General Motors Co.

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 goes on sale early next year

Chevrolet says itsCamaro ZL1, a hot-rod model coming in early 2012,recently turned a lap of the famous Nurburgring race track in7:41.27. The time isalmost 40 seconds faster than the lap time of a Camaro SS the company tested at the track in 2009.

But the 580-horsepower Chevy completed the circuit just a few seconds faster than a Toyota electric car that last month set a new lap record for electric powered cars. The Toyota prototype had 375 horsepower and was smaller and lighter than the Camaro.The Chevy's timewas pretty slow compared with many sports cars that have raced around the 'Ring. Last month a Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR set a lap record of 7 minutes, 12 seconds.

The Nurburgring'sNordschleife or north loop section is almost 13 miles long and used to be the home ofthe Formula 1 German Grand Prix. With about 154 turns, the track is widely considered the most difficult and demanding circuit in motor racing.

The Camaro has a supercharged, 6.2-liter V8 engine that is rated at 580 horsepower- more than expected. For its timed lap the Camaro beganwith aflying start.

“Each lap includes fast straights, sweeping off-camber turns, hairpin corners, and elevation changes. In order to do well on the 'Ring, the car has to do everything well - including acceleration, braking, and lateral grip,” said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer. “Breaking an eight-minute lap in a 2+2 production car is a tremendous accomplishment,” he added., and validates that the Camaro ZL1 will truly be track-ready from the showroom.”

The late Stefan Bellof set the overall Nurburgring lap record of 6 minutes, 11 secondsin 1983 driving a Porsche 956 race car. His amazing drive took place during a practice session in which he had toweave through traffic on his way to setting the fastest time.

General Motors Co.

Chevrolet Corvette

General Motors Co. is recalling certain Corvette sports cars fromthemodel years 2011 and 2012 because of a problem that could lead to injuries. In a documentfiled with the National Highway Safety Administration, the car maker said the car's rear hatch could come loose in a crash, which could result in injuries.

The company said that cars in questionwere built from Jan. 24 through Sept. 1 of thisyear and the problem affects 5,755 vehicles.The cars' rear hatch hinges may not meet the load requirements specified in the safety standard.

Under the recall GM will replace the hinges free ofcharge. The recall is expected to begin this month. Customers can contact Chevrolet at800-630-2438.

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Cars and other vehicles on a main street in Yangon, Myanmar. #the BConsumers in

Myanmar's reforms are picking up speed - and that includes getting rid of some of the rusting heaps of metal, also known as cars, that clog Yangon's rutted roads.

Yangon has one of the oldest vehicle fleets in the world, thanks to tough restrictions on car imports imposed years ago by the government as part of its efforts to exert maximum control over the local economy.

While Havana is home to scores of classic American cars from the 1950s and 1960s, Yangon is dominated by deteriorating 1980s-era rattletraps from Japan, especially old Toyotas and other cast-offs with rusted-out floorboards, exposed wiring and see-through doors that long ago would have been consigned to the scrap heap elsewhere.

Now Myanmar authorities are switching gears. After launching a series of other reforms in recent months - including expanding access to the Internet and relaxing curbs on the media - officials have agreed to start phasing out some of the oldest cars with a new program somewhat reminiscent of the 2009 “cash for clunkers” program in the U.S.A.

Under the complicated new scheme, vehicles that are at least 40 years old - and have eligible license plate numbers - can be traded in for highly-coveted permits which then can be used to import newer models. Other jalopy owners are being advised to watch the local news each day for updates that are expected to expand the trade-in program to include at least some cars as young as 20 years old, though many details remain unclear.

Authorities say the program is designed to help get some of the heaviest-polluting - and most-dangerous-cars off the road once and for all. But business leaders say a bigger motive is to help boost the U.S. dollar, which has fallen significantly against the Myanmar kyat over the past year, slashing profits for influential export-oriented businesses in the country. Transactions involving imported cars typically must be handled in dollars, which means anyone looking to bring a new car into the country must buy up a lot of greenbacks on the local market to facilitate the deal, which in turn helps push the value of the dollar higher. Sure enough, the dollar has climbed 10% or more versus the kyat over the past couple of months.

Whatever the motivation, the program certainly has revved up a lot of people. Owners of Yangon's really-old cars, for instance, are thrilled as the program has driven up demand - and prices - for their vehicles, many of which would never be allowed on the roads in most developed countries.

But people whose cars as of now aren't included - including once-precious Nissan Super Saloons and Toyota Corollas from the 1980s and 1990s - are flipping out, as the reforms send values for their Back to the Future-era speedsters skidding. With so few new cars entering Myanmar each year, many middle-class car owners were banking on their middle-aged vehicles to hold their value - or perhaps even appreciate - despite having broken power windows and A/C on the fritz. For some people - many of whom paid $25,000 or more - those cars represented their life's savings.

Now demand for 1980s and 1990s models is crashing. Min Aung, 34, said he bought a 1988 Nissan Super Saloon two years ago for around $23,000 after coming back from working in Japan for five years. But after the car swap announcement, the price for his car model dropped in half, he said, to about 10 million kyats. “Do you know how difficult it is to make 10 million kyats in this country, and lose it overnight?”

Clearly the road to reform in Myanmar will be a rocky one.