Fiat Chrysler, Honda and General Motors scored modest U.S. sales increases last month while Ford, Nissan and Toyota fell as the industry appeared poised to record one of the strongest months in nearly a decade.

Sales at FCA US rose 4 percent from May 2014 levels as the automaker tallied its 62nd straight advance. GM, aided by truck- and crossover-brand GMC, climbed 3 percent. The Volkswagen brand chalked up a rare monthly gain, up 8 percent. American Honda benefited from a strong performance at Acura in tallying a 1.3 percent increase.

Ford Motor Co., meanwhile, dropped 1.3 percent. Nissan Group and Toyota Motor Corp. each recorded declines of less than 1 percent. Toyota’s drop marked its first setback in more than a year.

Results from the first automakers to report set the stage for a quirky month in which overall demand was projected to decline from strong year-earlier levels while sales on a seasonally adjusted [...]

Chevy’s latest edition of the Corvette—the Z06 Convertible—might be one of a dying breed, despite its wonderful construction.

THE NICE THING ABOUT Corvette, from a social-theory standpoint, is it requires no interpretation. Chevrolet’s plastic fantastic sports car, in its 62nd year, is obviously an American fertility symbol, and never more so than in top-down, convertible form, when it looks like something out of a bachelorette-party gift bag.

Anthropologists might argue that all two-seat sports cars are plumage, coded attempts to enhance status and mate desirability. The Corvette is just a little more frank, with that silhouette, a little less is-you-is-or-is-you-ain’t? You definitely is.

For real horn dogs, there is this week’s test car: The Corvette Z06 Convertible ($94,235, as tested), powered by the mightiest eight cylinders in the inventory, the supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 pushrod V-8, kicking the slats with 650 hp and 650 [...]

Chevy supercar emerges as most likely ‘V8 sports car’ from Holden as GM rules out RHD Camaro

Chevrolet’s Corvette musclecar has emerged as the model most likely to be the “V8 sports car” Holden has promised to release in Australia in coming years.

This scenario has firmed following news that the new Camaro coupe will not be produced in right-hand drive.

The sixth iteration of the Camaro had been widely tipped to be the mystery sports flagship. But in a joint statement by Chevrolet and Holden following yesterday’s Camaro debut, GM has ruled out RHD production of its sixth-generation pony car, at least “at this stage in the program”.

“The Chevrolet Camaro is an iconic product and the sixth-generation, all-new vehicle offers even higher levels of performance, technology and refinement… However, a RHD variant is not in the current plan. If this changes, Holden will of course take a very close look,” said GM yesterday.

“I’d been after this car for 20 years,” Michael Lightbourn said. He first spotted this Camaro in a rural neighborhood in El Paso, Texas, in 1990. Initially he simply knocked on the door of the house and asked the lady who answered if the ’69 Camaro in her backyard was for sale. The answer was no. Her son was going to “fix it up.”

Yet the car didn’t move. It sat there year after year. Michael didn’t give up. He kept checking on the Camaro with the RS/SS badges.

Then one day the Camaro disappeared. The house was vacant. Apparently the family had moved. He didn’t know where or if they had sold the Camaro. Oh well, he had tried his best.

A few months later, while driving down Interstate 10 in El Paso, Michael spotted what appeared to be the hideaway headlights of a first-generation Camaro. Could this car be the same ’69 he [...]