Are GM's best days are behind it? We'll see soon enough. In the meantime, why not take a moment to remember some of the company's most sought after vehicles of the past.

Collector car bible Sports Car Market has assembled a slide show featuring the General's Top 10 auction vehicles of all time. Led by the 1953 Futurliner Parade of Progress bus which sold for an astounding $4.3M a few years ago, it's an impressive lineup of cars from top to bottom.

Sports Car Market: Top 10 GM Sales of All Time

In a recent interview with the Washington Post, former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz reiterated his assertion that the demand for green vehicles is still relatively low.

"When you get out into the marketplace, it's probably just 5 percent of the public that desperately wants something environmentally sound and is willing to pay a premium for it," he said in the interview.

GCA: GM's Lutz Defends Muscle Cars and Chevrolet Volt

Wedged between the high-volume entry-level cars and the big-dollar flagships, these midsize sedans are the often overlooked middle children of the luxury sedan world. But as Chief Road Test Editor Chris Walton explains in our latest comparison test, they deserve more attention.

They're too fast, to comfortable and too good looking to ignore and choosing a winner wasn't easy. Their performance figures were all close and when it came to features and price, apiece car had its own strengths. In the end, there was clear winner though. It was fast in a straight line and solid through turns, and it just so happened to have been the least expensive of the three.

Comparison Test: BMW 550i vs. Jaguar XF vs. Mercedes-Benz E550

In a statement issued by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the U.S. Supreme Count did go ahead and put the brakes on Chrysler's understanding to Fiat on Tuesday afternoon. But as we reported earlier, most experts feel that the Court will not actually block the deal, but is instead taking additional time to consider the case brought by the Indiana pension funds.

Although concern has been raised that an indefinite delay — albeit one lasting past June 15 (the deadline set by Fiat) – could jeopardize the sale, Bloomberg quotes the Italian automaker's CEO, Sergio Marchionne, as saying, "We would never achievement away. Never."

Bloomberg

Calling all Mike Rowe's and Bear Grylls' of the car world: The Discovery Channel is looking for two car experts to host its new program called Garage Wars.

The series will run for ten episodes, and parallels the intent of TLC's Junkyard Wars. Except instead of a junkyard to peruse, apiece team is given a set of same parts with the same end goal of making a certain type of vehicle. As vague as that sounds, it should still be enough to draw plenty of contenders to the Web site to apply for the positions.

Auditions will be held here in L.A. during the week of June 15th.

Late-night TV hosts continue to take pot-shots at the auto industry, especially at those seeking asylum in Chapter 11.

Friday night David Letterman took an cushy swing at GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson ranking his job No. 2 on the Late Show's Top Ten Worst Summer Jobs list, behind Octomom babysitter and Susan Boyle's groomer.

If GM doesn't get it right this time, Fritz himself could wind up coiffing Boyle's frizzy locks.

Full list of Top 10 Worst Summer Jobs

Some 60 years after Aston Martin won the 1959 24 hours of Le Mans, the company is once again headed to the famous French endurance race, although this time Carroll Shelby won't be with them.

After winning the GT1 sports car class at Le Mans the past two years, Aston Martin has entered the LMP1 class this year, competing against the two favorites for overall victory, the Audi R15 TDI and the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. While the German and French cars are powered by specially constructed, 650-hp diesel engines, Aston Martin's rebodied Lola coupe features a 650-hp version of the Aston Martin DB9's 5.9-liter V12. The car is being fielded by Prodrive, the racing company established by David Richards, who is one of the principals in the Kuwaiti-backed company that now owns Aston Martin.

Richards notes that the two-car team's chances in the 24-hour classic are slim, but he is also encouraged by the new rules, which he reckons narrows the performance gap between diesel- and gas-powered cars to about seven percent this year, half the performance disparity that existed in 2008.

Aston Martin famously won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans with its DBR1 sports car driven by Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori. Shelby recently recalled his adventures that year:

If Jay's dyno test left you thirsty for more Hennessey HPE550, you're in luck. We have a full test of the first blown 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS, and its numbers are downright impressive.

562 horses to the meaty Pirelli P Zero Rosso tires, a 12.1-second quarter-mile and a 4.3-second sprint to 60 mph. That cuts nearly half a second off the stock SS's 0-60 time, and almost a full second off of its sit to 1,320 feet.

Whether it is the whining of the blower's 6 pounds of boost or the Yenko-inspired throwback graphics, the Hennessey HPE550 shows that American muscle is not dead - even with the looming CAFE standards.

Maybe this will change Obama's mind.

Full Test and Video: 2010 Hennessey HPE550 Supercharged Chevy Camaro SS

Last week was quite a ride for The General: BK 11, making quick deals to off Saturn and Hummer, and dealing with the long process of rationalizing its dealer network.  Among all this, the New GM has declared that Buick will be one of its core brands in the American marketplace going forward.  There’s no question that it needs something to fit in between Chevrolet and Cadillac.  But I wonder if Buick is the best answer, or just a handy one?

One of the reasons Buick finds itself in this spot is that it was a less wrong choice than Pontiac, Saturn, or Saab.  What sort of endorsement is that?  Another piece of baggage is that many Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealers need Buick to survive, since Pontiac is riding into the sunset.  I get that, but do customers care about dealer dualling patterns?  Finally, I was told (off the record) that if Buick were shuttered here, it would impact perception of the brand in China, where Buick is viewed as a prestigious American nameplate, and is a big seller.  I get that too, but again, does that make it a compelling proposition in the US?  Launching a new upscale brand was out of the question, given the current climate; GM already had too many.  This all tells me that Buick survives more by default than by choice or plan.

I’m not saying for a minute that there haven’t been several, if not many, great Buicks over the years.  And it would be a shame to another 100+ year-old American marque drop to black.  But no matter how much we love automotive history — and, goodness knows, I do — when a company is in the market to sell products, its present offerings and future potential mean more to most buyers than how magnificent the ‘63-65 Riviera was (and it was.  Sure liked the ‘53-54 Skylark, the GNX, the Reatta…).

A now-retired GM exec once said that Buick was going to become GM’s Lexus.  Has that happened?  Don’t think so. Will that happen?  In my opinion, not any time soon.  Let’s take a look at the lineup:

Lacrosse - Buick’s new mid-sizer for 2010.  The first American market product to be built on GM’s Epsilon II chassis structure (The previous Lacrosse, Pontiac G6, Saab 9-3, and Saturn Aura are all Epsilon I models).  Looks pretty, offers a choice of modern V-6 engines, and GM just announced that a high-efficiency turbo-charged Ecotec four will also be developed.  Interiors appear to be fresh and of high quality, but we haven’t driven them so can’t say if this is really the ES350-killer that its touted to be.

Lucerne - A larger front-driver offered with V-6 and V-8 power, the Lucerne rides on a chassis structure that first appeared when the surface of the connector was still cooling.  Pleasant as a rental car favorite, but hardly compelling in any way.

Enclave - A pretty competitive player in the three-row luxury crossover market.  Handsome inside and out, but has to play against the functionally same GMC Acadia that will be sitting directly crossways it in those Buick/GMC showrooms.

That’s it.  A new sedan yet untested in the market, another that’s nearing (or past?) its sell-by date, and a nice crossover also sold by two other of the remaining GM divisions.  This is the roster that’s going to slay Lexus?

A Chevy Cruze-based Buick compact sedan will likely arrive for model year 2012, but that’s all we know about the upcoming lineup.  There’s another issue: Buick is perceived as an “old” brand.  For years, it was referred to as “The Doctor’s Car.”  With all due respect to the senior driving community, Buick has the oldest average buyership of any GM, perhaps any American, nameplate.

We can make all kinds of suggestions about what Buick should do, what they shouldn’t do, what other global models should come here as Buicks, what they should develop from scratch, positioning, and such.  All that matters is what GM plans to do to make this storied but starving mid-luxury brand into what it needs to be going foreword.  “Wait until you see all the great stuff we have in the pipeline” doesn’t sell cars, acquire brand loyalty and market share, or yield profits.  And people are tired of hearing it.

Yo GM: Don’t tell me what’s going to make Buick a great aspirational brand.  Show me.  Until then, I’m unconvinced.

What do you think?

Late last week General Motors announced that Penske Automotive Group prefabricated a successful bid to purchase Saturn, saving GM's youngest division from being cast aside like yesterday's lunch as GM heads into bankruptcy.

Edmunds' AutoObserver talked with Roger Penske on Friday about his plan to sell GM-made models in Saturn showrooms while also shopping the globe for other vehicles to sell. Penske said he then hopes to convince the offshore manufacturers of those vehicles to build them in the United States.

For now, GM will continue to build the Saturn Vue, Outlook and Aura for Penske to sell through Saturn dealers for at least three years.

"Concurrent with that, we'll go around the world to see what products could be brought into this country," Penske said. "Those foreign-made products will begin filtering into Saturn showrooms in 12-18 months."

Inside Line news: Penske Opens Up About His Plans for Saturn