This isn’t a history of Porsche. It isn’t history of the 356 or even the 356B. That’s been done and done well elsewhere. What this is is simply a comparison of two Porsches, a 1962 356B Super-90 coupe and a…
History originally published in AutoWeek December 16, 1985 This is a shape, profoundly sensual, utterly female. It is sublime in efficiency, knowledgeable of what must be known, simple and spare like some great rolling Bauhaus woman, a supple stylization of…
Can I go home now? Pocono Medical Center isn’t a Big City TV hospital; the E. R. Is almost serene. Like all emergency rooms though, no one really wants to be here. But no, my neurologist says, I can’t go…
History originally published in Sport Compact Car May 1998 The 1970s were difficult, bringing us not only John Travolta and disco but also diminishing expectations in automobiles. Every fall brought anxiety. Do I buy this year’s model before they’re all…
Every Italian with a hammer and a tree stump is a body man, and in Italy two tree stumps together is a carrozzeria turning out wild, wonderful and, sometimes, strange shapes. But in practical Switzerland, where one grows up making…
Carmakers usually keep a shroud of secrecy over future products, as it’s unwise to tip your hand in the poker game of the automobile market. Why let the other guy know what you have in hand? Whether smashingly bold or…
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek March 31, 1986 Tears are streaming back into my ears. The 1100cc Coventry Climax engine is bellowing angrily as I try to maintain a steady speed, a futile effort anyway but more difficult by…
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek March 17, 1986 One of the best traditional British sports cars was the Datsun 2000 Sports. British, perhaps, as sushi and chips, but British nonetheless. Not in manufacture, of course, but in spirit it…
Vintage Stuff feature originally published in Automobile August 1992 The electronic continuously variable transmission (ECVT) on today’s Subarus first appeared in the Sixties on Dutch cars made by a company called DAF. We talked to a man who owns a…
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek February 9, 1989 Certainly “turbo” was the most overused automotive term of the 1980s, misapplied to everything from computers to washing machines. But at least when it came to automobiles, if it said “turbo”…