The 2007 Volvo C70: As Safe As Summer Fun Gets

A convertible Volvo? In “Passion Red” paint? We know; unexpected to say the least. And yet, it isn’t at all incongruous. When the spanking-new Swede showed up in our fleet, we’d already heard the major talking points: folding metal roof, T5 motor, manual transmission, marginally affordable sub-$40K pricetag. All [...]

2006 Audi A6 Avant: A Teutonic Perfection for the Entire Family

Inevitably, every time an Audi appears at our doorstep for a full review, certain scenes play out–as surely as death and taxes, and so similar they could be scripted. For example, being behind the wheel of a new Audi–be it an A-line or an S-line model; no matter what series–one [...]

2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid: Having Your Green and Eating It Too

Although almost identical to the Ford Escape Hybrid by most measures, the Mercury Mariner Hybrid somehow rates hardly a fraction of the attention its sibling enjoys. This neglect may not seem startling, but compared to the acclaim lavished upon both the Toyota Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX400h gas-electric SUVs, the [...]

New Porsche Cayman starts for less than $50,000

We knew it was coming but we didn’t know it would come this soon. Today Porsche announced the Porsche Cayman (without the S) will be available soon. Probably the best news is that Porsche will begin marketing the new Cayman for under $50,000.

Full press release from Porsche AG follows:

On the [...]

2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT: The Sun Shines on Mitsubishi

Beleaguered Japanese automaker Mitsubishi sure isn’t acting like a company in trouble. In fact, to the delight of auto enthusiasts everywhere, the “Driven to Thrill” brand seems to be pouring an awful lot of resources into rebuilding their high-performance reputation. Fruits of that labor have included a passel of Lancer [...]

2007 Bentley Continental GTC

Upper-crust, Anglophile auto-lovers were initially introduced to the ragtop version of Bentley’s immensely popular Continental GT (the GTC-clever, no?) at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show. Even from the pictures, it was easy to fall in love. However, now that the New York Show has come and gone, we’ve had our [...]

2006 Ford Freestyle Limited AWD: An SUV-Wagon for the Middle of the Road

Automotive journalists are well-known for decrying the SUV craze-in part selfishly, as we enjoy driving exciting vehicles, and reviewing truck after truck after truck can become tedious. “Why,” we’re always lamenting, “why don’t consumers buy wagons?” After all, the station wagon offers similar utility, better fuel economy, and usually better [...]

Acura RL: Accurately Assessing a High-Tech Wonder

The Acura RL, flagship of Honda’s flagship line, suffers a lame-duck reputation among the automotive cognoscenti. Up against flashier rivals with more-potent powertrains and more-prestigious pedigrees, the premier Acura must by now be afflicted by a severe inferiority complex. The hierarchy having already been set, the RL lost the [...]

2006 Mercedes-Benz ML500: Four by Fifty (Grand)

We finally got some real seat time in the all-new M-Class–and it was worth the wait. The new Mercedes truck is everything the old ML wasn’t, beginning from bare metal. Where the old M was a body-on-frame, overweight truck with a leather-and-wood wrapper over sturdy but plebian mechanicals, the new [...]

2007 Mazda CX-7 First Drive

At first, we weren’t particularly interested in the announcement of an all-new crossover SUV–the 2007 Mazda CX-7. A new car-based ‘ute is about as rare as a Hollywood wedding. Mostly, they’re ungainly, unexciting vehicles that trade the stability and light weight of a car for extra cargo room and [...]

2007 Bentley Continental GTC Preview

Upper-crust, Anglophile auto-lovers were initially introduced to the ragtop version of Bentley’s immensely popular Continental GT (the GTC-clever, no?) at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show. Even from the pictures, it was easy to fall in love. However, now that the New York Show has come and gone, we’ve had our [...]

2007 Infiniti G35 Preview

Infiniti, the once-underdog Japanese luxury brand by Nissan, finally showed us the long-awaited revamp to the BMW-challenging G35 sports sedan. After being teased with various sexy coupe concepts, then, can we be forgiven when the four-door production model is finally final but we can’t see much difference?

We don’t intend to [...]