History/driving impressions republished by the author, originally published in AutoWeek October 6, 1986 Well-known late-night comedian: “This car is really small.” Audience: “How small is it?” WKLNC: “This car is so small that if Santa brought you one for Christmas, he’d leave it in your stocking – while you were still wearing it. It’s so […]
Honda S800: Honda’s first sports coupe preceded the Prelude by 14 years
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek October 19, 1987 Singing through traffic like haiku on wheels, we are a blur of rpm and red and sun in the face, the Honda and I. The exhaust note tingles like the sound of practice/qualifying to a late arrival at the track, and it matters little whether it’s […]
Oldsmobile XP-888GT: Oldsmobile’s stillborn sports car
History originally published in Automobile Quarterly Volume 36, Number 2; February 1997 Carmakers usually keep a shroud of secrecy over future products, as it’s unwise to tip your hand in the poker game of the automobile market. Why let the other guy know what you have in hand? Whether smashingly bold or more of the […]
Datsun 2000: An English sports car from Yokohama-on-Thames
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek March 17, 1986 One of the best traditional British sports cars was the Datsun 2000 Sports. British, perhaps, as sushi and chips, but British nonetheless. Not in manufacture, of course, but in spirit it was every inch the equal to the MGB. In performance, it beats the B hands […]
1958 Golden Austin-Healey 100-6
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek July 14, 1986 Have you ever held a steering wheel of solid ivory? Have you ever sat in bucket seats finished in mink? Have you ever looked out on the road over a bumper plated with 24 karat gold? Not bloody likely. Not unless you were the lucky Brit […]
Kaiser Darrin: In the wrong place at the wrong time
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek August 10, 1986 “Henry, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” gushed Henry Kaiser’s new bride. She was speaking to the Hoover-Dam-building, Liberty-ship-making, self-made millionaire who, with Joe Frazer of Maxwell-Chalmers/Chrysler/Willys-Overland/Graham-Paige fame, went automobile manufacturing after the war. What she was speaking about was Howard “Dutch” […]
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