Chevrolet Automobile

It accelerates with a big husky twist of its electric motor. Actually, you can even chirp the front tires if you push the go-button hard enough -- very unlike a golf cart. It corners confidently and brakes crisply and, if it's no Ferrari, it certainly won't embarrass itself on the 110 Freeway, otherwise known as the Pasadena Grand Prix. It's comfortable, practical and -- graded on the curve of five-seat family hatchbacks -- reasonably attractive. Think German-made-dishwasher pretty.

It accelerates with a big husky twist of its electric motor. Actually, you can even chirp the front tires if you push the go-button hard enough -- very unlike a golf cart. It corners confidently and brakes crisply and, if it's no Ferrari, it certainly won't embarrass itself on the 110 Freeway, otherwise known as the Pasadena Grand Prix. It's comfortable, practical and -- graded on the curve of five-seat family hatchbacks -- reasonably attractive. Think German-made-dishwasher pretty.

IN its search for fresh, edgy attitude that will resonate with Generation iPod, Chevy has turned, inevitably, to the Truman administration. The styling of the HHR -- it stands for "Heritage High Roof" -- is inspired, so they tell me, by the 1949 Chevy Suburban. One must be particular in these matters, since Plymouth and Dodge built Suburbans in those years too.

Can going green help Chevrolet gain traction in California? That's General Motors Corp.'s thinking. The auto giant announced plans at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week to make its Chevy brand the flag bearer in GM's quest to be the world leader in fuel economy and alternative powertrain technologies. GM is counting on a Chevy lineup that includes the economy-class Aveo, the new Malibu hybrid and the Volt plug-in hybrid -- a mix seemingly tailor-made for eco-conscious California drivers.

The worst-kept secret in the auto industry was that the sixth-generation '05 Chevrolet Corvette would come out this fall and for the first time would share a platform -- with the '04 Cadillac XLR roadster. Spy photos in car magazines revealed that for the first time since 1962, a 'Vette will come with fixed, not hidden, headlamps.

McPherson Top Mover: Irvine's Joe McPherson Chevrolet outsold the 77 other Chevy dealers in the GM division's Los Angeles zone last year, moving 839 new cars to capture honors as Southern California's top seller of Chevrolet passenger cars for 1994. The Los Angeles zone covers Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura and San Bernardino counties. --Compiled by John O'Dell / Times staff writer

General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Cavalier is being investigated by U.S. safety regulators because the fuel pump may fail and cause the car to stall at speeds of 35 mph or higher. The inquiry covers as many as 218,000 of the 2003 models, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. The agency said it received 13 reports of stalling and 10 others of fuel pumps that failed and had to be replaced.

Can going green help Chevrolet gain traction in California? That's General Motors Corp.'s thinking. The auto giant announced plans at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week to make its Chevy brand the flag bearer in GM's quest to be the world leader in fuel economy and alternative powertrain technologies. GM is counting on a Chevy lineup that includes the economy-class Aveo, the new Malibu hybrid and the Volt plug-in hybrid -- a mix seemingly tailor-made for eco-conscious California drivers.

The auto industry could save itself marketing headaches and money by firmly embracing station wagons. Consider the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox. Although it is sold as a small SUV, it actually is nothing of the sort. That also can be said of Equinox rivals such as the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Saturn VUE, Ford Escape and Jeep Liberty -- all of which have abandoned body-on-frame, truck-based architecture in pursuit of vehicles more akin to family wagons and sedans.

General Motors' Chevrolet division--which used to call itself "The Heartbeat of America"--is turning to a 32-year-old designer to boost the pulse of its cars. Sure, he's young, but Bryan Nesbitt already has scored a hit that will probably go down as a classic, even an icon: the PT Cruiser for his previous employer, Chrysler.

General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Cavalier is being investigated by U.S. safety regulators because the fuel pump may fail and cause the car to stall at speeds of 35 mph or higher. The inquiry covers as many as 218,000 of the 2003 models, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. The agency said it received 13 reports of stalling and 10 others of fuel pumps that failed and had to be replaced.

IN its search for fresh, edgy attitude that will resonate with Generation iPod, Chevy has turned, inevitably, to the Truman administration. The styling of the HHR -- it stands for "Heritage High Roof" -- is inspired, so they tell me, by the 1949 Chevy Suburban. One must be particular in these matters, since Plymouth and Dodge built Suburbans in those years too.

INSTEAD of General Motors, how about Specific Motors? While its fortunes in the high-volume Everyman-sedan market have been ever so sketchy lately, the world's biggest car company definitely has some mojo in male-enhancement products, limited-production cars such as the Corvette C6 Z06, the Pontiac GTO -- now with hood scoops! -- and our test car, the 2005 Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged Coupe, which is a very fine little car despite its resemblance to a cheese slicer.

AFTER 52 years in production, the Chevrolet Corvette is a legend, an institution, an American icon, which is reason enough to be suspicious of it. The fact is, until recently (1997), the Corvette wasn't a particularly good car. Those of early 1990s vintage handled like the thin end of a 10-pound ax and had the "that's-close-enough" build quality of a Monday-morning British Lister.

The auto industry could save itself marketing headaches and money by firmly embracing station wagons. Consider the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox. Although it is sold as a small SUV, it actually is nothing of the sort. That also can be said of Equinox rivals such as the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Saturn VUE, Ford Escape and Jeep Liberty -- all of which have abandoned body-on-frame, truck-based architecture in pursuit of vehicles more akin to family wagons and sedans.

There are several ways to look at the Chevrolet Aveo LS hatchback. Nearly all of them are bad. The most benign view is that it is a cheap ride (base price: $12,680), and it's built to perform, feel and stay that way. There is nothing special about it, nothing romantic or inviting. The Aveo LS is an appliance in much the manner of a toaster or washing machine. You turn it on, and it takes you from place to place in splendid mediocrity. I had hoped to write something different.

There are several ways to look at the Chevrolet Aveo LS hatchback. Nearly all of them are bad. The most benign view is that it is a cheap ride (base price: $12,680), and it's built to perform, feel and stay that way. There is nothing special about it, nothing romantic or inviting. The Aveo LS is an appliance in much the manner of a toaster or washing machine. You turn it on, and it takes you from place to place in splendid mediocrity. I had hoped to write something different.

INSTEAD of General Motors, how about Specific Motors? While its fortunes in the high-volume Everyman-sedan market have been ever so sketchy lately, the world's biggest car company definitely has some mojo in male-enhancement products, limited-production cars such as the Corvette C6 Z06, the Pontiac GTO -- now with hood scoops! -- and our test car, the 2005 Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged Coupe, which is a very fine little car despite its resemblance to a cheese slicer.

The most lucid thing the Marxist critic Walter Benjamin ever wrote is the essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," written in 1936, during an apparent dry spell in Berlin's hashish supply. Benjamin's famous essay, a staple of film-lit classes, puts a dope-scented finger on a central issue in aesthetics: If the art object is special -- if it has an authenticity, an "aura," Benjamin calls it -- what is the status of the duplicate, the mechanically reproduced copy?

The worst-kept secret in the auto industry was that the sixth-generation '05 Chevrolet Corvette would come out this fall and for the first time would share a platform -- with the '04 Cadillac XLR roadster. Spy photos in car magazines revealed that for the first time since 1962, a 'Vette will come with fixed, not hidden, headlamps.