Flashback Fridays: 2006 Pontiac Solstice

Story by John LeBlanc Article originally published in October, 2005 – Knowing Mazda has had the affordable, rear-wheel-drive two-seater market to itself for more than a decade didn’t stop Bob Lutz from putting his reputation on the line when he drove the Solstice concept on-stage at the Detroit auto show in 2002. The vice-chairman of […]

Flashback Fridays: 2006 Mazda MX-5

Story by John LeBlanc This article was originally published in October, 2005 – KELOWNA, B.C. – Adding up to more than just the sum of its parts, Mazda’s Miata was a car that always gave back a measure of driving pleasure higher than expected due to its family-car price. In the hands of even novice […]

First Drive: 2014 BMW 435i Cabriolet

Story and photos by John LeBlanc LAS VEGAS, Nevada – As sure as spring follows winter, we knew Germany’s BMW was going to follow the debut of its new 4 Series Coupe with a retractable hardtop/convertible version. And just as its non-retractable coupe sibling has substantially evolved from its 3 Series predecessor, so has the […]

Road Test: 2013 Mini John Cooper Works Convertible

Story and photos by John LeBlanc Ever since the early ’70s, small cars have been seen as cheap and low quality — the bottom feeders of the market. The thinking was that small car buyers didn’t have the coin to buy the “whole” car. But that all changed in 2002, when Germany’s BMW launched the […]

Dear John: Affordable convertibles

Story by John LeBlanc Did you blink? Because that’s about the length of time this year’s spring season lasted. Seemingly overnight, most of Canada went from snowy and cold to break-out-the-sunscreen kind of weather. Inspired by that change, and our recent Top 10 ‘spring fling’ convertibles story, this month’s Dear John letter is asking for help in […]

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