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 […]

First Drive: 2011 Aston Martin Rapide

[svgallery name=”2011_Aston_Rapide_hirez”] By John LeBlanc VALENCIA, Spain – Blasphemy is running rampant in the auto industry. BMW is building mid-size hatchbacks. Porsche is making sedans from SUVs. Heck, even Mini is going to try to sell you a crossover. So when we got wind that Aston Martin — longtime maker of British sports cars and […]

2010 Montréal: Will VW’s Golf R fly in Canada?

By John LeBlanc After accepting The Canadian Automotive Jury’s Best of the Best award for its entire 2010 Golf family, Volkswagen Canada pulled the cover off a potential new range topper at last week’s Montréal auto show.

2010 Montréal: Volkswagen Golf wins new Canadian annual car award

By John LeBlanc MONTREAL – It’s not only the fine people of Detroit that put on an auto show this time of the year. Just down the St. Lawrence River, a couple of hours on the 401, our neighbors in la belle province put on quite a car show of their own. This year, along […]

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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