History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek April 26, 1993; republished by the author Audi excised 12.6 inches from the wheelbase of the standard Quattro coupe to make the Sport Quattro. Drastic surgery perhaps, but nothing like what Peugeot would do to make the 205 Turbo 16, which was eating Audi’s lunch in international Group B […]
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 ritual. It’s a compulsion so persistentthat it has bowled the safetycrats right off their swivel chairs, with a new ragtop appearing almost every week. It’s also cross-cultural. It’s not just […]
1954 Volkswagen-Okrasa Cabrio: A rare survivor of the hot-rodded Beetles of the 50s
History originally published in AutoWeek June 19, 1989 We have become so accustomed to the radically modified VW – it approaches minor religion status in Southern California, but then what doesn’t?– that it’s easy to forget that in the 1950s the Volkswagen was just another imported car and that buying in imported car was like […]
Merkur XR4Ti: The T-Bird’s continental cousin
History/buyer’s guide originally published in European Car, August 1996 Anyone partial to European mobiles was all the more frustrated by the new Ford Sierra XR-4i. The Sierra debuted in 1983, replacing the Cortina and Taunus , and the XR-4i was its high-performance variant. Reports filtered back to the states about the fast and funky new […]
BMW “Batmobile” 3.0 CSL: Lapping Lime Rock in a LeMans-winning race car
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek June 22, 1987; republished by the author. BMW “Batmobile” 3.0 CSL driven by Richard Conway, photo by John Matras The public address system blares as Richard Conway finishes strapping me into his car. I am about to drive a few laps at the BMW Vintage Fall Festival at Lime […]
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 the new coupe, having its debut in the fall of 1989 as a 1990 model, had the no waste, and just put the leftovers in the trash bin. It followed […]
What They’re Saying