Archive for April, 2018
Review Flashback! 2006 Chevrolet SSR

2006 Chevrolet SSR
The 2003-2006 Chevrolet SSR was a retro-styled convertible pickup truck, though the vehicles with which it shared its basic architecture were none of the above. It would not surprise me if the SSR was the product of a truth-or-dare game gone horribly wrong, and a group a General Motors engineers found themselves at the losing end of a sinister “dare.”

1910 Buick 60 Special “Bug” Racecar
by Jack Stewart
Note: The following story was excerpted from the February 2016 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine.
Don’t cross Buick. The manufacturer was eager to win some races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27, 1910, but its Model 30 racecars were disqualified the morning of the race. Buick management was mad and resolved to get even. In a time before “the Brickyard” had settled on a yearly 500-mile race, Buick planned to come back for the track’s next meet on July 1 with revolutionary cars to extract its revenge.

2018 Chrysler Pacifica Limited in Velvet Red Pearl
2018 Chrysler Pacifica Limited
Class: Minivan
Miles driven: 289
Fuel used: 15.0 gallons
How Hi-Rail Pickup Trucks Work

Chevrolet Silverado Hi-Rail conversion by Harsco. (Harsco Corporation photos.)
I have a number of automotive fantasies, many of which fall into the “never gonna happen” category. Among these daydreams are commuting to work in a Mercedes-Benz Unimog, and driving with Grace Kelly to get a malt at Chicago’s Superdawg Drive-In in a Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing.
Test Drive: 2018 Nissan Leaf

2018 Nissan Leaf SL in Scarlet Ember (a $395 option)
2018 Nissan Leaf SL
Class: Electric Vehicle
Miles driven: 257
Fuel used: N/A

2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV GT S-AWC in Ruby Black Pearl (a $295 option)
2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV GT S-AWC
Class: Compact Crossover/SUV
Miles driven: 822
Fuel used: 24.5 gallons

2002 Lincoln Blackwood
In recent years, Ford’s F-150 product planners and marketing staff have found themselves with an enviable “problem:” They have apparently not yet found the ceiling for what buyers will pay for a fully decked-out full-size pickup. With each new model year, pickup manufacturers keep finding buyers for ever-more-high-end trim levels loaded with new features and gilded with luxury-level appointments.