L'Hummer etait arrivee...est-ce que c'est vrai?

Only a few months after hitting domestic showrooms, GM is announcing that the new HUMMER H3 is now available in Europe, albeit don't be as optimistic as General Motors' press bureau is.

A close-up look at released images do indeed show the H3 tooling around the metropolitan Paris area, but the vehicles themselves do not seem to be production-intent for Europe. The lack of fender-mounted side indicators, among other lighting changes, is the biggest signal that these aren't quite ready to be sold in the EEC at this time.

As was the case with other GM imports, the H3 will initially be a left-hand-drive model only, powered by the Vortec 3.5 L5, and will be built in Shreveport, LA. In late 2006, Europe will begin receiving a South African built H3, complete with right-hand-drive availability, and a diesel engine.


While GM's stayed relatively mum on the drivetrain, expect this motor to be Isuzu's 4JH1TC, given the H3's GMT 355 lineage, and the fact that this engine is already certified for sale in the EEC in Isuzu's 355 pickup variant. This 3.0 liter 4-cylinder turbodiesel delivers 129 hp, and 206 lb/ft of torque when equipped with the 5 speed manual, 217 when coupled to the automatic transmission.

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Call Me Carnac.......

Chalk one point up for "insight and constraint" on my part.

GM's seen those GMT 900 photos - and they're pissed as hell.

Which, they have every right to be.

If only people would respect embargoes and camera bans - it'd prevent we journalists from getting a bad name......

Read The Story in the Detroit News

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GMT 900 Gestapo - A Perfectly Justifiable Organization

While browising site statistics, I noticed that many a person has visited this site based upon site engines. And curiously enough, the most frequent search that netted this page was "GMT 900".

Which leads me to believe one of two things: there are some really interested people out there (which for the sake of GM sales, is the case), or someone within GM's monitoring things closely.


While I'd like to think that GM's IT/Security department would use something more powerful than Yahoo, it wouldn't surprise me one bit that this is a paid position within the company - to monitor leaks of information online.

And if not, then GM may want to consider setting up a 'gestapo' for this kind of thing.

Two factors continue to play against automotive secrecy in this age.

The first is the internet. I'm not against digital mediums by any means, seeing as I'm authoring this one. However, some digital mediums should probabally not be entirely public. In otherwords, use the intranet instead of the internet.

Flex-N-Gate plastics has a conundrum on their hands regarding such. Their in-house company newsletter was published digitally in .PDF format. Unfortunately, two factors prevailed: the public domain of their hosting, and Google's ability to search .PDF files.

Looking at page one of http://www.fngok.com/JAN%20FNG.pdf reveals it all.



The result, for those who cared to search endlessly, is some decent CAD illustrations of front and rear fascias for the new GMC SUV. This is simply a sin of ignorance on Flex-N-Gate's part. There's no reason why this couldn't have been hosted in-house. Doing so would not only save secrecy, but also their position as OEM supplier in the future.

The other risk that all automakers face is in-house photography. At one time, this was incredibly difficult to do; it's nearly impossible to not be noticed toting in a white-lensed Canon into a work bay. But, things progressively became easier, with the advent of digital cameras, credit card sized cameras, and camera phones, respectively.

The latter, while banned from most GM-related workplaces, are still occasionally smuggled in by employees living in fear, or chock full of ignorant bravado.

Some rather detailed first-hand photography of various interior componentry have surfaced on certain forums over the last 6 months. But perhaps the best example of this came two weeks back, with completely undisguised photographs of the 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade reaching a forums board.

No, they weren't procured leagally. Yes, I did look at them, and yes, I did like them. But no, I'm not going to link you to them.
Apparently, someone with access to a GM photoshoot snapped shots of these vehicles quickly, and soon had them posted online - to 'prove' how much he knew about GMT 900.

What he proved wasn't what he knew; it proved what he didn't know.

It proved that he apparently was daft when hiring in at GM; there are confidentiality clauses littered within the volumes of paperwork handled by HR. Not to mention, any contract organization employed by GM has equal, if not greater, quantities of similar agreements.

What he doesn't know is how GM will go to all measures to find him. Much like the development member on the GMT 355 team who leaked photos of the Colorado 5 months early, GM will trace the posting, the photo hosting, and the IP address to his name.

What he doesn't know is how quickly he'll be canned, either from the General themselves or from his employer. Or how hard it'll be to find a similar position, having breached security at a previous job.

But perhaps he'll find out soon enough.

Regardless, GM needs to take this sort of security loophole quite seriously. And if searching websites with mention of GMT 900 (including this post) is a means to an end, it may find itself with a significantly smaller number of such incidents.

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GMT 560 in Kazakhstan

It takes random Googling, but apparently GM's newest medium-duty conventional family, the GMT 560, is growing global....



This picture is from Astana Airport in beautiful Kazakhstan. They apparently have a C6500 Kodiak in their fleet of ground equipment, which also includes these stair-laden NPR and NQR COEs.

Seems sales are getting around. Still, it's hard to picture a product of Flint, MI, in the middle of an Eastern European country....

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Before The Dealer, or GM Buypower - 'Spec It Yourself!

Tired of having to go to a dealer to reference RPO codes? Annoyed because you can't spec out a HHR, Solstice, or other upcoming vehicle because doesn't let you? Would you like some more comprehensive data when it comes to vehicle and powertrain dimensions, specifications, and performance?

There is a solution. A "ghost in the machine", if you will.


GM's Fleet Website has a handy tool called the 'Online Order Guide' that allows one to spec these vehicles out.

While the Solstice is a GMX Car Platform, let's take a look at what all we can reference.



Choose 2006, and Cars/Light Trucks.....



Click on the Pontiac Logo....



Select 'Solstice' from the pull-down upper-right-hand menu.



And you arrive at the central page for all Solstice-related information.



One can....

• Look at all packages, options, and their respective RPO codes, side by side...
  


• Look at all available wheel covers and wheels....
  
  


• Take a gander at all available sound systems - including the new generation units with AUX input....
  
  


• See available seating and colors....
  
  


• Compare exterior colors...
  
  


• And get performance stats on powertrain, and other physical specifications for the vehicle.
  
  

The only downside? This doesn't provide pricing as GM Buypower, or for that matter, your dealer possibly could.

However, this is a good starting point for researching your next GM Vehicle, particuarly before visiting dealers. This site should be used only as a reference point; changes can and may occur over time.

And just to show it pays to do research - it appears as if the Solstice's automatic transmission has already been given an RPO code.....



Enjoy.

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GMT Model Kit - AMT GMC Astro 95

How's this for a rarity? Not only is AMT (now AMT/Ertl/RC2)'s Astro 95 kit a reasonably good one, but this issue allows the builder to recreate a very rare truck indeed. In 1970, GMC built an Astro 95 that was powered by an Allison Gas Turbine engine. AMT threw in the decals and the turbine engine into most Astro issues from '71 through '74, and never did again afterwards.

The downside is what you can see on this Ebay auction. It still has 3 days to go, and has already reached a whopping $61.00. I'll put it this way - my Giga kit (see upcoming "Build-a-Blog" was a dollar less than that, including shipping.

It'd be nice to see RC2 re-release the turbine engine, but in the meantime, your best bet to get one is this auction. Should you have the itch, and the cashflow, bid away.

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