The styling of the Peugeot 404 Cabriolet – or, as it is sold to Americans, “convertible” – will bring a glimmer of recognition to European car enthusiasts. The sensation is much like that of meeting the sibling of an old…
The guy in the well-used pickup truck in the next lane over was so not wishing he were me. The 2007 Volkswagen New Beetle Convertible Triple White I was driving isn’t, well, terribly manly. It’s sort of like Jerry Van…
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…
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…
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek July 25, 1988; republished by the author The steering column was modified Dodge, and the transmission Chrysler’s then-new semi-automatic. Mufflers were Chevrolet, the clamps on the Moog rear coil springs were from Buick, the…
Harold Metzger gently chided me for having chirp the tires of his 1929 Nash Model 461 Cabriolet. “Well, we certainly know it has enough power to burn rubber!” I had halted on a hill having failed to negotiate a downshift…
Suspicion in Maranello is that, with no automatic transmission in the Ferrari line, the market for Ferraris may be limited. Not that it should matter, some say. Those who can’t use three pedals and a shift lever aren’t Ferrari people…
History originally published in AutoWeek September 24, 2001 Allied bombing had done its best to destroy the ability of the Third Reich to wage war. Mercedes-Benz, according to estimates made in the spring of 1945, suffered about 70 percent damage…
History originally published in AutoWeek, February 28, 1983 It was a fitting motorcar for the professional, this new BMW 321, a good choice for the man of accomplishment. It was August, 1939, and to be able to afford such an…
BMW 1600-2 Cabriolet; Photo by John Matras It drives BMW owners wild. It makes ‘em crazy. To be sure, others notice the BMW 1600-2 Cabriolet. Some, slant six Valiant drivers for example, ask what kind of car it is. Others,…