When he heard the Chevrolet Volt was coming to market in New York state, he knew he had to have one. He said, “I went to the dealer and I said ’How do I get myself a Chevy Volt?’ And he said, ‘We’re going to get two and one is already sold. So you have to put money down on it.” He put $1,000 down and had to wait six months, but when it came in, he realized his vision for a state-of-the-art electric vehicle had been achieved.

He ticked off some of the differences between his first electric vehicle and his Volt. “This car is a lot more efficient, first of all. It’s much more aerodynamic than an S10 pickup truck. The battery is lithium ion which is a lot lighter.” Plus, he said there’s no comparison between the maintenance he had to do on his truck and what the Volt requires.

He’ll never make the world forget Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but he did tell us, “I love this car.” And he ran down some of the things he loves in comparison to his truck. “This car is a lot more fuel efficient. This car drives so much faster, too. I like how quiet it is.” He also loves that his car will send him a text message if charging gets interrupted.

The instant torque of the electric motor has also been fun for Jon. He told us about having a Corvette pull next to him at a stoplight, and when the light changed, Jon took off from the line while the Corvette revved up. He admits, “the Corvette blew me away,” but he liked being ahead of the ‘Vette for (at least) a short distance.

Jon's Volt plugged into a public charging station in the Buffalo, NY area

Jon may also have given the electric car community a new catch phrase – “opportunity charging.” He said, “People ask well when do you plug it in? Anytime you’re parked and there’s an outlet nearby, you plug it in. It’s called opportunity charging. So you just charge when it’s available. If there was an outlet right here, I would have a plug in right now.” He said his employer lets him charge when he’s at work, so his 38 mile one-way drive from home to work becomes an all-electric round trip on most days. He also admits that he sometimes hangs around his friends’ houses a few extra minutes to get a little more charge before getting back on the road.

After more than six months of ownership, Jon sums up his feelings about his Volt this way: “I get in it and I still say I can’t believe I own this car.”

Lisa has worked for GM for 11 years, and after the company suffered through some less-than-favorable publicity during 2009 she had two specific thoughts. First, she felt fortunate to still have a job with GM. Second, she thought “What can I do to help change the average person’s view of the company?” She thought if people could see the care, quality and craftsmanship that went into the engines built at her plant, they’d have new appreciation for their GM products.

Small group of customers tour the Tonawanda Engine plant

With her bosses’ permission, Lisa invited local Chevrolet, Buick-GMC and Cadillac dealers to the Buffalo-area plant. Dealership owners, sales and service managers from New York and Pennsylvania saw an engine-build demonstration and received a tour of the plant. Lisa explained she wanted the dealers’ customers to get the same plant reception if they bought a GM car or truck. The dealers embraced the idea and a new customer appreciation plan was born.

Lisa says the dealership people loved seeing inside the plant, because it was a new experience for them. She said, these are “individuals who have been in the auto industry for 20, 30, 40 years who had no idea what we did inside these four walls. They were blown away by the people, the technology, the friendliness and how welcoming everyone was.”

It’s not surprising that Lisa came up with a plan like this. This Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) grad believes strongly in the idea of team building.

Lisa (bottom right) with coworkers from Tonawanda Engine Plant - L850 business team, who ran a 5K race to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo.

She said, “I recently started running, and I’m not a runner. I run because it helps with a weight-loss goal I’m trying to achieve, and it’s a team-building exercise. I’ve been trying to pull in a lot of my co-workers to do 5K and 8K races with me. It’s really exciting because people who have never run before will do a race with me and it doesn’t matter if you run the whole thing or if you have to walk part of it. It’s extremely exciting. You cross the finish line and you feel like a rock star. It’s a real sense of accomplishment, it’s a team-building exercise.”

Lisa added, “Tonawanda Powertrain is all about community. Bringing customers in and letting us thank them for being a customer, and letting them see what we do here.”

In August, the first official Customer Appreciation Tour kicked off with 60 customers and guests. UAW Local 774 employees and salaried employees gave tours to groups of two to five people. The feedback was excellent as you can see in the video below.

Lisa hopes the plant tour for local customers is an idea that catches on across GM. She said, “This is something that can take place at any plant. It’s just a little bit of phone calls, a little bit of effort, and it can help change the perspective because when people leave now, they’re talking to their neighbors, their friends, their families.”

In 2010 he bought eight cars. He bought six more in the first half of this year. Some are for himself, some for his wife, and others for his daughters, parents and brothers. He said, “People have different hobbies. My hobby is buying cars. There’s nothing I do that’s funner than buying a new car.” Check out the video (below) to find out what the folks at the dealership think about Gary and his penchant for purchasing.

Luther Brookdale General Manager Curt Johnson (l) walks the dealership lot with uber-customer Gary Monn.

Living in the winter wonderland of Minnesota, Gary said all of his cars have remote start to make sure they’re toasty warm when he climbs in during the cold months. He buys well-equipped vehicles because they have more value when it comes time to sell them, plus he enjoys the luxury amenities.

He’s purchased a number of Chevrolet Avalanches, Equinoxes, Malibus and Silverados. While he likes all of them, the versatility of the Avalanche places it among his most favorite vehicles. It can move from the executive world to the working world without missing a beat. He said, “When I had big shots in town I could throw them in the Avalanche and they had plenty of room, comfort, and leather. And then when I needed to haul something on the weekend, I’d pop the panels off the back and drop the tailgate and I could put long stuff in the truck. Plus, it’s a head turner, it’s a nice-looking truck on the road.”

Gary also offered some suggestions for GM’s product development team. He said, “I don’t know if engineering’s looking at it, but, a hybrid Avalanche would certainly be something I’d be interested in looking at.”

Gary Monn alongside a Chevrolet Volt, one of the few models he hasn't bought yet.

While he hasn’t bought a Camaro yet, he has test driven one and said it’s “a fun car.” But he told us, “I’m getting a little old. That’s more of a young-man car.”

Why does he keep coming back to the Luther Brookdale dealership? He said, “It really is the people. I know that’s kind of cliché, but the people here are great.” Gary is a salesman and he drives a lot. He said sometimes he’ll be driving past the dealership and stop in just to grab a cup of coffee. And more than once he’s stopped for a coffee and left with a car.

LATE UPDATE: As we prepared to publish this story Gary sent us an email saying he just bought a 2011 Chevy Avalanche LTZ. He added, “… and I love it. (Till the next one I fall in love with.) Make you a deal, you keep makin em and I’ll keep buyin em.” That sounds like a deal where everybody wins, Gary. Thanks.

After five months of intense research and comparisons among several manufacturers, Aaron purchased his 2010 4×4 GMC Sierra Crew Cab in August 2010.  Little did he imagine that his enthusiasm for his new truck would lead to some very unique adventures.

He had friended the GMC Facebook page a few months before his purchase, and after he bought his truck he quickly shared a photo of the “newest member of the family” and talked how much he liked it, and the level of quality he experienced. GMC messaged Aaron back and a very special relationship began.

GMC team members had Aaron sharing stories about his truck, explaining how it impacted his lifestyle and the different ways that he used it.  He eventually wound up writing a short story for GMC about how his Sierra was an integral part of his life.  That story led to a GMC request to film an interview with Aaron, as an Owner Testimonial.  A Thanksgiving 2010 shoot produced five videos that GMC later posted to GMC.com, as well as all of its social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube).  Even more importantly, as Aaron says, “To be asked questions such as ‘what I like’ and ‘what I dislike’ about their vehicles, and then have them actually listen to me and take notes – it’s just shocking! This tells me that GMC is doing its homework, and that they are committed to building the best truck on the road.”

Aaron with other GM Superfans at 2011 NAIAS

Aaron was further shocked when GMC invited him to attend the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit in January 2011. He says, “This type of thing just doesn’t happen to someone who just buys a car, you know?”  Aaron spent three whirlwind days hosted by the GM Social Media Team, with a group of 20 other GM brand “super fans” and bloggers.  They attended the NAIAS Press Days, and enjoyed meals and meetings with executives from across GM.  A highlight of his trip was getting to spend a few hours with the GMC team that originally reached out to him on Facebook, and seeing his finished testimonial videos for the first time.  “The entire time, I felt like I owed a debt of gratitude to everyone for receiving such an awesome and amazing trip, yet every single person I met from GM thanked me numerous times for my purchase. They thanked me for believing in them, for supporting their product, and for standing by a company that had had its’ reputation on the line the last few years.”

Aaron says that visit to Detroit is “one of the greatest trips I will possibly ever take in my life!

Aaron and other fans meet with GM executives to discuss their vehicles

After walking in the shoes of those members of the auto industry for three days, I have an entirely new outlook on their profession and careers.  The spirit of the people makes the company, and we somehow forget that when seeing ads on TV or YouTube.  I am so grateful to be given this opportunity, and even more – I am truly a GMC Superfan for life!”  Janet Keller, GMC’s Digital–Social Media Manager, returned the compliment.  “Aaron is not only a loyal owner but also a great advocate for GMC.  We are happy to help amplify his enthusiastic voice along with the voices of our other passionate GMC fans, as they provide our customers and shoppers with the most credible, real-world validation to our GMC vehicles.”

Other than his Carbon Black Sierra Crew Cab, another of Aaron’s passions is fishing, which was the storyline for one of his five GMC Owner Testimonials. Check it out by clicking video below.

How do you earn the title of number one Camaro fan? You say things like this: “I own a 2010 Camaro 2SS RS number 8283. I ordered it actually the first day you could order it, October 13, ‘08 and I got it in June of ‘09.” You see, Christopher’s affection for the Camaro goes far beyond liking his car. He says, “Love is an understatement. It’s just amazing. To me it’s more than a car … much more.”

This isn’t the first time this Cleveland-area native has publicly professed his affection for Chevrolet’s sports car. Christopher posted his feelings on the General Motors Facebook in the Fall of 2010 and his enthusiasm earned him an invitation from GM to attend the media days at the 2011 North American International Auto Show.

GM Design V.P. Ed Welburn with Tribuzzo

While at the show he got to meet Ed Welburn, one of the designers of the fifth generation Camaro and one of Christopher’s heroes. Christopher says, “I’ve been following him since 2006 when the (Camaro) concept first came out. And he and everyone on the Chevrolet team just did an extraordinary job on the Camaro.” Tribuzzo presented Welburn with a plaque inscribed with the words of his Facebook post, “thanking them for their dedication and hard work that you guys put in to create such a great automobile.”

Welburn also autographed the visor from Christopher’s Camaro, which will serve as a reminder of his visit to meet the team that made the 5^th generation Camaro a reality.

Christopher is such a Camaro fan that if you ask him one of his favorite movies he’ll tell you Transformers. Of course one of the stars of that movie was Bumblebee, a yellow Camaro. Also, he has nicknamed his Camaro Mikaela, the same name as Megan Fox’s character in the movie.

Ed Welburn instantly recognized that Christopher is much more than a run-of-the-mill Camaro fan. Welburn told him, “You can’t have any more passion for cars than you have and I can just tell it. I can just tell from the letter. I can tell it just by your words.”

After his visit to the 2011 NAIAS and his meetings with GM executives, Christopher Tribuzzo may be staking out new ground that can elevate him beyond his current title of Number One Camaro fan. You can check out his posting on his visit to the show here and you can see the video of his meeting with Ed Welburn below.

It’s obvious she loves her job with the GM Communications group. She is currently heading up an effort called the Vehicle Advocate Program. It involves getting people into GM vehicles and letting them find out for themselves how good the cars and trucks are today. Wendy says, “I always had this dream of getting people in vehicles so that they could make up their own minds and then share the story that they come up with from driving the cars.”

In 2009 she obtained access to some just-launched Chevrolet Camaros and she made arrangements for GM employees to drive them. She says, “(the program) was such a hit that I started reaching out to the other launch teams as we launched the (Chevrolet) Equinox, (GMC) Terrain, (Cadillac) SRX. For the rest of the year we were able to get launch vehicles for the 2010 calendar year into the hands of our employees.” Then she turned her attention outside of GM and partnered with Bob Socia and the Global Purchasing and

Supply Chain team to take vehicles to supplier companies and let their employees see how GM was taking the parts and services they provide to make the world’s best vehicles. Wendy says the suppliers “are one of the keys to the quality of our vehicles. The relationship that we have impacts all of us. So just getting them into our vehicles helps them to see how their finished work looks in our cars.”

In the fall of 2010 Wendy and the Vehicle Advocate Team partnered with Terry Kline’s IT team to put a fleet of GM vehicles in front of a huge non-automotive market, GM’s high tech suppliers in California’s Silicon Valley. Her team brought a fleet of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles to employees at HP, Cisco, Google and Oracle. Her fondest dream came true. “It was great to get out to this high tech audience with great vehicles that they were flocking to.” Over the four days in California more than 1,200 high-tech employees drove GM cars and trucks and the response was electric. Yes, they even got to drive the Chevrolet Volt and the Toyota Prius drivers provided some of the most enthusiastic responses.

When she got back from her week in Silicon Valley her husband and sons who were glad to have her home, gave her a little birthday celebration. She says her family is about the only thing that can take her mind off of her job. “I do things with my kids. They are into football and soccer so they keep me busy with that. But my job is really a passion and I think when you have a job that you do every day and it’s your passion you can only help the company do even better.”

“It was actually an easy decision,” John says. His job made him very aware of the latest developments in automotive transportation. “The city of San Jose has a major initiative to look at developing plug-in stations around the city of San Jose. So, obviously we’ve been hearing about the plug-ins a lot and so that was certainly a big part of my decision. I know those plug-ins are coming. It makes a lot of sense. It’s a lot better way than burning gasoline. Much better way for the environment, so that’s why we decided to get the car.”

John and Jocelyn put a down payment on a Volt, even though there weren’t any Volts in the dealership to sit in or drive.  When Chevrolet brought the Volt to several of the high tech companies in Silicon Valley in October John and Jocelyn made a lunch date to get out to see it, touch it and drive it.  It was love at first sight.

Jocelyn sat in the Volt, took a look around and said, “Wow, this is really cool inside!” After a brief drive they climbed out and John said, “It’s fantastic. I love it.” Jocelyn offered an immediate 10-word review: “Incredible pickup. So smooth. So quiet. What a beautiful car.”

You can see and hear more by checking out the video on this page.

The Stufflebeans feel the Volt with its extended-range capability is the only electric car for them because they like to take weekend drives from their home in Silicon Valley to southern California or Nevada and John says “we want to be able to have a car that if you want to take a trip you can still do it with this car.” The only problem John and Jocelyn have after driving the Volt is they are now even more impatient about getting their car. John says, “I can’t wait to get it.” Jocelyn says, “I want the car now.”

Audrey says, “I find Chevrolet to be very exciting.” She is a fan of the Tahoe and Suburban, and she says “Equinox is bringing people in the door that we haven’t seen in years.” But, she gets really fired up when the conversation turns to the Camaro. She said one of her dealers was so excited when the Camaro was announced that he took a $5,000 deposit on the car … even though it was years away from delivery. “I said, ‘You gotta give that back. You can’t keep $5,000,’” Audrey recalls. When the Camaro finally arrived Audrey raved, “The beauty of it, the quietness of it. You know when you’re sitting inside, you feel like you’re in a real race car. Even with a 6-cylinder. 304-horsepower? And now it’s going up to 312? And 30 miles to the gallon! And we’re going to kick Ford Mustang’s butt.”

She admits that her dealerships struggled and lost money in 2007 and 2008. But now she works with them on special promotions, accessorizing and financing to help them become profitable again, and it’s working. Making adjustments and changing how to approach things has helped her be successful and happy.

Two years ago, in the midst of the auto industry struggles, Audrey decided to give up smoking and she took up running. “I try to get in five miles 4 or 5 times a week, which hasn’t been happening lately, but I have been in two 10K races,” Audrey says.  The self-described Brooklyn girl also discovered another outlet. “Suddenly I’ve decided that I like gardening. I never thought that I did and now every Saturday and Sunday I’m outside. I have a vegetable garden and I just started an English garden.”

Taking on new challenges and not backing down from obstacles are the traits that have helped Audrey Higham find success and satisfaction.

Stephanie and the Governator

Editor’s Note: Stephanie White is a biologist for the State of California, an avid environmentalist by vocation and hobby, having hiked and birded on six continents. The West Los Angeles resident is the first long-term assignee to one of Chevy’s upgraded hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. She picked up her specially wrapped car at the General Motors Fuel Cell Training Center in Burbank on March 16. This is her second time behind the wheel following a two-month stint last summer as a participant in Project Driveway, the world’s largest fuel cell vehicle demonstration fleet. Among other activities, she showed the car to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on a Hydrogen Highway stop in West L.A. Now, like Le Ann Hinkle who received her Chevy fuel cell loaner in New York this week, Stephanie is back on the road…

No payments and no pollution – I love driving but at some point, you realize what your impacts are. I started commuting by public transit in the Bay Area, Sacramento, and, yes, here in L.A. to reduce my carbon footprint. With the fuel cell, I’m getting more than 50 mpg (equivalent), and the air coming out of the vehicle is cleaner that what’s going in – driving is nearly guilt free!

Not always a fan – I’m a strong supporter of new technology. Still, I remember being initially upset when money was diverted in the energy budget to fuel cells. That really didn’t change until I became part of Project Driveway. I was in the Prius camp for a long time – I thought that was the best offering out there, and then I drove this car. This is just one part of the climate change solution, but it’s a big part.

From stranded to advocate – My last car, which I won’t mention by name, pretty much blew up on the freeway and stranded me in Vacaville. My boyfriend heard about the Project Driveway program and told me, ‘GM’s got free cars. You should apply for one.’ I showed up at a meet-up of Project Driveway participants in Long Beach last May and after driving it around a park, I just loved it. No shifting. No delay. Just pedal to the metal and you go. A few months after that, I got my own loaner. I drove it 4,700 miles in two months and I was so sad to have to turn it back in. When (Project Driveway manager) Mark Vann called me a few weeks ago and told me about the long-term loan, I was speechless. I finally said, ‘Really?’ and he said, ‘Really.’ And I said ‘Really, really?’ And he said ‘Really, really.’

A social phenomenon – It’s an easy way for me to talk to people, just a great way to talk about the technology. One Friday, I went to Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank and went to some of the crankiest, saltiest guys there. One of them said ‘Get that Al Gore car away from me,’ but a few drove it around the parking lot and told the other guys about it. They were hooked. One of the most fun things to do is put people behind the wheel so they can experience it.

Fill ‘er up… easily – This time around, I will be able to extend the range of the vehicle. There are hydrogen filling stations two miles, five miles and six miles from my home. I’m in that sweet spot for what a hydrogen infrastructure should be. And I do have my Furlough Fridays (where state employees take unpaid Fridays off three weeks a month), to visit places on weekdays. One thing I didn’t get to do the first time was take it to schools.

Invited bloggers included Kristi W. of Austin Farm to Table, Christian B. of Austin Food Journal, Carla C. of Austin Urban Gardens, Logan and Rachel of Boots in the Oven, Jennie C. of Miso Hungry, Shannan of Riemerville, and Stephanie of Stephanie Klein.com. Jodi B. of Tasty Touring played co- host as Chevrolet is one of her clients.

Carla and Adam shop at Thunder Heart Bison

The group met at Capitol Chevrolet for breakfast and picked up their vehicles – a Camaro, Equinox, Malibu, Silverado, and a Tahoe. Next stop was Chuck Nash in San Marcos to switch cars. They were happily surprised when Mark from Chuck Nash offered to drive their car keys up to Capitol to have the cars washed and detailed while they were gone.

Fun Fact #1: Capitol Chevrolet and Chuck Nash are owned by the same family – Capitol Chevrolet is literally the “sister” dealership to Chuck Nash, with Nancy Harper at the helm.

Fun Fact #2: Capitol Chevrolet has doubled as Garrity Motors for filming on NBC’s “Friday Night Lights.”

Jennie snags the Camaro for the first leg followed by Kristi and then Christian. Poor Christian was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for much of his turn.

In San Antonio, road trippers wandered around the Pearl Farmers Market, talking with farmers and vendors, listening to live music, snapping photos, and sampling local foods to take home. We loaded up our YETI coolers with groceries and walked over to Texas Farm to Table  for locally-sourced sandwiches and salads.

Bloggers from Boots in the Oven, MisoHungry, Austin Food Journal, and Austin Urban Gardens enjoy lunch.

In Jan. 2010, Chevy Texas hosted “Chevy Fried,” a road trip to taste Oklahoma fried pies for a group of Dallas-based bloggers. As with “Chevy Veggie,” participants communicated with each other before, during, and after the trip through the #ChevyVeggie hashtag on Twitter, through direct messages, text messages, and cell phone calls. Encouraged to experience the XM radio, OnStar, and the many cool features in the cars, they paired Bluetooth-enabled wireless devices to the cars speaker systems for hands-free calling to keep them entertained in the traffic jam on the way back to Austin.

I wonder what Shannan, Donna, Rachel and Stephanie are chatting about? Maybe the wonder that is OnStar?!

For more about the day, check out the latest online:
Chevy Veggie Flickr Group
ChevyVeggie tweets
Austin Urban Gardens blog
Austin Farm to Table blog
Stephanie Klein blog

To stay posted about other upcoming events and Chevy Texas road trips, follow @GMTexas and  @chevrolet on Twitter.

Everything IS better in Texas.