History originally published in AutoWeek April 11, 1983 Find the roughest road you know: 40-year-old concrete, cracked, broken and rudely patched. Knife-edge ridges and holes. A road that rattles and shakes the torque out of every nut and bolt of a normal car. Loctite and all. Drive the BMW 2000 Tilux there first. The ride […]
2011 Saab 9-5 Turbo4: Om du bygger det
Contemporary review originally published in examiner.com December 2010 Om du bygger det, så kommer de. Or translating the Swedish into English, if you build it, they will come. The “it” in this case is Saab, particularly for this car review, it is the Saab 9-5. Or even more specifically, the 2011 Saab 9-5 Turbo4. The […]
2011 Aston Martin Rapide: No cape necessary
Contemporary review originally published in Examiner.com on March 1, 2011 The key looks like a crystal wrapped in an Aston Martin logo, like something used to open Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. Fitted into an opening on the dash–a square peg into a square hole–the Aston Martin Rapide draws it in. But solitude? Not necessarily. The […]
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seen better days, the company that in the ‘30s had been America’s premier carmaker had suffered the one-two punch of an outdated marketing concept compounded by the lack of deep pockets to do much about […]
NSU Ro80: A Car Ahead of its Time
History originally published in AutoWeek March 12, 1984 How very frustrating, how maddeningly, fist-clinching frustrating it must have been to the men who were NSU to look back upon the Ro 80 and realize how close the car and the company came to forming a successful vanguard of automotive technology. To be sure, the company […]
1970 Opel Kadett Rallye 1.9: Imported Sizzle
History originally published in AutoWeek August 5, 2002 The Opel Kadett was advertised as the “Mini-Brute,” and one could hardly argue with the first half of the nickname. The Kadett, built by GM’s German subsidiary and imported for sale in Buick dealerships, rode on a 95.1-inch wheelbase and its front track didn’t even break 50 […]
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