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Maserati

1985 Maserati Quattroporte: Italian definition of a four-door makes a statement

1981-1990 Italy Maserati newpost V-8

1985 Maserati Quattroporte: Italian definition of a four-door makes a statement

History/driving impression originally published in AutoWeek November 12, 1990; republished by the author English is an efficient and purposeful language, but Italian is more exquisite…

JmatrasApril 4, 2025

1949 Maserati A6/1500: Lusty little coupe became Italian firm’s benchmark car

1941-1950 I-6 Maserati

1949 Maserati A6/1500: Lusty little coupe became Italian firm’s benchmark car

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek January 7, 1991; republished by the author. Two years after the end of World War II, with most of…

JmatrasApril 3, 2025

Maserati 3500GTI: Six for the road

1961-1970 I-6 Italy Maserati

Maserati 3500GTI: Six for the road

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek April 1, 1985 I really had no alternative. The only reasonable thing to do was to down shift to…

JmatrasApril 3, 2025

Maserati Bora: Manly, yes, but she’ll like it, too

1971-1980 Italy Maserati V-8

Maserati Bora: Manly, yes, but she’ll like it, too

History originally published in AutoWeek August 29, 1983 It’s a bullet, big bore and Magnum-packed, a missile, ICBM for the Interstate, pregnant with malice. It…

JmatrasApril 3, 2025

Driving the new Maserati Biturbo

1981-1990 I-4 Italy Maserati

Driving the new Maserati Biturbo

Originally published in AutoWeek, January 3, 1983 There are two Maserati Biturbos in the country, and AutoWeek has just driven one of them. It was…

JmatrasApril 3, 2025

Maserati Ghibli Spider: Driving under the Influence.

1961-1970 Italy Maserati V-8

Maserati Ghibli Spider: Driving under the Influence.

Originally published in AutoWeek October 18, 1982 Maserati Ghibli Spider, photos by John Matras. Summer nights are special magic, a sorcery that suspends time and…

JmatrasApril 3, 2025

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I’m John Matras, and during a career of freelance auto writing, I’d heard that request too many times to ignore.

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Home
The Car
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1971-73 Plymouth Cricket: On a Sticky Wicket

1971-73 Plymouth Cricket: On a Sticky Wicket

Originally published in Sport Compact Car, September, 1996 1972 Plymouth Cricket; Chrysler Corp. photos The Plymouth Cricket is largely forgotten today, but in 1971, it…

Boom Box or Sports Car: Nissan Pulsar NX Sportbak

Boom Box or Sports Car: Nissan Pulsar NX Sportbak

Contemporary review originally published in Corridor Today February 12, 1988 Okay, Nissan, we’re on to you. This isn’t a car. It is really the world’s…

1967 Jensen FF: American push, British pull

1967 Jensen FF: American push, British pull

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek August 9, 1982 Do something, I thought. But no, the Jensen FF belied its four-wheel-drive and behaved like a…

1999 BMW M Coupe: Warning: This coupe can be hazardous to Cougar drivers

1999 BMW M Coupe: Warning: This coupe can be hazardous to Cougar drivers

Contemporary car review originally published in Road & Track Sports & GT Cars 1999 Good thing no one was coming the other way. The driver…

Social climber: The BMW 507 was upwardly mobile

Social climber: The BMW 507 was upwardly mobile

History originally published in AutoWeek October 24, 1983 The BMW 507 is a beautiful car. It is well-proportioned, refined and visually harmonious. It is a…

The First Automobile Race in America: Chicago, November 28, 1895

The First Automobile Race in America: Chicago, November 28, 1895

Originally published in Automobile, February, 1991; republished by the author “As impassable as the alleys of Stamboul; as filthy and mucky as the roads of…

Alfa Romeo Giulietta by Bertone: Driving the Bertone-Alfa that never was

Alfa Romeo Giulietta by Bertone: Driving the Bertone-Alfa that never was

History/driving impression originally published in AutoWeek February 13, 1986 Condensation gathered on the windshield, but the soggy mist was not enough to justify wipers. Even…

Asardo 3500 GM-S: Dream car went from ’59 N.Y. show to GM V-8 power

Asardo 3500 GM-S: Dream car went from ’59 N.Y. show to GM V-8 power

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek April 30, 1990; republished by the author Dreams are wisps of fantasy, but to the true believer they’re as…

Honda S800: Honda’s first sports coupe preceded the Prelude by 14 years

Honda S800: Honda’s first sports coupe preceded the Prelude by 14 years

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek October 19, 1987 Singing through traffic like haiku on wheels, we are a blur of rpm and red and…

1988-89 Chevrolet Beretta GTU: One hit racetrack wonder

1988-89 Chevrolet Beretta GTU: One hit racetrack wonder

Originally published in Sport Compact Car March 2001 In 1988 Chevrolet went racing in the IMSA GTU class and that, simply, is the reason for…

Volvos 480ES: The Immigrant that wasn’t

History originally published in Sport Compact Car, December 1997 Of all the “could’ve beens,” perhaps the saddest ever is the Volvo 480 Turbo. Volvo hadn’t…

1953 Arnolt-Aston Martin: “Wacky” Arnolt’s wonderful roadster boasts looks, pedigree

1953 Arnolt-Aston Martin: “Wacky” Arnolt’s wonderful roadster boasts looks, pedigree

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek August 8, 1988. Republished by the author. One need not look any further for the origin of the Arnolt-Bristol…

America’s first rotary: Curtis-Wright Mustang

America’s first rotary: Curtis-Wright Mustang

History originally published in AutoWeek June 4, 1984 A little-known chapter in American automotive history began in 1958 in a small white building on the…

BMW 2002 Cabrio: Taking the lid off a beefier Bimmer

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek November 19, 1984; republished by the author Putting the top down. It’s a delight, it’s a fascination, it’s a…

1976 Triumph TR6: Symbolizing the twilight of the British sports car’s reign

1976 Triumph TR6: Symbolizing the twilight of the British sports car’s reign

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek July 18, 1994. The hood is narrow, much more so from the driver’s seat them when viewed from outside.…

Herbert Austin’s 7: Britain’s version of the Model T

Herbert Austin’s 7: Britain’s version of the Model T

History originally published in AutoWeek June 13, 1983 Ford’s Model T, they say, put America on wheels. Certainly there were earlier automobiles, even earlier Fords,…

1942-43 M4A3 Medium Tank: As a Yank Tank, Sherman’s strength was in numbers

1942-43 M4A3 Medium Tank: As a Yank Tank, Sherman’s strength was in numbers

History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek August 24, 1994 Five seconds. That’s how much time a GI had to exit a burning Sherman tank, if…

1976-1983 Renault 5 Le Car

1976-1983 Renault 5 Le Car

History originally published in Sport Compact Car November 1998; republished by the author Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”…

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…

The BMW 328 Mille Miglia prototype looked like a winner

The BMW 328 Mille Miglia prototype looked like a winner

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…

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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…