Few vehicles have proven more versatile than the humble Volkswagen Beetle. Offered by the factory as a coupe and convertible, after-market converters have molded the Beetle into an almost countess number of dune buggies, mini pickups, and plastic-bodied sports cars. More Forgotten Concepts Most of these conversions were of the do-it-yourself variety, and the ultimate...

Jill and Tom welcome Nissan Senior Manager for Vehicle Performance Development, Chris Fischer. Chris shares the surprising backstory of the modern cupholder, specifically those found in the Infiniti Q...

Long before there was Airbnb, and well before we expected holiday lodgings to include WiFi, a strange, short-lived, and ultimately charming vacation option presented itself to folks with at least a little wanderlust…and a full-size pickup truck.

The “Mongoose” is General Motors’ new heavy-duty pickup-truck diesel engine. Scheduled to debut in the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD, the Mongoose is offered as an option to the standard 6.6-liter gasoline V8 powerplant. What is the Duramax “Mongoose” Diesel? Mongoose Internally designated LP6, the big  8.3-liter turbocharged V8 replaces the Duramax...

There are two things that the Editors of Consumer Guide respond to faster than all other things. It’s not fire, threat of personal harm, or even the promise of paid time off that elicits prompt action. No, the two things that the guys here at CG Global HQ respond to are: The statement, “There are...

When most Chevrolet fans think “big block,” they probably think of the legendary 396- and 454-cubic-inch V8s. These stout mills made their names pushing Chevelles through the quarter mile and helping vacationers in Estate Wagons tow pontoon boats. Chevrolet 8.1-Liter V8 For most Chevistas, the big-block era died before the Seventies came to end, a...

The hosts welcome Larry Vellequette of Automotive News to the show. Larry share news regarding the induction of long-time Toyota steward Akio Toyoda into the Automotive Hall of Fame. Listen in to hear...

I have long believed that a part of America’s innocence died when automakers began using photography in advertising instead of drawings. Not only did old-school renderings allow for the wonderful (and deceptive?) exaggeration of a given vehicle’s proportions, they also allowed ad folks to create environments and situations that could never be realized with cold,...

The Sports Bug was essentially an appearance and equipment package for the Super Beetle, rather than a performance model with significant mechanical upgrades. Roughly 20,000  examples were produced at...

Few film genres employ characters more cookie-cutter and two-dimensional than do Westerns. Generally speaking, the whole good guy/bad guy, cowboys/Indians thing is the stuff of mediocre legend. Anyone who’s watched any Roy Rogers movie knows exactly what I’m talking about. Beetles in Movies On the other hand, some of the greatest films ever produced are...

For as globalized as the auto business has become, you might think a brand as omnipresent as Chevrolet would sell pretty much the same lineup in every market it plays in. Turns out that’s not the case. Cooler Down South: The Chevrolet Trucks of Brazil Much like McDonald’s, which sells the McPaneer in India and...

To say I am unbelievably excited about what is happening at The Midway Drive-In on Saturday, September 19th is an understatement.This is going to be one hell of a night.We’re talking about an honest-to-God dusk-to-dawn horror movie marathon at one of my favorite places in the world, featuring four of the greatest, funniest, scariest, craziest, and most entertaining horror movies of the 1980s. There will be horror vendors, vintage trailers, old concession ads, merchandise, movies under the stars,

The hosts welcome Patrick Masterson of Cars.com to the show. Patrick walks Jill and Tom through the outlet's 2026 American Made Index, which includes a ranking of U.S.-market cars by percent of domest...

Crosley cars were lightweight, fuel-efficient, and innovative for their era but ultimately too small and arguably ahead of their time. Crosley’s remain collectible today, and are generally appreciated...

The folks in the marketing department were so keen to talk about Volvo safety, they clean forgot to tell you what model it is sitting there all smashed up. And, on some level, we appreciate the earnes...

Buick Word Search Challenge This time we made it hard, or at least tried to. Buried in the provided grid are the following: 30 Classic and contemporary Buick model names 2 Model names that appears twice 5 Varieties of cheese General Motors Historic Figure Bonus Challenge Once all of the cheese and Buicks have been...

If you’re a car guy, you’ve likely been aware of the LeBaron moniker for a while, but perhaps didn’t have an entirely firm grip on why. Any confusion you might feel regarding the LeBaron name stems from the moniker having been used in three distinct epochs in Chrysler’s history. – Chrysler LeBaron 1977-1995 Chrysler LeBaron...

The hosts are joined by Sam Fiorani of AutoForecast Solutions. Sam discusses the state of the Canadian auto industry, and points out a critical automotive flaw in the hit TV show Psyche. Sam also shar...

It’s not common for a civilian vehicle to be modified for military use. Generally, the military’s needs exceed that specifications of mainstream cars and trucks, and the modifications necessary to bri...

The Grabber helped keep interest in sporty, affordable cars alive during the early 1970s transition away from high-compression muscle cars (due to emissions regulations, insurance costs, and the OPEC ...

If you’re into music, you probably remember the swing revival that took place in the late Nineties. That particular retro trend probably peaked in 1998, when Gap commercials populated by dancing khaki-clad youth famously featured a Louie Prima cut of “Jump, Jive an’ Wail.” My name is Don Sikora, and I’m a recovering Renault Fuego owner....

Nick remembers Garry Lee Wright, while Herb Weisbaum answers consumer questions and Tom Appel covers cars, SUVs, and automotive news.

The hosts welcome Tim Esterdahl of Pickup Truck plus SUV Talk (pickuptrucktalk.com) to the show. Tim shares insights into the massive ongoing Toyota-truck V6-engine recall, which will in some cases re...

Our final WGN Radio show for the month of August is a VERY full one, starting at 9:00PM (Central)! We’re happy to welcome 2-time Grammy award-winning pianist, diatonic harmonica player, composer, H…

According to Investopedia.com, co-branding is “… a marketing strategy that utilizes multiple brand names on a good or service as part of a strategic alliance. Also known as a brand partnership, co-branding (or “cobranding”) encompasses several different types of branding collaborations, typically involving the brands of at least two companies.” My favorite bit of co-branding...

As far as colors go, pink is a relative newbie. Per Wikipedia, pink was first used as a color name in the late seventeenth century. As a car color, pink’s use has been sporadic at best, though for a brief moment in time (really just the mid Fifties into the early Sixties), pink cars were all the rage. We...

Conan O’Brien is one of my favorite comic voices of all time, and I think at this point we can safely stop referring to him simply as a late-night talk show host. He is certainly one of the greatest l...

Jill and Tom are joined by Chip Lupo of WalletHub. Chip shares results of a WalletHub study identifying the U.S. states in which consumers are making the highest car payments versus that state's media...

In his 2012 book Fractured Times: Culture and Society in the Twentieth Century, historian Eric Hobsbawm noted, “In terms of literary pedigree, the invented cowboy was a late romantic creation. But in terms of social content, he had a double function: he represented the ideal of individualist freedom pushed into a sort of inescapable jail...