Dodge Avenger Storm Trooper; More Hits Than We Can Shake A Stick At

TheGMSource - Somethings never cease to amaze me. Take for example that one of the "Most Read" stories on the site is the introduction of the 2007 Chevy Avalanche. Consider that the post was made back in Feb of 2006 (nearly TWO YEARS AGO) and it is still one of the most read stories with thousands upon thousands of page views.

I'm a little surprised by the fact that the Storm Trooper Dodge Avenger story I posted a few days ago has garnered the most hits and attention than any story in recent memory.

A Car From The "Other Guys" We Wouldn't Mind Owning 

TheGMSource - It's not too often I'll consider a vehicle from another automaker other than the General. Not that it makes me a "fanboy" by any stretch of the imagination, but because I think that General Motors makes the best vehicles on the road today, both in exterior and interior design, and in quality and price. So, walking the auto show floor last week I stumbled upon the Dodge Avenger Storm Trooper Edition.

This is one vehicle this soon to be 24 year old wouldn't mind beeing seen in. I've never really liked the Avenger as much as my friends have, but this body kit, matched with the white paint seems to have done it for me. Of course the "Starship Trooper" gimmick/name can go and a black "Darth Vader" edition would probably look 10x's better but all in all, I'm impressed.

TheGMSource - The E-Flex system is without a doubt the most important program going on at GM right now. The minute the Chevrolet Volt made its debut at the 2007 NAIAS, they threw down the gauntlet and let it be known that they would not play second fiddle to anybody when it comes to moving the world to alternative fuels.

E-Flex can run on a variety of different energy sources from petroleum to E-85 as well as electricity. A few months back GM showed the Opel Flextreme concept that some from the ChevyVoltForum.com think is better looking than the Volt. Luckily we were able to snap some photos of the Saturn Flextreme and have posted them in our Image Gallery.

So, hit the jump to check out a few of the photos, and naturally check out the Image Gallery for the rest

Josh E. Oliver
JOliver@TheGMSource.com

TheGMSource Images: Buick Riviera 

TheGMSource - One of the more significant debuts at the 2008 NAIAS was the Buick Riviera. Sure this concept first made its debut in China at the Shanghai Auto Show. The Riviera concept was designed solely by the Chinese at the GM Design Studio in Shanghai and manages to capture why Chinese love the Buick brand.

In China, the Buick brand is viewed as more of a luxury brand than Cadillac is, which the roles are obviously reversed here in the U.S. and pretty much every other part in the world. Here in the States Buick is considered an "old person" car. Don't believe me? While walking the show floor with Troy Halgren and a staffer of Warner Publications, Melinda she commented that the Riviera was probably her favorite concept car on the show floor, to which she said, "and that's odd considering Buick is an old person car." Mind you, Melinda is 27 and is a striking (ok, gorgeous brunette.) She fell in love with the Riviera.

Consider women wear the pants in families when it comes to the purchase of a new auto, and considering what Melinda told me on the show floor they should implement many cues from the Riviera to a future Buick. Not that I like it, but maybe if I can lease one I can then convince Melinda to go on a date with me.

More shots after the jump, and even more in TheGMSource Image Gallery.

TheGMSource Images: 2008 Pontiac G8  

TheGMSource - We asked what you wanted to see at the NAIAS and a reader by the name of Jason requested some images of the 2008 Pontiac G8. I passed by this car several times and never thought twice about it. However, the G8 on display was the production G8. The G8 began production in the last quarter of 2007. So, I did what every auto blogger does, I took my digital and began snapping away. Hit the jump for photos of the 2008 G8 with a sticker price of just under $30,000. So, keep in mind, this is not the upper level G8 GT but I walked away quite impressed with the base radio and overall layout.

TheGMSource - The 2008 Dodge Ram looks pretty decent. In person, and in mega cab configuration, it's downright pretty effing huge. When I had some free time to check out some other vehicles, I ventured on over to Dodge to see what the RAM has to offer. There was a loaded to the gills Ram in blue sitting out on the floor and when I approached, there weren't too many people around, or folks filming. That allowed me some "1 on 1" time with the new Ram.

The grille is big and slanted forward as you all know. The cabin was pretty well put together and the controls felt fine for a large pick-up such as this. The back seats though...that's where I had my qualms. Apparently Dodge put two "stroage compartments" into the floor behind the driver and passenger side respectively. I'm going to be brutally honest here: What a waste of money.

2008 NAIAS: More of The Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept 

TheGMSource - There's only one way to to describe the Cadillac CTS Coupe concept: Awesomeness. Seriously, this car is gorgeous, and as Ed Welburn said during the release of the car, "Cadillac just had to do it." Now that they've done it in concept form, Cadillac is required to do it in production form and we're hearing that they just may be doing that, in the form of the Cadillac CTC at a later date.

As Scott Settlemire put it to me yesterday during the auto show while we were standing near the CTS Coupe, this car is just awesome. So, I decided today that the awesomeness that is the CTC CTS Coupe warranted some additional images.

Lucky for us, we finally have access to our Image Gallery, so that's uploaded with high res shots of every shot available after the jump. Tell us your thoughts, as we've also allowed comments on every image as well!

Tell Us What YOU Want To See! 

TheGMSource - We still have a ton of photos to upload now that the GM Press Conferences are officially over. The third, and final conference was the announcement of the Saturn Vue 2-Mode Hybrid, as well as the intention to build a plug-in version based on the 2-mode.

So....I'm asking you... being the ONLY GM centric blog here at the show...what would you like to see more photos of while we're here on the floor? Just hit the jump and let me know and I'll be sure to oblige. There's only one slight issue...the photos will be done tomorrow and published here on the web-site throughout the week!

Josh E. Oliver
JOliver@TheGMSource.com

TheGMSource - GM first announced the intentions of a plug-in hybrid Saturn product at the 2006 LA Auto Show. Speculation has varied on how stingy the Vue Plug-In would be on fuel. GM publically stateed that they expect the hybrid to achieve up to a 50% overall better fuel efficiency than the regular Saturn Vue.

Today, GM released information on the Plug-In Vue, so hit the jump and check out GM's words, then head back here later this afternoon (in about an hour) for live shots of the reveal.

TheGMSource: Cadillac Coupe Concept!

TheGMSource - GM was able to keep it a secret for as long as the entire auto show season...that is until we first told you about it last night. Today, GM introduced to the world the highly anticipated Cadillac CTS Coupe concept. Bob Lutz is addressing the media in the "scrum" and we hope to get a few words with him later this afternoon. For now, keep it tuned to this post as we update the site with images of the Cadillac CTS Coupe!