Friday Fleet Notes: 6.1.07

This week’s Fleet Notes will be brief because we covered so much last week, but one interesting tidbit comes from a staffer who got to drive the new version of his own car. Is he jealous? A bit.

2007 Nissan 350Z

As a current owner of a 2005 350Z (above right), I jumped at the chance to take the new 2007 for a drive. I did most of my driving on the busy streets of Chicago, running some errands, but I also got the opportunity to take it on the track at Road America in Wisconsin. There were many subtle changes from my ‘05 ride to the new ’07, some of which took place in the 2006 update.

Friday Fleet Notes: 05.25.07

We’ve got a healthy list of staff reviews this week, as we’ve been flooded with some particularly interesting cars, such as the 2007 Chevrolet HHR Panel and a couple of new models from Saturn. Senior reviewer Joe Wiesenfelder gives his take on the Audi RS 4 and 2008 Saturn Vue that we recently posted full-length reviews of earlier this week.

2007 Chevrolet HHR Panel

I’m not sure who would buy this car. A florist in Malibu? A contractor in the Hamptons? Purely as a delivery skiff, it didn’t impress me. I hauled my mom and her luggage to the airport one morning, and the rubber floormats could’ve used some dividers to keep things from shifting around. We didn’t mess with the dual storage bins behind the front seats, but they seemed large enough to swallow a bag or two.

Not that anyone looking for serious storage would choose this. With a starting price north of $18,000, you could easily ramp up to a Dodge Caravan cargo van — it has more than double the room in back, and with the current discounts the outgoing 2007 model starts in the same price neighborhood.

Granted, the HHR panel has a higher cool factor than the Caravan, but some of its features have more style than substance. The two rear doors unlatch with the push of a dashboard button, but that requires you to climb up front first. I wish the buttons had made it onto the key fob, or — imagine this — Chevy had left the handles on the back doors. The paneled windows, meanwhile, make for a wicked blind spot. My advice: Change lanes reeeaaal slow.

• Kelsey Mays, assistant editor

Chevy Introduces HHR Premiere Edition

The retro Chevrolet HHR is one of those vehicles that is prime for special editions. This fall, we saw an all-black limited edition; for the spring, Chevy will roll out a mere 4,000 of the just-introduced Premiere Edition. Despite the limited numbers, the package is priced at $995 on top of the base HHR 2LT price of $18,760 — not including destination.

Specific features on the Premiere Edition include: 17-inch black chrome wheels, black chrome exterior package, rear spoiler, Cappuccino Frost Metallic exterior and an ebony and gray two-tone interior.

Expect to see these HHRs in early spring.

Source: GM

Chevy HHR Panel: A Retro Business Wagon

Chevrolet is taking this whole retro thing all the way. When the company released the HHR last year, it was clearly an exercise in recapturing the classic looks of Chevy’s mid-century trucks and vans. Back then, many of those vehicles were used by businesses of the day, like milkmen, handymen, etc. This new take on that work van, however, will probably be used more for marketing than hard labor.

Sure, the new HHR Panel has 57 cubic feet of rear storage — plus 6 cubic feet of hidden storage under the floor — but most compact SUVs have more than that and they have back seats. What the HHR delivers is an eye-catching blank slate for advertising. The best example of this trend is Best Buy’s Geek Squad, which promotes its services with black and white VW New Beetles that double as transportation for the store’s computer technician house calls. Other popular vehicles that double as work transportation and rolling advertisements include the Mini Cooper and Scion xB.