General Motors. You know them as the biggest of the Big Three and producerof American brands with household names such as Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick and GMC. These kindly folk also own Hummer, Saab, Saturn and the floundering remnants of Isuzu. As large as this two sentence description paints GM as being big, such doesn't come close to framing the size and the importance of GM to the world's automotive industry. To broaden the North American perspective of what GM is, they have decided to bring a few of their international concept cars to the North American International | | Chevrolet's T2X Concept launched what will become the new face of Chevrolet. (Photo: GM) |
Auto Show in Detroit next month.
Representing General Motors of Australia is the Holden EFIJY Concept,a modern interpretation of a 1953 FJ Holden. Its long, sweeping fiberglass body and deep purple paint reminds us of the CadZZilla, a one-off hotrod designed by Boyd Coddington for Billy Gibbons | | She's a real beaut: Holden's EFIJY Concept. (Photo: GM) |
of ZZ Top, but it’s more modern and in many ways even more eye-catching. Under the hood is a supercharged 6.0-liter LS2 V8 engine mated to an automatic gearbox. So far it's been a hit to a certain breed of auto enthusiasts - the hotrod lover. In fact this factory-built special topped Hot Rod Magazine's Best of 2006 list, which means that it’s something special considering manufacturer-designed and built vehicles almost never make the cut.
Two other vehicles on | | Small, but mighty: a diesel-powered hatchback race car. (Photo: GM) |
display will be wearing the recognizable goldenbowtie motif, but they won’t be anything North America has ever seen before. The Chevrolet T2X Concept, designed by GMDAT, GM’s Korean arm, is a compact two-door crossover vehicle that combines the size of small city car with the height and visibility of an SUV. The other vehicle belongs to Chevrolet of Europe. The Ultra WTCC Concept, which debuted at this year’s Paris show, is a diesel-powered touring race car that previews the next-generation of Chevrolet hatchback. Both of these cars have a prominent new arrowhead shaped grille, which will be seen on an American car for | | The Antara became the VUE. (Photo: GM) |
the first time at the same show, the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu that will debut the day following GM's big evening introduction bash.
Another noteworthy car at the show is Opel's three-door Antara GTC Concept, which was previously shown in North America as the Saturn PREVue Concept. GM has shown a modern Opel at the NAIAS before, in the form of the Opel Astra Diesel Hybrid concept.
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