Car Throttle

Usually when we post a Car Cameo, it tells the story of a large car manufacturer which teams up with a big-name artist to feature a loan vehicle in one of their latest vids. Lamborghini loves to give Gallardos to their favourite rappers, and Mini have recently upped their game with spots in a lot of the latest music videos to hit VEVO. These product placement "ads" tend to only last for a maximum of 10 seconds. That seems to be enough these days to capture the attention of young music fans and to make them yearn for some of that metal. To our joy, Chevrolet have done something a little bit different with OK Go, a US band notorious for their viral videos. In their

Even though the recent recession fatally wounded parts of the industry and fossil fuels running dry will threaten its future, the world of cars is still very much alive and kicking. There is such a variety of new products coming out this year ranging from affordable city cars you'll actually want to own, to ridiculously expensive supercars you'll lust after, old school coupes to revolutionary family cars, petrol engines to plug-in electric motors. The list is almost endless. So to help fellow car lovers and "new kids on the block" out, here's a round-up of 33 cars we can't wait to see in 2012 in order of release date. January 2012 Kia Optima It's been available around the world for a while but the Kia Optima

Next year, the Corvette will be eligible for AARP membership.  America's sports car will be turning 60 years old, and the boys at Chevy have a surprise planned for the anniversary: the 427 Convertible.  Thankfully it's more than just a stripes and stickers package, (I'm looking at you, 40th Anniversary Corvette!) what with the LS7 under the hood. The 427 Convertible will be the first time that the Z06's LS7 (7.0L) V8 will be available in a drop-top Corvette.  Previously, the top dog convertible was the Grand Sport, which featured the LS3 6.2L V8 with goodies like dry-sump lubrication and launch control.  With 427ci of displacement, there's now a healthy 505bhp and 470lb-ft torque, making it the most powerful convertible 'Vette they've made yet.  A

According to Chevrolet, the following concept car was crafted using the minds of a plethora of young whiz kids from the US of A. Our question is who, what and how drunk were these selected yank youths? The concept that was designed by the future, for the future, is called the Code 130R which unfortunately houses many fails. The biggest failure is, well, just look at that thing! The newly appointed designers must have just sat in the studio bored either BBM-ing, iMessaging or playing Angry Birds for a while until one of them came up with an interesting remix, "Take Bumblebee, make him the same size as a 1M coupe, paint him red and give him gold rims." In principal, it sounds genius; a

Every car lover's calender starts with a new batch of machines on show in Motor City. I'm talking, of course, about the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. The city is famous for being the beating heart of the American motor industry and at the start of every year all the world's manufacturers congregate and show off their new products to see what our stateside friends think of their latest offerings. Here's a half-time round-up of the motors on show for 2012 from each stand from the day so far. Bentley Two new Continentals broke free from the covers at the Bentley stand; the V8 coupe and V8 GTC Cabriolet. Little differences to tell these from the bigger W12 on the outside include a gloss black

It's a sad day for car people.  If you've been on the internet, especially Facebook, and especially General Motor's Facebook page, you probably heard today's big news. Saab filed for bankruptcy in a district court in Sweden today.  We don't make a habit of reporting industry news here at Car Throttle, but this is Saab we're talking about, and this story has been leading to this inevitable conclusion basically since Spyker bought Saab from GM.  With no money to buy the parts to build cars, or pay the workers to build the cars, Saab was in a rough spot.  With accusations of their funding coming from shady places it was hard to secure additional funding to float the company.  And with GM unwilling to supply

The yearly SEMA (Special Equipment Manufacturers Association) show happens in Las Vegas.  That's enough reason to want to go to it.  But more than the exotic locale (way better than, err, Detroit), SEMA is a hotbed of aftermarket parts.  If you're inclined to think this is a no-big-deal sort of affair, that's not the case.  The SEMA show attracts so much attention that manufacturers themselves have been getting into the SEMA game for a few years now, whether directly or through various 3rd party companies.

There are so many "new car" debuts prior to SEMA that I would literally flood your RSS feed with them.  I don't want to do that.  Plus, I can't write an entire article about a Chevy Sonic

The Chevrolet Sonic subcompact is launching, and General Motors is readying a large advertising campaign to promote it. GM intends to gear the car to Generation Y (Millenials) who are looking for something affordable but still is cool. S To us, the Sonic definitely seems to be the coolest vehicle in its segment, offering a blend of attractive design and impressive features versus the competition. What it really needs is a sport model, but we digress. Given that it is a new nameplate, awareness needs to be built up. A lot of the Sonic's target market gets information from social media and blogs like us, so why not do something cool to get attention? One of the first ads for Sonic does just that, pushing the

When a car is highly anticipated, the first models available for public sale are often offered up for charity by a manufacturer or dealer. The company gets good PR from it due to a high sale price, the buyer gets bragging rights as owner of the first one, and the money all goes to benefit a charity. Chevrolet's Camaro ZL1 is definitely anticipated model by enthusiasts, packing 580 horsepower despite an initial horsepower rating of 550. General Motors has a tendency lately to under promise and over deliver in both horsepower and fuel economy figures. The ZL1 does battle with fellow performance models like the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and Dodge Challenger SRT-8 392. Its the pony car wars all over again! The

They say 40 is the new 30. While that is the saying about age, it also is becoming true about gas mileage. Increasingly, cars are increasing their fuel economy scores with each passing generation. To compete, especially, in the subcompact segment, you need an impressive number. General Motors' entrant is the Sonic, and mileage estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency as well as crash test information have been released. Looking at the numbers, the Sonic has the goods to be a competitive entry. Moving down the size ladder doesn't mean mediocre vehicles anymore. The new Sonic scores 40 mpg highway, and 29 mpg city, powered by a 138-horsepower turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder. We expect an Eco model will increase the Sonic's fuel economy ratings even further.