Monthly Archives: July 2015

Five Cars + One Truck = Six Million Dollars (part 2)

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By: Alan Gamblin

It’s not every day you get to drive a million dollar car; let alone six of them. That was my experience yesterday in the desert of Nevada. Chevrolet invited their dealers to a race track in Spring Mountain, Nevada to drive prototypes of the redesigned 2016 Camaro, Malibu, Spark and Colorado Duramax Diesel. Earlier I had the opportunity to drive the new 2016 Volt at a facility in Las Vegas. As these vehicles are pre-production cars, each car cost one million dollars or more to build. I can only say it was six million dollars of awesome. Let me share some thoughts on each vehicle.

2016 Chevrolet Malibu

The 2016 Chevrolet Malibu is nearly 300 pounds lighter and has wheelbase that’s been stretched nearly 4 inches, making it more fuel efficient, more functional and more agile.

The 2016 Chevrolet Malibu is nearly 300 pounds lighter and has wheelbase that’s been stretched nearly 4 inches, making it more fuel efficient, more functional and more agile.

The 2016 Malibu is anything but boring. I believe the new Malibu is most beautiful car in the mid-size market. The beauty is not just skin deep. What impressed me most about this car besides its looks is the fact it is a little larger, rides better and has ‘sick’ technology. That is what my young friends call something fantastic…sick.

Three of us drove both the base four cylinder engine and also the turbo charged engine. Both engines had plenty of power and the turbo charged version really moves. The car handles extremely well even in sharp turns. The back seat has more room and provides plenty of leg room even for my large driving buddy. This car has a ton of safety features available like pedestrian warning, lane keeping assist, blind spot and rear cross-traffic alerts and adaptive cruise control. But my favorite is the teen driver system. Where was this when my kids were teenagers? Enter a pin code and the system allows parents to monitor their teen’s driving habits. You can preset maximum speed, set the maximum audio system volume and even mute it until all the occupants are buckled up. Malibu can track distance driven and when the parents wish, pull up a report card when they hand you back the keys. Kids will hate this but as a parent I love the peace of mind. But teens will love the wireless phone charging pad.

The 2016 Chevrolet Malibu is nearly 300 pounds lighter and has wheelbase that’s been stretched nearly 4 inches, making it more fuel efficient, more functional and more agile.

The 2016 Chevrolet Malibu is nearly 300 pounds lighter and has wheelbase that’s been stretched nearly 4 inches, making it more fuel efficient, more functional and more agile.

Five Cars + One Truck = Six Million Dollars (Part 1)

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By: Alan Gamblin

It’s not every day you get to drive a million dollar car; let alone six of them. That was my experience yesterday in the desert of Nevada. Chevrolet invited their dealers to a race track in Spring Mountain, Nevada to drive prototypes of the redesigned 2016 Camaro, Malibu, Spark and Colorado Duramax Diesel. Earlier I had the opportunity to drive the new 2016 Volt at a facility in Las Vegas. As these vehicles are pre-production cars, each car cost one million dollars or more to build. I can only say it was six million dollars of awesome. Let me share some thoughts on each vehicle.

2016 Chevrolet Camaro

Every year my new year’s resolution is to shed some pounds and become more athletic. While I never seem to accomplish this

2016 Camaro1 2 goal, the engineers for the new Camaro did just that. The car is lighter, quicker and more agile. I drove a 455 horsepower Camaro SS while following a race instructor around a road track. The beauty of a track is you can do things with a car you would never do at home. I admit I didn’t exactly follow the rules as I let the instructor get way ahead of me. This allowed me to open up the car full throttle so I could catch up. However, playing catch up didn’t prepare me for the hairpin turn at the end of the straight away. Yes, I scared myself and the Chevy employee next to me. I really thought I was going to be the only guy to spin out and go off roading in the desert with a million dollar car. To my amazement the SS stayed glued to the track. As I steered out of the turn I was saying to myself, “thank you God”; but it felt like the Camaro was calling me a whimp. I attest this car not only goes fast but handles amazing. Even by shedding almost 300 pounds, the new Camaro is stronger or stiffer meaning it hugs the road better. I didn’t feel any body roll in any of the turns.

From pictures the Camaro seems not to have changed much in design. In person you see the distinct Camaro look but also realize this is a completely different car. In fact only two parts were kept from the 2015 model; the Chevy logo on the back of the car and the SS badge. Everything else is brand new including the interior which is amazing. Lighter and more athletic will be my goal next year. Maybe I’ll achieve it by driving a 2016 Camaro.

2015 Enumclaw High School Photo Contest Winner

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julia_vassallo_10 (4)

Over the past few years, Gamblin Motors has sponsored a photo contest for Enumclaw High School students. The students are given a month to send us their very best photos. These photos are uploaded to our Facebook page. Our Facebook followers are asked to vote for the favorite photo. Students encourage their friends and family to vote for their photo. At the end of the contest, the photo with the most likes wins. The winner receives $250.

photo

As the photos started rolling in, we were blown away by the quality of photo entries we received. All of these entries were truly amazing. This year we received more than eighty two photos from over twenty four Enumclaw High School students. Julia Vassallo, a tenth grader, won the photo contest this year. She received 1,426 votes from our Facebook friends.

Thank you to all the students who participated, and thank you to all our friends for voting for these amazing photos. We look forward to hosting another photo contest again next year. Be on the look out for our contest in May.