I'm still not quite sure what you're supposed to call the Malibu from this era, whether the preferred nomenclature is "Chevy Malibu" or "Chevy Chevelle Malibu." The Malibu was just a trim level for the Chevelle in '67, but later became a model in its own right. Either way, this one is seriously mean-looking, which means we get to see how it fares against some other Evil Alameda Chevrolets.


This car was parked in front of a house undergoing a roof replacement, and the roof racks seem to be made for ladders and scaffolds. There's the usual neglected-California-car surface rust, but overall it appears to be pretty solid; no doubt this much-sought-after two-door will evade the Crusher when the current owner decides it's time to move up to a beater pickup.




OK, now let's have our poll! Here's a sampling of some of the Evil Chevy cars we've seen down on the Alameda street (sorry, truck fans, cars only). Vote for your favorite!

The winner! Not much more needs to be said here, but we'd like to point out that the Metro Gnome's best lap of 1:36.298 was only the 12th-best of the race. That's right, consistency (and a 10-lap bonus, awarded by judges who felt sure that chain would snap) wins this race!


This car was moments from winning the SF '08 race when the fuel pump failed. Here's more proof that you don't need to be fast to do well in a LeMons race; just stay out of trouble and don't break parts and you can win. This time around, the Spirit Of San Diego cruised to a solid 7th-place finish, which should give you 305 drivers some ammunition in your debates with the 350 guys.


Sure, this car spun out quite a bit, but Team Unsafe At Any Speed added greatly to our enjoyment of the race. The best lap time was 1:54.807, which wasn't so quick, but they beat nearly half the other teams in the lap totals with their 54th-place finish.








We can't find any photos of the incident- which apparently took place on the back side of the hill- but the super-veteran Cavalier finally ended its racing career with a rollover. No injuries, and we're hoping the ONSET guys will be back with that Cimarron they've been threatening to buy.

We've just discovered that our server hamsters now refuse to run on their wheels when a gallery has more than 50 images, so here's the complete set of photos in the old format:

For those of you keeping score, that's 30 awards the new Bowtie has racked up since launch, and someone seems to be paying attention: A local dealer friend of ours here in the D says he can't get enough Malibus to sell. Whadda ya want? Ya want 'em quick, or you want 'em right?

[J.D. Power and Associates] (with h/t to Knoblich)

[TFW2005]

I took some pics of these 2 sweet lotuses and some other cool stuff in my area - Burnaby just outside vancouver BC .. There is a mazda eunos and 2 honda beats at that one guys house.. He must do some importing I guess.

Opel Insignia: A New Design Language For A New Era

* Sculpted design with a flowing coupé silhouette
* Four-wheel drive, active chassis and seven engines available at launch
* World premiere July 2008 at the London Motor Show

Rüsselsheim. A new name, a new car, a new ambition. With its groundbreaking design and sophisticated technology, the Insignia makes a quantum leap toward rejuvenating the brand and providing the perfect opportunity to discover Opel. The styling of the new 4.83 meter five-seater clearly expresses Opel's strategy to make advanced technology and attractive design affordable.

The Insignia boasts a flowing, powerful silhouette with a coupé-like roofline. The body's sculpted shape is accented by a distinctive radiator grille with a newly-designed Opel emblem. Unmistakable design elements include a sweeping front and rear light "wing" signature and a "blade" side contour that begins directly behind the front wheel and glides through the entire side of the body. Both details give the Insignia's a muscular but graceful allure.

"With Insignia we are introducing an exciting new sophisticated design vocabulary, which combines sculptural artistry with German precision," says Mark Adams, Vice President Design, GM Europe. "Our aim was to develop a confident look which compels the world to experience for themselves the superb driving dynamics the Insignia radiates."

Echoing the exterior, the interior shapes and surfaces, which articulate this promise for exciting mobility, are crafted with high quality materials. The dashboard wraps around from the instrument panel to the door in a very sophisticated way, embracing the occupants. This wing theme will be echoed across all Opels. Red ambient lighting, which also will be featured in future Opel models, vibrate a warm, luxurious aura. A lot of emphasis too has been put into the seating, which set the highest standards in ergonomics, comfort and safety.

Opel's pioneering role and unique expertise in lighting technology continues in the Insignia with the latest generation AFL Adaptive Forward Lighting system: Nine different light beam settings automatically adjust themselves to cater to various driving conditions, simultaneously enhancing safety and driving excitement. Another new element on the AFL system is the LED daytime running lights, which consume considerably less energy than a conventional system featuring halogen lamps, thereby lowering CO2 emissions from 6 g/km to nearly zero.

"As each feature demonstrates, the Insignia is the result of our quest to develop a car that combines striking design, excellent driving dynamics and innovative technology" says Hans H. Demant, Managing Director, Adam Opel GmbH.

The Insignia is offered from the start with front-wheel and all-wheel drive. The "Adaptive 4X4" system's proactive, instantaneous torque distribution not only ensures optimal traction but also enhances driving stability and dynamic handling performance. In the all-wheel drive Insignia, the FlexRide mechatronic chassis system with its Adaptive Stability Technology helps the car adjust to prevailing driving conditions and allows the driver to select settings to match his mood. FlexRide is also available in the front-wheel version.

The Insignia will launch with an exceptionally broad range of seven engines. All meet Euro 5 emissions standards and come with either manual or automatic six-speed transmissions. The four gasoline engines range from a four-cylinder 115 hp unit to a V6 with 260 hp. The three new direct-injection diesels feature a displacement of 2.0 liter and outputs spanning from 110 to 160 hp. Subsequently the Insignia engine line-up will be expanded with an EcoFLEX version offering very low CO2 emissions in addition to other, more powerful variants.

"The Opel Insignia sets new standards in technology and innovation — this will be obvious right from the launch. But we are keeping several cards up our sleeves when it comes to environmental compatibility, excitement and safety, which we will play strategically overtime" says Alain Visser, Chief Marketing Officer, GM Europe.

The Insignia notch- and hatchback will debut July 22, 2008 at the London Motor Show and hit showrooms starting in November. The Insignia was developed at GM Europe's International Technical Development Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany, which also is home to its production. The Rüsselsheim facility is one of the most advanced car plants in the industry.

But we digress, it seems the Malibu may be the next threatened product in the General's stable. Although American Axle doesn't actually provide any parts for the better-than-average selling sedan, they apparently do supply parts to other suppliers supplying parts — specifically, as Automotive News is reporting, rear suspension knuckles. And apparently they'll not be having enough of those rear suspension knuckles — in who knows how long. But whenever, or if, that does happen, it could be a very bad thing and not only because this entire story is now making us think of that damn Buick-hating Eve 6 song. But wait, what's that you say? It's actually "rendezvous" they're singing? Yes, well, it's so easy to plug "Malibu" in for the Buick piece of shit the song's not actually about. Confused? Yeah, we are too — which is why we all now get to inhabit the private hell that is this song. (Hat tip to Kevin!) [Detroit News]

When this car was made, "Malibu" was just an optional trim level available on the Chevelle; it didn't become a model in its own right until later on. The standard engine for '71 was the lackluster 307, though this car may well be on its 15th powerplant by now; small-block Chevy engines might as well have Velcro mounts, given how often they get swapped around.


This example drives every day and parks on one of the island's busier streets. It looks to be in pretty solid original condition.


Well, original except for the Camaro wheels, that is. The mix-n-match Chevy wheels game is fun for everyone!

As keeper-of-the-GM Deathwatch Robert Farago said, "They created demand, and there's no cars to satisfy it. That's fine if it's an iPhone or a niche vehicle like a Toyota Prius, but not for a mass-market vehicle." GM must bank on customers being so taken with the new bowtie that they'll wait a couple of months. [Marketing Daily]

When you're talking cars from Repo Man, you're more or less required by law to start the discussion by bringing up J. Frank Parnell's '64 Chevy Malibu, with its trunkload of deadly cargo. Fortunately for those wishing to build their own replica of this car, J. Frank's Malibu was a four-door six-cylinder machine, which means you can get them pretty cheaply. For example, this 1964 Chevrolet Malibu 4-door (go here if the ad disappears) for just $900. Give it a paint job, put some pecan pies in the back and a bright light in the trunk, don your single-lensed sunglasses, and you'll be paying heavy-duty homage to one of the best car movies of all time! This one probably needs a fair bit of mechanical work to get to that point (the seller claims it's just a distributor cap), and we can assume there's rust, but it's cheap and simple- how bad can it be?

You figure everyone and his brother is going to go for the Malibu when putting together a Repo Man homage car, but maybe you want to be a little different. You could go with Duke's 1978 Corolla, or maybe the Government Agents' 1971 Matador, but: Harry Dean Stanton! Not only did Stanton play Bud in Repo Man, he played a hitchhiker in Two Lane Blacktop (which may well be the best car movie of all time), plus there's his unforgettable "AVENGE ME!" line from the ultimate Cheezy 80s Flick, Red Dawn. Thus, you need to pick up this here 1971 Chevrolet Impala 4-door (go here if the ad disappears) and recreate Bud's ride from Repo Man! Asking price is $1500... or maybe it's $2100 (depending on whether you go by the headline or the description), but either way you'll be able to do some negotiatin' with this motivated seller. The car runs, seems to look reasonably intact, and its Arizona locale is a likely indicator that you won't find much rust. Just give it a dark blue paint job, put a big whip antenna on it, and get ready for some fast driving in the L.A. River.

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GM Reports 263,654 November Deliveries; Retail Car Deliveries Up

* Chevrolet Malibu Retail Sales Up 40 Percent; Chevy Cars Up 15 Percent
* All-New CTS Drives 15 Percent Cadillac Car Sales Increase
* Enclave, OUTLOOK and Acadia Crossovers Post Strong Retail Sales
* Dealer Inventories Down 97,000 Vehicles Year-Over-Year
* Planned Daily Rental Sales Reduction of 28.5 Percent

The region's 2007 fourth-quarter production forecast is revised at 1.025 million vehicles (350,000 cars and 675,000 trucks), up 25,000 units or 3 percent from last month's guidance. Additionally, the region's initial 2008 first-quarter production forecast is set at 950,000 vehicles (344,000 cars and 606,000 trucks), down 113,000 vehicles or 11 percent from first-quarter 2007 actuals. [Source: GM]

BMW 3-series
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Malibu
Infiniti G35/G37
Lotus Elise
Mazda CX-9
Mercedes-Benz S-class
Porsche Boxster/Cayman
Volkswagen GTI
Volvo C30
[Automobile Magazine]

General Motors and Government of Dubai to Bring Hybrids to the Middle East

Dubai, UAE - General Motors and Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced today an agreement for an evaluation program that will bring hybrid vehicles to the Middle East. The agreement, which includes a comprehensive local market evaluation of GM's all-new Chevrolet Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid and the all-new Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, could eventually lead to one of the largest fleets of hybrid vehicles in the world.

The accord is groundbreaking because it demonstrates the common goal of General Motors, Dubai RTA and the Government of Dubai to reduce their impact on the environment - even in a region that is rich in oil-resources.

The agreement was signed by His Excellency Matar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board & Executive Director of the RTA and Terry Johnsson, President of General Motors Middle East Operations, in the presence of Engineer Essa Al-Dosary, CEO Public Transportation Agency, Engineer Abdul Aziz Malik, CEO Dubai Taxi, and a number of department directors and officials from RTA and General Motors.

Maureen Kempston Darkes, GM Group Vice President and President of GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East said, "We are honored that Dubai RTA selected the all-new Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and Malibu Hybrid for this program. This is further evidence that our environmental strategy goes to markets all around the world - and is truly a global effort to reduce emissions and develop sustainable transportation. These advanced technology vehicles are leaders in their automotive segments and selecting them is testimony to the visionary leadership of the Government of Dubai.

His Excellency Matar Al Tayer said that this initiative comes in implementation of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai to seek a safe, clean and attractive and sustainable environment that lives up to the reputation and prestige of the Emirate. It also comes in the framework of RTA's commitment to protect life and property, preserve the environment and natural resources, improve standards of occupational health and public safety, and implement all the necessary technologies to reduce noise levels caused by means of transportation.

The GM-RTA agreement calls for the provision of a small fleet of Chevrolet Tahoe and Malibu hybrids that will be used as limousines and taxis by RTA on the roads in Dubai. The program will last one year, beginning in January 2008. General Motors will provide technical training on safety and other aspects for 15 RTA technicians, along with training for 40 drivers of Dubai Taxi. During the program, GM and the RTA will work together to validate the vehicles for use and serviceability. The intent is for the Dubai RTA to consider the Chevrolet hybrids for its fleet plans scheduled for early 2009.
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He had similar comments for the Malibu, saying: "No teething problems on the new Chevrolet Malibu. I've closely watched the development of this one from beginning to end. I'm more than confident that it will do well in the marketplace buy serving its buyers well and by offering them surprising value. How confident? If you buy it and have ANY problems with it, contact me at warbro70@aol.com. I know exactly who to go to on this one." [WaPo via GM Inside News Forums]