Chevrolet set to show off new crate engines in delicious vintage Chevy builds at SEMA 2018

Photo: Chevrolet Pressroom.

If the term “crate engine” makes you think only of the “Put a 350 in it, man!” crowd, it might be time for you to take a fresh look.

While it may be true that, as Matt Farah observed during a chat with Jalopnik’s Kurt Bradley on The Smoking Tire podcast this week, a lot more people are talking on the Interwebs about doing crazy LS swaps these days than actually doing them, the Chevrolet crate engine lineup offers a considerable depth and breadth of swap-friendly options, with nearly 50 motors to choose from.

GM says optional extended ‘bumper-to-bumper’ warranty ‘breaks new ground’

Photo: GM Corporate Newsroom.

Coming off a rough third quarter that saw an 11 percent sales drop, GM now seems to be betting that an option announced today to purchase a “no questions asked” limited warranty offering an extended period of “bumper-to-bumper” coverage will be enough to entice more consumers to buy a new Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, or Cadillac vehicle.

GM’s Mark Reuss at Holden Headquarters: ‘Make no mistake, we’re moving to a driverless future’

Holden engineer Rob Trubiani. Photo: GM Holden Pressroom

So how do you feel about the future of autonomous motoring—or of a so-called “driverless future?”

If you’re reading Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster, chances are you have mixed feelings at best about autonomous vehicles in general. And, looking 10 or 20 years ahead, you’re probably a lot more comfortable with the vision of a world in which you still have at least a choice about whether you or a computer will be in control of your personal vehicles.

Despite tragic accidents, the self-driving car money trail tells one story: They’re here. They’re autonomous. Get used to it.

Waymo-branded self-driving Chrysler Pacifica. Photo: FCA.

It doesn’t take much research to at least get a “Zen sense,” if not a quantitative sense, that auto enthusiasts tend to be, to say the least, ambivalent about the self-driving vehicle juggernaut.

And that’s not hard to understand: it's all about the sense of individual freedom and control that comes from owning and driving your own vehicle. The American driver knows that he or she can, theoretically, at least, decide on any given day to pack up the car and go anywhere in this vast country—whether it’s a temporary vacation or a permanent move.

13 vintage and modern GM race cars now on display at GM Renaissance Center in Detroit

1967 Camaro Indy 500 pace car. Photo: GM Corporate Newsroom.

An exhibition honoring GM's motorsports heritage opened to the public last week at GM World, a space providing visitors with a year-round car show experience at the GM Renaissance Center.

Opel to Celebrate 50th Birthday of the Opel GT at the Bodensee Klassik Rally in May

Photo: Opel Pressroom—Poland.

Remember the Opel GT?—the German-import sports coupe with hot looks and unremarkable power that was brought to the U.S. through a partnership with GM and affectionately known here in the States as the "Baby 'Vette?"

Well, the Opel GT, which was actually manufactured in two generations (1968-1973 and 2000-2010), has its 50th birthday this year.

To celebrate, Opel will send five Opel GTs to join a lineup of 180 classic cars for the Bodensee Klassik (May 3-5). The rally starts and ends on the picturesque shores of Lake Constance in Bregenz, Voralberg, Austria, and features a challenging stretch through the mighty summits of the Tyrolean Alps. 

I Just Figured Out Why I'm Not Crazy About the Last Two Camaro Generations

Sixth-generation Camaro. Photo: GM media website.

Don't get me wrong. The current generation Chevrolet Camaro is a nice car. It's a fast car and more than meets all of the requirements to carry the mantle of the grand tradition of pony cars that it comes from.

First-generation Camaro: Photo: GM media website.

If someone offered me a new Camaro for free, I would gleefully accept it. And I would keep it and drive it for many happy miles and years, rather than sell it.

 And yet, since the fifth-generation Camaro first came out for the 2010 model year, and continuing into the the current generation that launched in 2016, something has always just bothered me. And now, after taking a really good look at a fifth-generation Camaro yesterday, I think I more clearly understand why.

To frame up my explanation, allow me to indulge in a cliche and quote "Webster's," because there are two terms that explain my impression of the last two Camaro generations. Both of those terms have definitions in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary that vividly illustrate what I am talking about:

• Caricature—"exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics" [emphasis mine]
• Postmodern—"of, relating to, or being any of various movements in reaction to modernism that are typically characterized by... ironic self-reference and absurdity..." [emphasis mine]

Yes, as you might have guessed, my take is that the fifth and sixth-generation are postmodern caricatures of the classic first-generation that launched in 1967.

"A 350 is a 350 is a 350"—NOT! And Other Misconceptions About GM V8 Engines Debunked

With the Crate Engine, the Chevy 350 lives today.
Photo: GM media website.

With GM's rightful reputation for badge engineering—slapping the brands of their different divisions on essentially lookalike bodies—it isn't at all unreasonable that many people think that the same idea applied to powertrains in the glory days of the storied GM V8 engines like the Chevrolet 350.

Plus, there is the ubiquitous cliche uttered by many gearheads—or wannabe gearheads—when talking about the hot-rodder projects they dream of: "put a 350 in it."

It's easy to have the misconception that, if you look at a Chevrolet, a Buick, and a Pontiac from the 70s, each with a 350 ci V8, you're looking at the same engine three times.

But there's a problem: it isn't true.

Here's a quick history lesson—if you want more detail, you'll find copious amounts of research fodder on the Interwebs. In a nutshell, over the decades, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, and Buick each had separate and very innovative powertrain engineering and manufacturing operations. And each, at some point, arrived at the magic number of 350 cubic inches of displacement that, for its time, packed a lot of horsepower and torque into a reasonably compact footprint.

March Was a Good Month for Cadillac Sales, GM Reports

If you're Cadillac enthusiast, you just might be pleased to hear that the brand rang up strong sales for March 2018, posting a year-over-year increase of over 25 percent—Cadillac's best March sales during the marque's twenty-second month of consecutive sales growth.

So what Caddy models are driving the growth? In a statement, GM reported that sales were driven by impressive performances of both the Cadillac XT5 and the Escalade, which continues to gain market share with retail sales up 15 percent for the month. The brand’s sedan portfolio also saw robust growth during the first quarter of 2018. Cadillac XTS, CT6, and ATS sales also saw significant gains, the company said.