On Wheels

The reborn Chevrolet Camaro could be the first to have a factory four-banger, a General Motors executive said today.

'OK, let's see -- clutch in, throttle to the floor, engine boiling at 5,100 RPM. Clutch out, slight wheelspin, mad acceleration! Wow. Time to shift, foot still to floor, clutch in, bang -- second gear -- slight tire chirp, backfire, STILL accelerating seamlessly. Time to shift again, foot still to floor--clutch in, bang -- third gear -- another backfire, even MORE accelerationnnn ...

It's a raw deal, being the smallest and least-expensive car on the market. The Crosley, Kaiser Henry J, Nash Metropolitan, Yugo GV can all attest to this fact. Being cheap makes a vehicle attractive to buyers of limited means, but also tends to raise the question, 'Couldn't you have afforded something better?'

Sport-utility vehicle or pickup truck? When the Chevrolet Avalanche debuted in 2002, it cleverly and conveniently combined a bit of each vehicle into one multi-useful package. Like most good ideas, it even spawned imitators, and now we've got half-truck, half-SUV hybrids of all sizes.

You want to talk about living large? This truck is definitely rollin' biggie style. Unlike your average Hummer, Chevrolet's C4500 Kodiak is built for serious work. We're not talking about carrying a four-wheeler in the bed once in a while, or towing Jet-Skis; the Kodiak will haul your entire garage. We used it to rip a small building off of its foundation. And it looks good while doing

Even though the sixth generation Corvette has been around for almost two years now, the car still manages to turn heads. Better still, the car turns tires too, quite vigorously. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the current Corvette is the performance bargain of a lifetime. Add a folding roof to the equation and the cool factor jumps up by a multiple of eight.

It probably doesn't come as a surprise to learn that Chevrolet's Tahoe has been the best-selling vehicle in its class for quite a while now.

Chrysler's PT Cruiser made a big splash when it hit the market in 2000. Its retro style, SUV-versatility and commuter-car manners were an unheard-of combination that helped to launch the current crop of compact, do-all tall cars. In fact, the PT Cruiser's impact was so great that six years later, the Chevrolet HHR has hit the same mark and vanished under the PT Cruiser's ripples.

General Motors is in somewhat dire financial straits these days, but we'd like to point out that we don't think the problem is necessarily in the product. GM can build top-shelf products, even if you don't hear about them much. As Exhibit A, we'd like to present the 2006 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx SS.

Chevrolet's Impala is the best-selling domestic car on the market (not counting the Accords and Camrys that are built domestically, of course). Didn't know that, did you? Given the stunningly outdated condition of that particular car, it came as a huge surprise to us.

Chrysler's PT Cruiser made a big splash when it hit the market in 2000. Its retro style, SUV-versatility and commuter-car manners were an unheard-of combination that helped to launch the current crop of compact, do-all tall cars. In fact, the PT Cruiser's impact was so great that six years later, the Chevrolet HHR has hit the same mark and vanished under the PT Cruiser's ripples.

The car you see here may look a lot like the familiar Chevrolet Cavalier. The face is more or less the same, as are the proportions. But don't be fooled; the 2006 Chevy Cobalt really is more than just a new name on an old body.

You want to talk about living large? This truck is definitely rollin' biggie style.

Here's the latest poster child for the minivan backlash the 2006 Chevrolet Equinox is the latest in the growing parade of do-all vehicles that aren't quite cars, but aren't quite SUVs either.