The Crank: Will upcoming 2012 Honda Civic retain its sales crown?

[svgallery name=”2012_Honda_Civic_PR”] By John LeBlanc Without a doubt, the compact Civic sedan is the most important model in Honda Canada’s lineup. Despite a drop in sales of 8.2 per cent in 2010 compared to 2009, and an extension of its usual four-year model changeover to an extra-long six years, the Civic was still the best […]

First Drive: 2012 Nissan GT-R Black Edition

[svgallery name=”2012_Nissan_GTR_hirez”] Godzilla Gentrified Nissan’s rowdy supercar gets all refined like By John LeBlanc BUTTONWILLOW, Calif. — Just as fans of Japan’s Godzilla monster movies have a hard time picking a favourite flick from a series of films dating back to 1954, followers of the automotive Godzilla — Nissan’s series of high-performance supercars dating back […]

First Drive: 2012 Fiat 500 Sport

[svgallery name=”2012_Fiat_500_hirez”] Promise Fulfilled The first Fiat in Canada after 27 years finally arrives By John LeBlanc SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Since Fiat took over the duty of managing Chrysler, fans of Italian-bred cars have been left with many questions. The arrival of the 2012 Fiat 500, the first car from the Italian automaker to […]

First Drive: 2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage

[svgallery name=”2011_Aston_V12_Vantage”] More is more Adding four more cylinders only betters Vantage’s already capable road manners By John LeBlanc CARMEL VALLEY, Calif. – One look at the latest Aston Martin Vantage’s spec sheet, and one would have thought that that ‘ol Texan chicken farmer, Carroll Shelby, had a hand in its creation. By taking the […]

The Crank: Can an all-wheel-drive 911 be a real Porsche?

By John LeBlanc Welcome to winter. Like the rest of Ontario, you probably woke up to the inevitable First Big Dump this week. But what if you had a Porsche in your laneway. Specifically, a new-for-2011 911 Turbo S, which, to the layman’s eyes, seems like the most ridiculous winter vehicle you could drive. But […]

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