Road Test: 2009 Mercedes-Benz CL 550 4MATIC

[svgallery name=”2009_MB_CL550_hirez”] The Gentlemen’s Express Mercedes’ big—and rare—full-size coupé carries on a vanishing auto genre By John LeBlanc As a two-door, hardtop version of the relatively more ubiquitous Mercedes-Benz S Class full-size luxury sedan, the CL coupe is a rare bird. Mercedes only sells a few every year. Teutonic rivals BMW and Audi don’t have […]

The Straight-GOODS/Hot Hatches

2010 Audi A3 2.0 TFSI quattro Base Price: $36,900 Driver Must Haves: Sport Package ($3,100) It’s not as sharp as a Subie WRX265. But think of this classy-looking A3 as the Golf R Volkswagen Canada (shy 80 hp) won’t bring here. The five-door A3 is chock-a-block with all-wheel drive, twin-clutch gearbox, a gutsy 200 hp […]

Top 10: Worst SUV Wannabes

[svgallery name=”Top_10_SUV_Wannabes”] By John LeBlanc What with today’s small car craze, it’s hard to believe that at one point in the late 1990s, sports-utility-vehicles roamed the North America byways like herds of 18th century bison. Large, ill-handling and gas-guzzling contraptions like the Ford Explorer, Chevrolet Tahoe and Jeep Grand Cherokee were some of the top-selling […]

Bye-Bye 2009: Best Driver’s Car of the Year

By John LeBlanc Everyone likes an underdog right? When the revitalized Porsche Cayman S arrived with its wunderkind Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) transmission and updated engine last year, it knocked the hallowed 911 off the perch I had it up on as my all-time sports car fave. Sounds blasphemous? Maybe. But I appreciate a sports car for […]

Bye-Bye 2009: Best Driving Experience of the Year

Story and photo by John LeBlanc My best driving experience during 2009 had nothing to do with one of those fancy-pants press junkets that we auto writers are spoiled with on a regular basis (Mrs. Automotive Journalist’s words, not mine). Nope. Instead it was some personal driving time in and around the Italian Chianti region, […]

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