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GM's Saturn car division is launching an all-new advertising campaign that it hopes will help give the brand a much-needed boost, reports Automotive News .

The average of fuel prices has gone up again this March. According to the American Automobile Association’s Chicago chapter in their Fuel Gauge Report, they had found out in Illinois, regular unleaded gasoline’s price has added 23 cents last month. They are looking at around $3.26 as the price per gallon this month. Compared to last year, that price is 74 cents higher. This goes to show that we all might have to tighten our belts if we would like to see our vehicles still running.

Here are some estimates of how the prices would be this March in several areas:

• In Cook County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.37, which is up 22 cents compared to last month and 77 cents higher than last year’s price-per-gallon.
• In DuPage County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.24 per gallon, which is a 20-cent increase from February and 78 cents higher than last year.
• In Kane County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.25 per gallon, which is 22 cents higher compared to last month and 75 cents higher than March 2007’s price.
• In Lake County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.22 per gallon, which is 23 cents higher than last month and up by 75 cents compared to this time last year.
• In McHenry County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.24 per gallon, which is 26 cents higher than February’s average and 74 cents higher than March 2007’s price.
• In Will County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.26 per gallon, which is 23 cents higher compared to last month and 77 cents higher compared to last year.
• In Champaign County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.14 per gallon, an increase of 27 cents from February and an increase of 67 cents from last year.
• In McLean County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.20 per gallon, which is 22 cents higher than last month and 68 cents higher than last year.
• In Peoria County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.29 per gallon, which is a 34-cent increase compared to last month and a 76-cent increase from March 2007.
• In Sangamon County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.18 per gallon, which is 25 cents higher than last month and 66 cents higher than last year.
• In Winnebago County, Ill., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.28 per gallon, an increase of 24 cents from February and an increase of 73 cents from March 2007.
• In Allen County, Ind., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.29 per gallon, which is an increase of 32 cents from last month and 76 cents higher than March 2007’s price.
• In Lake County, Ind., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.20 per gallon, a 24-cent increase from February’s average and a 74-cent increase from a year ago.
• In Porter County, Ind., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.24 per gallon, which is 26 cents higher than last month and 79 cents higher than last year.
• In St. Joseph County, Ind., self-serve regular unleaded gasoline averages $3.26 per gallon, which is 30 cents higher compared to last month and 75 cents higher compared to last year.

[Via The Auto Channel]

Car dealerships all around the United States have something in common - they are currently looking for quite a number of applicants to fill in the job openings available. These dealerships are having a hard time filling in the slots. Good thing, this coming April, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) is having an event known as the Automotive Career Month this April.

Annette Sykora is the chairperson for NADA and she has worked in their family dealership during her early years. She says, “New car and truck dealers have more than 100,000 jobs to fill nationwide.” And with that, the organization is helping dealerships get the needed employees through their event.

Anybody who is interested in knowing more about the positions available in dealerships can learn about such through the campaign. Interested parties can take a tour of the dealerships so they can see how such works and what the employees do. “We are encouraging students to schedule a visit to their hometown dealership and ask about internships or summer jobs, which can often lead to a full-time career a few years down the road,” stated Sykora.

Note the booties. Don’t want to mess up that nice white floor

Hemmings Muscle Machines subscribers will shortly get in the mail their May 2008 issue with a nice wide-angle studio shot of Ralph Barbagallo’s A12 Road Runner. It’s a great image shot by a great photographer, Dino Petrocelli in his Latham, New York, studio. Chopper guys might recognize Dino’s name; his work has appeared on countless chopper magazine covers and he’s probably photographed the Orange County Choppers guys more than most photographers have. He’s only recently started to shoot cars in his studio, which as you can see above, was really built for bikes. He makes it work, though.

Obligatory shot of the owner shooting the shooter, minus the shooter

I had a chance to view the shoot of Ralph’s A12, and though I’ve shot in a studio before, it’s always a treat to get to see another photographer at work and to pick up tips here and there. It’s also interesting to note the differences between studio photography, where you control pretty much every aspect of the shoot, from lighting to backgrounds, and the semi-guerrilla on-location photography that we typically do at Hemmings, where in comparison we control very little of the location. Each has its advantages; each has its disadvantages.

Unfortunately, Ralphie didn’t do a burnout in the studio, despite Dino claiming that he takes bike burnout shoots in the studio all the time.

Apart from those in 911s and Caymans, Porsche doesn't have a stellar reputation for manual transmissions.

Aston Martin Racing has officially released images of the upcoming Vantage V8 GT2 specification racecar, set to debut at next weekend's Le Mans Series in Barcelona, Spain. via Motor Trend

With all the excitement about the Pontiac G8 sport truck and the resurrection of the El Camino/Ramchero/ute body style for the American market (along with our recent posts about Pontiac’s previous efforts to bring to market their own El Camino derivative), I went to my SIA index and found yet another article in SIA #137, September-October 1993, about a possible (but not probable) Pontiacamino, this one apparently based on a 1966 Grand Prix. John Lee, the author of the article, doesn’t definitively answer whether it was a Pontiac-built or enthusiast-built conversion, leaving us to answer the title of the article for ourselves.

I hooked up my accelerator to my brake lights. I hit the gas, people behind me stop, and I'm gone. via AutoSpies

“Honey, let’s go for a romantic walk through barren, charred, alien woodland.” “Oh let’s!”

While our dear ERRCOMAN seemed intrigued with International Harvester products in 1973, four years earlier, he was collecting ads of upscale mostly GM full-size cars. Can’t blame him for changing his mind one way or the other. What car guy do you know that has kept on a single focus his entire car-loving life?

One of the odder print ad campaigns to come from Oldsmobile. Aside from, of course, the Dr. Olds campaign

So does that mean it’s cheap?

Bluebloods and Lassie go great with a Continental

Not the right wagon, I know, but “Holiday Road” is now stuck in my head

This was either the “peeping tom” ad campaign or the “burqa POV” ad campaign

“Peeping tom,” definitely

Biggest damn golf cart I’ve ever seen

North American chief explains the latest changes to Audi's SUV strategy. The "Q" in the nomenclature of Audi's SUV lineup does not denote the question mark surrounding its powertrain options in the U.S. - 'but ...