Paris 2010: Design Disasters

By John LeBlanc PARIS, France – Is it me, or is car design in a bit of a funk? Maybe it’s the new pedestrian laws—that are demanding higher hoodlines and subsequently taller (i.e. odd) proportions. Or maybe the financial demand of making the tougher fuel economy and emissions regulations has crunched automotive design department budgets. […]

Top 10s: Best Sounding New Cars

[svgallery name=”Top_10_Sounding_pics”] By John LeBlanc Eye-grabbing styling, gut-punching acceleration, track-ready handling – these are all qualities that can make or break a driving enthusiast’s new car purchase decision. Yet like a gorgeous supermodel that eventually opens their mouth with less-than-stellar acoustical results, how a car sounds can help you pick your next set of wheels […]

Top 10s: Cars not sold in Canada

[svgallery name=”2010_Cars_not_sold_Canada”] By John LeBlanc We Canadians have a lot to celebrate — universal healthcare, poutine and mosquitoes at the cottage. But living in the Great White North isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, sometimes. Take, for instance, Canadian driving enthusiasts being denied access to cars only found in other markets. Now, I’m not […]

Stuff: 2010 Monterey Motorsports Reunion

[svgallery name=”2010_Monterey_hirez”] Story and photos by John LeBlanc LAGUNA SECA, Calif. – Since the mid-1970s, fans of vintage racing have been coming to the Monterey Peninsula’s Laguna Seca race track to see a wide variety of vintage racers, some of which trace their beginnings to the inaugural Pebble Beach road races in the 1950s. And […]

The Crank: Is the guard changing in Canadian new car showrooms?

By John LeBlanc In my weekly Autonews column at Wheels.ca, I reported that last month’s Canadian new car sales suggest the market is starting to be divided in to the “haves” and the “have nots.” However, Canadian auto industry analyst, Dennis DesRosiers has taken a longer view back than just a year ago. And he […]

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