History originally published in Automobile Quarterly Volume 36, Number 2; February 1997 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…
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”…
Feature originally published in AutoWeek November 24, 1986 The Dino, finally, has arrived. Criticized at the time of its introduction for being too slow, too small and having too few cylinders, it wasn’t considered a true Ferrari. Real Ferraris have…
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek December 2, 1985 The little car growls over the upgrade, barking at the up shifts, snapping at the down, its odd syncopated exhaust blatting in 4/4 time, echoing off walls built by Italian stonemasons…
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek September 16, 1985 Tim Ritter was right. The interior does not suffer gladly the intrusion of large adults. It’s large adults who suffer. Those of us with more modest proportions are merely constrained to…
New-car review originally published an AutoWeek June 10, 1985 I know why celebrities wear dark glasses: Being noticed has its advantages, but after a while all the attention becomes annoying. I know. I’ve driven a Citroen 2CV. I had the…
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek April 14, 1986 There is not much to the interior of an Alfa Romeo GTA. Memory fails all but the most important details, things like highly legible gauges, the Alfa-typical dogleg shifter, the Connelly-leather…
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek October 21, 1985 Just the sound of the starter says this is going to be something special, that high-pitched whine that’s a cross between an air wrench and a dentist’s drill. So characteristic of…