By Alicia Dorset
Blog Editor
We at GM blogs have been enjoying working with photo and car buffs at Flickr during the past few months. Starting with October, we’ll also have a monthly photo calendar for you to download. We’ve added some facts about GM’s history and some coming events on the calendar. This month’s calendar features Bob Lutz and the Chevy Sequel Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle at Camp Pendleton, California . Look for the calendars at Flickr.
By Jillian Beauman
Guest blogger
We could not have asked for better weather today as we cruised the 565 miles from Nashville to Pittsburgh on the Chevy Silverado Drive for Farm Aid. With sunny skies and Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again classic playing on our bus, we have perfect driving conditions as The Drive makes its way to the next benefit concert.
Yesterday, after the long trek from Dallas,The Drive arrived in Nashville just in time for the street party at the Riverfront Park after the long journey from Dallas. This was my first trip to The Music City and Gnash, the blue saber-tooth mascot for the NHL’s Nashville Predators, made sure we felt right at home. Gnash’s trademark is his incredible stunts, and he gave the Heritage vehicle owners a good laugh as he theatrically viewed their trucks.
Today’s video clip of 1954 Chevy Bel Air comes from chevysclassics.
If you’d like to see your YouTube clip featured as our Video of the Week, tag it “gmfyi” on YouTube and we’ll find it.
A manipulation of my ‘01 Grand Prix.
Today’s photo comes from the albums of ShapeMemory.
Be sure to look at all of ShapeMemory’s photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with “gmfyi.”
By Jillian Beauman
Guest Blogger
Speed may not be the priority for the Chevy Silverado Drive for Farm Aid, but good music for a great cause sure is. I am enjoying the scenery as we depart Dallas and make our way to Nashville, Tenn., on the first leg of the trip. The Drive will be traveling through a total of 11 states on its way to Farm Aid in Camden, NJ, stopping in three cities to host its own concerts and help raise money to keep family farmers on their land.
Today’s photo comes from the albums of Dave Gorman.
Be sure to look at all of Dave Gorman’s photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with “gmfyi.”
By Jillian Beauman
Guest blogger
As I get ready to pack my bags for the Chevy Silverado Drive for Farm Aid, I still can’t believe my good fortune. A PR professional from Minneapolis, I have been asked to ride along to aid in documenting the drive. Kicking off tomorrow in Dallas, Texas, this 2,800-mile road trip through the heartland of America will make pit stops in four cities over four days, giving us a chance to stretch our legs, attend concerts by some of the biggest names in country music and come together to raise money for a good cause.
When the early 90’s cars get dirty, they take a hard rock bath.
Today’s Cadillac photo comes from the albums of sirslushy.
Be sure to look at all of sirslushy’s photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with “gmfyi.”
By Scott Fosgard
Director, GM Powertrain Communications
About a dozen television cameras and about 50 people gathered last Thursday to hear the sound of the future in Washington D.C. It’s like no vehicle sound you’ve ever known. The compressors take in air and it sounds like a far-off jet engine. That’s the sound of the GM Sequel Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle. This past Thursday was its first day as an enlistee.
Over the past few years, GM has invested $1 billion in alternative fuel technologies. U.S. Army Major General Roger A. Nadeau accepted the keys to the first Chevrolet Equinox to be deployed with the next-generation hydrogen fuel cell power plant. It’s cleaner than anything on the road. It’s more energy efficient than anything on the road - twice as efficient as internal combustion engines.
Editor’s note: Last month, FYI brought you daily coverage from the Bonneville Salt Flats, where GM Performance Division and its partners from So-Cal Speed Shop set three new land speed records with Ecotec-powered vehicles during the 58th Annual Speed Week event.
By Phil Colley
GM Performance Division Communications
The team set two records on Aug. 13 in the G/FCC class (G Class/Unblown Fuel Competition Coupe) with the Bonneville Student Project Chevy Cobalt SS and the G/BFALT class (G Class/Blown Fuel Altered Coupe) with the Chevy So-Cal Cobalt SS during the first record return runs of the week.
Running only on E85 ethanol, the Student Project Cobalt SS broke the previous 19-year-old record set by Doc Jeffries in 1987 with a speed of 156.073 mph. The car then upped that record two more times throughout the week using E85 combined with nitrous oxide. Its final top speed was 172.680 mph in the G/FCC class (G Class/Unblown Fuel Competition Coupe). It was the first time E85 ethanol had been used to set a record at Bonneville.
Ecotec-powered vehicles have now set eight records during the past four years with some form of GM engineering involvement. To see the student-developed, E85-powered Cobalt in action, take a look at this video clip, which takes you inside the vehicle with GM Performance Division engineer and driver Mark Dickens as the record is set.
Today’s photo of a 1965 GTO comes from the albums of mrkholcomb.
Be sure to look at all of mrkholcomb’s photos and our other albums. And if you would like to recommend your favorite photo with a GM car or truck in it, put it up on Flickr and tag it with “gmfyi.”
By Carolyn Markey
Janesville Assembly
GM’s Janesville, Wisc., Assembly plant has produced more than half a million trucks capable of running on corn-based E-85 ethanol. But back in 1919, farmers counted on the Janesville plant for another reason: Samson Model M tractors.
The Model M cost $445 and used a four-cylinder Northway engine with a disc-type clutch. Moving parts were enclosed and self-oiling, making them low maintenance. The Model M was advertised to be so simple that the toolbox only contained three wrenches.