Elite Auto Rental Blog

With a stock price that hasn’t been this low since the Eisenhower administration, GM is shifting the focus of its auto production away from big pick-ups and toward small cars like the new Chevrolet Beat.

“The long product development cycle for cars has made it tough sledding for all of the American automakers, but they are making the transition to more fuel efficient cars. The Chevrolet Beat should sell very well to customers who are concerned about rising gas costs,” says Ron Sturgeon, owner of a DFW luxury car rental company.

The Chevrolet Beat was one of three non-hybrid concept cars that GM introduced at the New York International Auto Show in 2007.

In addition to the Beat, GM also showcased two other compact concept cars: the Groove and the Trax. Auto enthusiasts cast their votes for the best of the three concept cars on the official GM survey website.

So far, the Chevy Beat has been the favorite among survey participants with 885,000 votes, 46% of the total number of votes cast. It also got the nod from Wired Autotopia’s Chuck Squatrilia as a heart stopping Aveo in hot pants. Its highly chromed interior is wickedly cool, but we will have to see how much of it makes it into the production version of the Beat.

Originally, the Chevy Beat was going to be produced for sale in Europe and Asia only, but high US gas prices have prompted GM to offer the Beat in the American market.

The Chevrolet Beat is a two-door subcompact that gets an impressive 40 miles per gallon. The 1.2-liter supercharged engine promises to deliver fuel efficiency, decent acceleration, and a fun driving experience.

Sturgeon, who also owns a exotic car sharing club in Dallas TX and a business that provides fantasy sports car driving tours is impressed by GM’s innovation. “The Beat is going to be the most fuel-efficient car in GM’s line-up,” he says.

The Beat will not arrive at US dealerships for more than a year, but it should sharpen GM’s appeal to drivers feeling pinched at the pump.

That’s right, now you too can travel in not only comfort and style, but now in even more safety in DFW Elite Auto Rental’s newest acquisition- a custom-built, lightly armored 2006 Hummer H2.

The lightly armored H2 looks like your average every-day H2, but is equipped with a Level 2 protection as classified by the US Military. This translates to: it has bulletproof glass on all windows and can withstand gunshots from weapons up to a .30 caliber carbine! It is also impenetrable by such instruments as hammers, bats and hatchets. Underneath, you have ballistic steel plates protecting its front, sides and roof.

In addition to all the above, the vehicle’s undercoating is designed to repel the shock effects of any kind of explosive charge, including land mines and grenades. The steel reinforced Run-Flat tires won’t deflate, even when punctured by an object such as a nail, spike or bullet.

This is truly the perfect way to travel low-key in protection, in what looks to be a standard H2 Hummer. No one but the driver will know without a doubt that they and their party are safe from most means of harm. This is the ultimate in personal protection!

True. Able to go from 0 to 100Kmh in less than 4 seconds, a small company in Queensland, Australia has done exactly that- built a right-hand drive Corvette. This isn’t your normal every day ‘Vette, this one is the Z06 version at that! It comes with a breathtaking 7.0L V8 with a whopping 500+HP @ 475lb-ft torque.

This baby doesn’t come cheap in Australia. In the US it sells for $75,000 but in Australia it can run over $240,000 to include the import duty, luxury car tax and GST, and the cost of the conversion to get the car to meet local compliance regulations (included in the $240k price tag).

The special signature-series Z06 model that bears his name will forever link him to one of the greatest eras in factory racing, which has produced six consecutive ALMS GT1 manufacturers championships, and counting.

There just isn’t enough horsepower already at Indy, so let’s get some more going.

Chevrolet will pull the wraps off the 2007 Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Replica Corvette Convertible at the Chicago auto show. Chevy said it will build and sell 500 pace-car replica convertibles, all painted Atomic Orange, beginning this spring.

A second special-edition Vette, this one based on the Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Championship Z06, also will be unveiled at the Chicago show. Painted Arctic white and accented with a racing-style fender stripe and Fellows’ signature, the special Z06 also goes on sale in the spring.

Got it.

I am happy to say it is emission compliant worldwide! Would you drive it otherwise? Sorry about the minor league image, as soon as I find a better one I’ll load it up.

Callaway Cars today unveiled its Callaway C16 – the 16th in an impressive lineup of exclusive, built-to-order Callaway automobiles. Based on the current Chevrolet Corvette platform, the C16 takes performance and style to the next level, with 616 supercharged bhp and 582 lb-ft of torque. The new sports car incorporates Callaway’s race-proven technologies, superlative craftsmanship and arresting style.

The Callaway supercharged 6.0-liter LS2 V8 produces an impressive 616 bhp at 6,200 rpm and develops 582 lb-ft of torque at 4,750 rpm. The Callaway C16 does 0 to 60 in 3.3-seconds, and a quarter mile in 10.9 seconds. Top speed of the manual transmission coupe is 206 mph. Equally impressive is its fuel efficiency rating of 18 city/28 highway. It is emission compliant worldwide.

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