Chevrolet Spark

New cars are fine, but vintage wheels always better

Not too far into the future, 300 million cars will be registered in the United States. More than 30 current manufacturers have new cars currently available; plenty of other carmakers are defunct and either revered or best forgotten but with models still driven. The staggering number of vehicles on the road and hoarded in garages further dilutes an often-asked question: “If money were no object, what car would you buy?” There’s no right answer, but vintage simplicity is far more appealing than impress-the-neighbors bling. A 1954 Kaiser-Darrin, 1967 Mercedes Benz 250 SL Convertible or a 1991 Nissan Figaro? Yes. Any new Tesla, Hummer or tank-sized family SUV? No. A $15,000 Chevy Spark and its 40 miles per gallon have plenty

Read more

Cheapest of the cheap cars? 2021 Chevrolet Spark LS

The average price of a new car in the United States is now more than $40,000. But it wasn’t too many years ago when $30,000 was the entry-level for a luxury car and $20,000 was enough to buy various new cars. It’s now what cheap cars cost. As recent as a decade ago, one new car could be purchased for $10,000. It was the Hyundai Accent 3-door and it was the last year a new vehicle in the U.S., without government rebates, had a base price of less than $10,000. A lot has changed in 10 years. Five years ago, the Accent reached its peak in yearly U.S. sales at 79,766. In 2020, the lowly Hyundai’s sales stumble to 15,975.

Read more

Chevy Spark tops 2020 cheapest car list

Six years ago, a small number of buyers in the United States could still purchase the cheapest car with a sticker price of less than $10,000. It was a 2014 Chevrolet Spark and considering all available rebates, including a military personnel discount and several other incentives, the base model Spark was available for a high four-figure tally. With the average price of a new vehicle now steadily advancing toward $40,000, only about a dozen new cars in the country are now available for less than $20,000. Despite the price increase, the top-10 cheap car list includes a substantially improved standard features list. Top-10 Cheapest Car List All Less Than 19K Nearly every car on the list includes air conditioning, stability

Read more
,

2013 Chevrolet Spark Review: Responsive mini-car cheap, fast, well-equipped

Not long ago, nobody predicted Chevrolet would sell an urban commuter mini car with a small 1.25-liter engine designed almost expressly for younger folks who encounter lots of crowded big-city driving. But the new 2013 Chevy Spark is such a car. It’s a front-drive, four-door hatchback approximately two inches shorter than a Mini Cooper. It looks as if it were squashed between two full-size Chevrolets of the early 1970s. The original version of the Spark is on sale in Europe, Asia, Australia, Mexico and South America. While this type car is supposed to be base, affordable transportation for countries with marginal roads and sky-high fuel prices, the U.S. version of the Spark is modified with stiffer front dampers, larger wheels

Read more

Chevrolet Spark debuts in India with a different Beat

The Chevrolet Spark, all-electric minicar scheduled to debut in the United States as a 2013 model next year and promoted as “the smallest diesel engine in the world in mass production,” recently debuted in India where it’s known as the Beat. The Beat/Spark has a three-cylinder turbodiesel engine displacing less than a liter and is as rated, via Indian testing, at a 56.5 miles per gallon. The 936cc engine has a fixed-geometry turbocharger and vacuum-operated wastegate, giving it an output of 58 horsepower and 111 pound-feet of torque. But it also has more unique statistics: the cars weighs 2,260 pounds and can advance from 0 to 62 mph/100 kilometers in a lowly 15.5 seconds. The Chevy Beat Diesel also has

Read more