Top 10s: Most Anticipated Test Drives for 2011

By John LeBlanc Two-thousand-and-ten was a very good year for yours truly. Of my Most Anticipated Drives from last year, I got the chance to test-drive the first ever four-door Aston Martin (Rapide) and Mini (Countryman), evaluate new sports sedans from former staid makers Buick (Regal) and Volvo (S60), and really see if Honda could […]

First Drive: 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible

[svgallery name=”2011_Chevrolet_Camaro_Convertible_hirez”] Topless bar-none Dropping its top solves a bunch of the Camaro’s critiques By John LeBlanc SAN DIEGO, California – In one fell swoop, Chevrolet has fixed one of the biggest flaws in its Camaro coupe. Simply tug on a release header latch, push a button — et voila! — the existing hardtop’s horrendous […]

The Crank: My 2011 World Car of the Year is…

[svgallery name=”2011_Audi_A8L”] By John LeBlanc The seventh annual World Car of the Year awards, which yours truly is a judge, announced its top ten finalists for 2011 this week.The overall winner for WCOTY—as well as winners for World Performance Car, Green Car and Design of the Year—will be announced at this year’s New York show in April. Before then, […]

First Drive: 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage

[svgallery name=”2011_Aston_V12_Vantage”] More is more Adding four more cylinders only betters Vantage’s already capable road manners By John LeBlanc CARMEL VALLEY, Calif. – One look at the latest Aston Martin Vantage’s spec sheet, and one would have thought that that ‘ol Texan chicken farmer, Carroll Shelby, had a hand in its creation. By taking the […]

The Crank: Will former Explorer SUV owners buy into new metrosexual model?

By John LeBlanc Like the lampshade-wearing Christmas get-together guest who doesn’t know when to call it a night, the old, truck-based Ford Explorer hung out at the SUV party way too long.

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