History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek July 22, 1991 Eager and alert and minus only wings, tail structure and propeller, this Saab 96 resembles a stunt plane, striking in brilliant red paint, contours rounded and aerodynamic, fat tires stuffed into spat-like fenders. The analogy goes beyond external appearances: The doors are light and the interior […]
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 Europe still rubble and craters, young Omer Orsi presented the Maserati A6/1500 at the Geneva Motor Show. The war had certainly reshuffled the cards but not destroyed the deck. There […]
2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Edition: Diesel racer
Review originally published in Examiner.com May 2010 Race on Sunday, sell on Monday. That’s been the motto of many auto manufacturers since the dawn of the automotive age. In fact, the first car race in the United States, in 1895, was staged to encourage domestic manufacture of automobiles. It’s no surprise, then, that Volkswagen took […]
2005 Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG: The fast and the seniorious
Review originally published in CarBuzzard 2005 One would like to think that the Mercedes-Benz AMG C55 is the fast and the furious for grownups. Sorta grownups, anyway, but with that corner office, a couple of kids in private school and a feeling that it’s really somewhat gauche to pull in to the lacrosse field parking […]
2007 Audi RS4: Outrunning noise
New car review originally published in CarBuzzard.com December 5, 2006 To the teenager with the slammed and primered Honda at the Sheetz gas station in Somerset, Pennsylvania: A kid from rural Pennsylvania turning gangsta rap to full volume will not impress the driver of a 2007 Audi RS4–even if Audi driver is an automotive journalist […]
Volvo 122-S and 123GT, Sporty Volvos: Did You Say Peppy, or Preppy?
History originally published in AutoWeek, January 9, 1984 By some strange twist of circumstances, the automobiles produced by one Swedish manufacturer have come to represent a group of people equally defined by alligators, ducks and plaids. This is, we are told, because these people respect a good value and admire the frumpy. They have therefore […]
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