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Jaguar

Jaguar SS 100: It takes a rare kind of loyalty

1921-1940 England I-6 Jaguar

Jaguar SS 100: It takes a rare kind of loyalty

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek February 11, 1985 In Syracuse, New York, halfway up the hill in a quiet neighborhood of older homes, is…

JmatrasApril 3, 2025

Jaguar Mk V: Cat with a hot landau roof

1951-1960 England I-6 Jaguar

Jaguar Mk V: Cat with a hot landau roof

History/driving impressions originally published August 13, 1984 There is no better way to pave one’s own road to the automotive scrapheap of history than to…

JmatrasApril 3, 2025

1993 Jaguar XJR-S: Delicious decadence

1991-2000 England Jaguar V-12

1993 Jaguar XJR-S: Delicious decadence

Contemporary review originally published in Road & Track Sport and GT Cars 1993 The six-cylinder XJS makes sense, but I have to admit I was…

JmatrasApril 3, 2025

Jaguar Mk IX: Great Britain’s Grandest Cat

1951-1960 England I-6 Jaguar

Jaguar Mk IX: Great Britain’s Grandest Cat

Originally published in AutoWeek, November 1, 1982 1961 Jaguar Mk IX; John Matras photo. It seems rudely out of place. There, surrounded by the Edwardian…

JmatrasApril 3, 2025

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Home
The Car
The Make
- Abarth
  - AC
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  - Duesenberg
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The Motor
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1957 Simca Vedette Versailles: Nee Ford, Simca’s star of the 1950s

1957 Simca Vedette Versailles: Nee Ford, Simca’s star of the 1950s

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek March 27, 1995; republished by the author Two of the least frequently noted developments regarding automobiles in France were…

1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD: Now all the grip with twice the grins

1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD: Now all the grip with twice the grins

Contemporary review originally published in Road & Track Special Sports & GT Cars 1992 If two years seems like a short lifecycle, that only shows…

Volkswagen Corrado G60 and SLC: The short run of a German sprinter

Volkswagen Corrado G60 and SLC: The short run of a German sprinter

History/driving impressions originally published in Sport Compact Car, August 1999 Volkswagen called it the Corrado, allegedly from the Spanish correr, to sprint or run. And…

Is Today’s Jeep Still a Jeep? The 1991 Jeep Wrangler doesn’t forget 1941 Jeep MB war vet ancestor. That’s good and bad.

Is Today’s Jeep Still a Jeep? The 1991 Jeep Wrangler doesn’t forget 1941 Jeep MB war vet ancestor. That’s good and bad.

Contemporary review/history originally published in AutoWeek April 22, 1991 So the Jeep is 50 years old. For a motor vehicle, or for just about anything…

Alvis 4.3: John Bull to the core

Alvis 4.3: John Bull to the core

History originally published in AutoWeek, February 13, 1984 Full square against the wind, it couldn’t be anything but British, tradition-proud and built in the time-honored…

AC Aceca Bristol: Predecessor of the “Snake”

AC Aceca Bristol: Predecessor of the “Snake”

Originally published in AutoWeek November 15, 1982 AC Aceca Bristol; photos by John Matras AC was on a roll. Its roadster, the AC Ace, had…

1965 Matra-Bonnet Djet: The first mid-engine production car

1965 Matra-Bonnet Djet: The first mid-engine production car

Originally published in AutoWeek, April 25, 1988. 1965 Matra-Bonnet Djet, photos by John Matras. Europa. Miura. Manguta. Dino. Stratos. Pantera. Countach. Boxer. Bora. Esprit. M1.…

Oldsmobile XP-888GT: Oldsmobile’s stillborn sports car

Oldsmobile XP-888GT: Oldsmobile’s stillborn sports car

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…

1955 Packard 400: A very nice place to be

1955 Packard 400: A very nice place to be

History originally published in AutoWeek August 5, 2002 By 1955, Packard was on the ropes. Like a champ who had seen better days, the company…

2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Edition: Diesel racer

2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Edition: Diesel racer

Review originally published in Examiner.com May 2010 Race on Sunday, sell on Monday. That's been the motto of many auto manufacturers since the dawn of…

1938 Alfa Romeo 8C2900 B: Champ of the Mille Miglia

1938 Alfa Romeo 8C2900 B: Champ of the Mille Miglia

History originally published in AutoWeek July 18, 1983 Wedged in the passenger seat as Bill Serri works the Alfa, cutting crisp vintage holes through the…

1991-95 Hyundai Scoupe: The coupe scoop

History originally published in Sport Compact Car in September 1999 Hyundai already had made a name for itself selling cars, the penny-squeezing Excel and the…

Robert Valpey’s Allard J2: The first Cad-Allard

Robert Valpey’s Allard J2: The first Cad-Allard

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek September 2, 1985 When Sidney Allard introduced the Allard J2 in 1949, it was to be powered by war…

Ginetta G4: Not a Car for the Dilettante

Ginetta G4: Not a Car for the Dilettante

Originally published in AutoWeek, November 22, 1982 I look in the tiny dash-mounted rear view mirror and all I see is a grill-mounted Chevy bow-tie.…

Type 49 Bugatti: Mme. Abry’s piece de resistance

Type 49 Bugatti: Mme. Abry’s piece de resistance

History originally published in AutoWeek November 26, 1983 The Schlumpfs: Hans and Fritz, brothers, textile industrialists of Alsace, fanciers of classic automobiles,, fanatics for Bugatti’s.…

Volvo 122-S and 123GT, Sporty Volvos: Did You Say Peppy, or Preppy?

Volvo 122-S and 123GT, Sporty Volvos: Did You Say Peppy, or Preppy?

History originally published in AutoWeek, January 9, 1984 By some strange twist of circumstances, the automobiles produced by one Swedish manufacturer have come to represent…

The Arnolt-Bristol: an all-American sports car, via Bristol and Bertone

The Arnolt-Bristol: an all-American sports car, via Bristol and Bertone

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek, on May 23, 1988; republished by the author There probably never was in Arnolt-Bristol like Dave Hans’s back in…

1989 Mazda RX-7 Infini IV: The Orient Express

First published in the book, Sports Car Color History Mazda RX-7 (1994) by John Matras 1989 Mazda RX-7 Infini IV; photos by John Matras The…

1998 Honda Prelude Type SH: Pulling its weight in style

1998 Honda Prelude Type SH: Pulling its weight in style

Road test originally published in Road & Track Sports & GT Cars 1998 “It is one thing to show a man that he is in…

Saab Sonett II: Different strokes from Swedish folks

Saab Sonett II: Different strokes from Swedish folks

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek June 9, 1986 Bound in this white plastic projectile I dance on the offset pedals and coax the stubborn…

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1956 Lancia Aurelia Spyder: Simple, golden

1956 Lancia Aurelia Spyder: Simple, golden

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek, September 3, 2001; republished by the author When the roll is called up yonder for great cars that no…

1998 Volvo C70 Coupe and Convertible

1998 Volvo C70 Coupe and Convertible

Preview originally published in European car, November 1996; republished by the author coup de main: a sudden action undertaken to surprise an enemy coupe from…

1960 Plymouth Fury: The tale (fin) of the 1950s

1960 Plymouth Fury: The tale (fin) of the 1950s

History/driving impessions originally published AutoWeek September 27. 1999; republished by the author If there is a single icon for the automotive 1950s, it’s the tailfin.…

1992-1994 Acura Vigor: Silent Running

1992-1994 Acura Vigor: Silent Running

History/driving impressions originally published in Sport Compact Car, October 2000; republished by the author It’s as if Acura had tossed a stone in a pond…