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 […]
1970 Opel GT 1.9: Mini-Vette?
History/driving impressions originally published in Special Interest Autos, June 1997; republished by the author Compare the front clip of any production Opel GT with a ‘68 Chevrolet Corvette and you will understand why Car and Driver called the German sports car a “teeny-bopper Corvette.” The same blade bumper runs across the front edge of the […]
BMW 3.0 CSiL: The Homologator
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek May 5, 1986; republished by the author. When the final history of the Nurburgring is written, when the last word have been spent on that asphalt serpent writhing 14 miles through the tall dark evergreens, its great story told once and for all, no grander chapter will there be […]
2002 Volkswagen 1L Concept: Thin Car Travels Far, Volkswagen’s canoe-skinny mini could do New York to D.C. on 1 gallon of gas
Feature originally published in Popular Science August at 2002, republished by author To listen to automakers snipe about tightening fuel economy standards, you’d think it impossible to squeeze more miles from a barrel of Extract of Arabia. This, of course, is not the case, particularly if you design a vehicle expressly to drive far and […]
What They’re Saying