 47,233 Camaros — 9,236 shy of the Mustang.

The Camaro “definitely could overtake Mustang as the segment leader by the end of the year,” Susan Docherty, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales, told reporters last month. She added: “We will hopefully do that with only nine months worth of sales versus 12.”

Read the entire article here.

We have more good news from GM. The news on the Chevy Equinox in particular isn’t surprising. It’s a sharp-looking vehicle with a very reasonable price, so it’s perfect for the current climate.

General Motors is examining ways to ramp up production of four newer models that are selling well above its expectations, a GM spokesman said on Wednesday.

All four models are greatly revamped from previous versions and one, the Chevrolet Camaro, was resurrected five months ago after being out of production for seven years.

The four models are the Chevrolet Equinox, a crossover utility vehicle; Buick LaCrosse, a sedan; Cadillac SRX, also a crossover; and the Camaro, a sports car.

The potential increase in production at GM could prompt more workers to be recalled from layoff, a rare bright spot for the world’s No. 2 automaker just two months after it emerged from bankruptcy protection.

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said GM knew it would have to increase production of some of its models after a summer when inventory levels were at unsustainably low levels, but that these four models in particular had outstripped expectations.

GM said it will also look for a second production plant for the Equinox, which is now assembled at the CAMI Automotive plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, which GM owns with Suzuki Motor (7269.T). The Terrain is also built there.

Sales for the 2010 model Equinox were about 9,900 through September 15. The redesigned Equinox was launched in June.

September will be a critical month. It’s important that sales don’t fall off too much following the end of the cash for clunkers program.

The cash for clunkers program continues to have positive effects, as GM is now increasing production to meet the new demand.

With its Chevrolet Cobalt in demand because of the federal “cash for clunkers” rebate program, General Motors said today it would restart the second shift at its Lordstown plant early next month.

More than 1,000 people will return to work, bringing employment at the plant to about 3,300. The news comes just in time for some laid-off workers who were about to see their benefits reduced.

“It’s a huge relief,” United Auto Workers Local 1112 President Jim Graham said. “We’ve know for some time that this would happen. We just didn’t know when it was coming back.”

GM executives said they had to restart the shift at Lordstown, where the Cobalt is assembled, and add production at other plants because the automaker was running out of cars. The clunkers program, which offers up to $4,500 to people who trade older gas-guzzlers for new, more fuel-efficient models, had left some dealers short of cars. The program is expected to end around Labor Day.

The increased production is not limited to Lordstown.

In addition to the new shift at Lordstown, GM is restarting a shift at the Canadian plant that builds the Chevrolet Equinox, a five-passenger crossover that can get 32 miles per gallon on the highway, said Tim Lee, GM’s vice president for manufacturing.

He added that demand for GM’s small pickups and its HHR wagon are also up, so GM could add shifts to plants in Louisiana and Mexico, too.

In addition, GM plans to keep open its Lake Orion, Mich., plant until November to build the Chevrolet Malibu. That plant had been scheduled to close next month. It was set to reopen in 2011 to make small cars.

Needless to say, this is excellent news for the auto industry and for the overall economy. Areas like Northeast Ohio have been suffering from growing unemployment, and every little bit helps. This also bodes well for auto suppliers.

Chevy has a legitimate hit on its hands with the new Camaro. For the second straight month, Camaro sales have topped sales for the Ford Mustang.

With all the talk about fuel efficient vehicles, it’s nice to see Americans embracing cars that bring back the romantic vision of cars that marked American in the 20th century.

The news this year has been pretty grim for GM, but they have some good news this week as the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro hits what’s left of their showrooms. The car is beautiful, and it’s joining some other legendary car nameplates from the past as well.

The arrival of the 2010 Camaro in Chevrolet showrooms this week marks the replay of an automotive rivalry that goes back 35 years.

The Camaro is set to relive the ’60′s pony car wars with its historic rivals from Ford and Dodge. The Camaro versus Mustang versus Challenger rivalry is deeply etched into the popular psyche, with nameplate loyalty that goes back generations in some families.

Unlike humans, the cars have not mellowed with age. These muscle cars are sharper and better. While the new cars look a lot like the originals, they certainly don’t drive like them.

With these cars there is no reason to pine for “the good old days.” Although pre-pollution-control cars of the 60′s were quick, they can’t hold a candle to the new breed of pony cars. Not only do the new cars come with about the same amount of power, they get better gas mileage and produce a cleaner exhaust. They can handily out-handle, and out-brake their namesake.

Sales of the Camaro are hot, and they’re certainly helped by the incredible success of the new Transformers movie. The film has received some pretty bad reviews, but the cars are the stars, and that’s great news for GM. If you’re looking to own one, you can find a great deal on a Chevrolet Camaro today.