The Crank: Is Acura’s new TSX Sport Wagon good enough?

By John LeBlanc We—as in myself and many of The Crank faithful—appreciate a good sports wagon like wine lovers enjoy a good pinot noir. Either as a slightly more practical alternative to a more confining sports sedan, or a more fun-to-drive diversion from the cute-ute herd, sports wagon fans, there are many.

Stuff: Convertible history

[svgallery name=”1971_MB_Cab”] Wind-in-your-hair motoring through the ages A recent drive in some older ‘Benz convertibles highlight the evolution of the open-air car By John LeBlanc MALLORCA, Spain – Completely unlike what’s available in new-car showrooms these days, at the dawn of the automobile age more than a century ago, virtually all cars were convertibles. The […]

Stuff: R8 V10 grabs World Performance Car honours

By John LeBlanc NEW YORK – Kicking off the second media day of this year’s New York show, the Audi R8 V10 was declared the 2010 World Performance Car from a short list that included the Ferrari California and the Porsche 911 GT3.

Does Volvo’s turning Chinese ensure its survival?

By John LeBlanc Here we go again. For the second time this year, a beloved Swedish auto brand has been sold off. But given the initial news that after a long courtship China’s Geely has finally put pen to paper on acquiring Volvo from Ford, the Swedish brand’s survival looks more promising than sister Swedish […]

Will going electric ever make automotive sense?

By John LeBlanc We’re hearing — and seeing — a lot this year about the electrification of the car. And not just from boutique, low volume companies like California’s Tesla, which has only sold about 1,000 copies of its $125,000 Roadster since going on sale two years ago. Huge, mainstream global automakers like Toyota, Mitsubishi, […]

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