The Crank: The General’s naming games

By John LeBlanc As part of Chevrolet’s recent small car religion— that includes the 2011 compact Cruze, next year’s Orlando compact tall wagon and a future Spark city car—an all-new subcompact  2011 Aveo, left and below, is on the way as well. We saw the production version last month in Paris, initially, next spring it […]

The Crank: 2011 CAJ Best of the Best nominees released

By John LeBlanc Here’s the deal. If you’re reading my blog, it’s safe to assume that you’re one of the wisest, sharpest, most knowledgeable car enthusiasts on the planet. So it goes without reason that if yours truly is to put his name behind an annual new car award, it’s going to be the “best” […]

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 […]

The Crank: Mazda quickly ditching Nagare

By John LeBlanc Well that didn’t take too long. As soon as former Mazda design director Laurens van den Acker left last year to take over as head pen of France’s Renault, it seems the Japanese automaker can’t move fast enough away from its still-born Nagare design language, a look that was created by van […]

Top 10s: New Hot Hatches

[svgallery name=”Top 10 Hot Hatches”] By John LeBlanc Driving enthusiasts are well aware of the Hot Hatch Formula. Made popular during the first Oil Crisis in the early 1970s, which saw the neutering of the American muscle car and the near-extinction of the V8 engine, the idea of adding a bit of performance to a […]

« go back — keep looking »