Chevrolet Trucks Blog

Pimping ain’t easy. How many times have we heard that being said? In case you’re wondering, we’re not talking about the difficulties pimps and their “working class” ladies encounter. No, no. It’s about “pimping” or sprucing up your old ride and converting it into something new. Take for example what this guy from Marshall, Texas did to his 2000 Chevrolet Silverado.

Chris Redmond, a painter, has been working on his ride for quite some time now. It all started when he accidentally backed his truck into a pole. Back then his truck was just in a mild custom state, nothing fancy. That accident triggered the genius in him to redesign and refurbish the truck. To do this, he had to get some help. Since he didn’t have a shop of his own, Chris asked for a space from his good friend and owner (wow, what a coincidence) of Certified Collision, an auto shop in his state, Eric Nichols.

Once he had the space to work with, Chris started to get the parts he needed with the help of his other friend, Rob Robinson. The first thing they did was work on getting a tail gate and a roll pan. They followed it up by getting the front grille of a ‘68 Chevy truck from their local junkyard to replace the current grille the Silverado had. Once they had everything in place, that’s when they started to get their hands dirty.

Without any background on how to do this type of customization, Chris and Rob worked on removing the entire grille and bumper in order to customize the ’68 grille they got and match it with the Silverado’s front. Once they got the design specs in order, they began cutting and reshaping the ’68 grille to match the car’s curves at the front. Chris also ended up using two bed sides to support the installation of the car’s bumper. A roll pan was placed on top of it in order to have a place for his license plate. The duo finished the truck off by painting the Silverado red and black.

And voila, Chris had a customized 2000 Chevrolet Silverado that would make Xzibit and his boys from Pimp My Ride a run for their money.

Source: Sport Truck

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Remember Bumblebee, the lovable, yellow Chevy Camaro from the Tranformers flick? Of course you do. He beat up the Decepticon Barricade and helped Shia Labouf snag Megan Fox thus winning the hearts of everyone who watched him and making Chevrolet’s new hybrid Camaro something to look forward too. Since Chevrolet was able to conquer the sports car market thanks to that big-budget flick, they now seem intent on establishing themselves in the SUV Market by launching its newest concept, the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse.

The 2009 Chevrolet Traverse, which is based slightly on Chevy’s Malibu, is the fourth crossover to come out of their design studio. The SUV is built with a direct injection 3.6 liter V-6 engine that dishes out 281 horsepower. Once equipped with a dual exhaust, this mean machine can increase its horsepower to 286 hp. The Traverse also comes with a six-speed automatic transmission equipped with a front or all-wheel-drive feature and is capable of providing 25 to 26 mpg in terms of highway mileage.

Aside from its spruced up engine, the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse has a 4,500 lbs. towing capacity, StabiliTrak and OnStar systems installed in it and turn-signal repeaters included in its sideview mirrors. The SUV is capable of seating seven to eight passengers, so as part of its safety features, six airbags were installed capable of protecting all three rows of passengers. Optional features of the SUV include heated and cooled seats, a DVD player and a rearview camera.

According to Chevrolet, the 2009 Traverse will come in three versions: the LS, LT and LTZ models.

Can Chevrolet capture the minds and hearts of motorists just like they did in Transformers with their hybrid Camaro? I’m sure they’re hoping for that as well.

Sources: Freep, Motor Trend, WZZM 13, Auto 123

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Alternative, eco-friendly fuel stations have been slowly sprouting around the country like ant hills thanks to the widespread attempt of car companies to create vehicles using this type of fuel. Now Chevrolet plans on joining the fray.

Based on reports, the Classic Chevorlet/Hummer dealership located in Grapevine will be putting up a fuel station which will provide E85 ethanol based fuel and biodiesel fuel. The dealership will be shelling out $500,000 in order to finance the development of the station.

The new Grapevine station will be seventh fuel station in Dallas-Fort Worth to provide this type of fuel.

Source: Star Telegram

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Chevrolet has decided to get sporty by sponsoring the Football Matters Academies which is headed by David Platt, a former England midfielder. The program will work on introducing football to children aged 4-14 all over the UK.

Academies will be set up to accommodate 150 participants, who will be offered training on sports, journalism, physiotherapy, nutrition and leadership skills as well as football coaching.

The program will begin during Easter and carry through the summer and will be held at football clubs and schools.

Source: Motor Trader

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This just made me remember a scene from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. In this sequence, the Terminator, John Connor and Katherine Brewster just narrowly escaped the T-X (Kristanna Loken). However, they were not able to escape unscathed. The Terminator suffered damage to his abdomen which contained his hydrogen fuel cells. These cells were damaged and set to explode in a matter of seconds. To avoid harming his companions, the Terminator removed it from his body and threw it out of the car where it exploded, mushroom cloud and all. Now the reason why I brought up this topic is because General Motors is trying to work on the same technology for their Chevrolet brand.

At the Philadelphia Auto Show, General Motors will be introducing a new type of alternative fuel for its Chevrolet Equinox SUV. The plan is to make the vehicle run on a hydrogen fuel cell. According to GM, the SUV will be combining hydrogen and oxygen in order to generate electricity and power the car. This alternative fuel cell will enable the Equinox to reach 160 miles just by relying on a single tank of hydrogen.

Based on the reports collected by delawareonline.com, GM shelled out around $1 billion in order to fund this project and be the first car manufacturer to mass-produce a hydrogen-powered vehicle.

As part of their campaign, GM will launch a promotion called “Project Driveway.” They will have one hundred drivers from New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles test-drive the hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox for three months. During this test-drive, these drivers will report to GM whatever findings they may have while using this vehicle.

GM has also joined forces with Shell in order to provide the participating drivers with a service station carrying hydrogen fuel. . Per their agreement, Shell has set-up five service stations with hydrogen facilities, one in White Plains NY, one in Washington and three in California.

Although GM has exerted a lot of effort in promoting this technological advancement, the public will not be able to get their hands on this type of vehicle anytime soon.

“It won’t be until sometime in the next decade that the public will be able to buy GM’s fuel-cell vehicles,” according to John F. Smith, GM’s group vice-president for global product planning.

Well that gives GM ample time to make sure that these hydrogen fuel-cells don’t explode when damaged just like what happened in Terminator 3. Makes you wonder whether GM will end up becoming like Skynet in the near future.

Sources: Fuel Cell Today, Delaware Online, Terminator, Rise of the Machines

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