The Crank: 2011 CAJ Best of the Best nominees released

By John LeBlanc Here’s the deal. If you’re reading my blog, it’s safe to assume that you’re one of the wisest, sharpest, most knowledgeable car enthusiasts on the planet. So it goes without reason that if yours truly is to put his name behind an annual new car award, it’s going to be the “best” […]

Paris 2010: Honda

By John LeBlanc PARIS, France – You have to think Honda Canada would like to take a Mulligan on its current small hybrid strategy As has been duly noted, its Insight hybrid has been anything but a success. In fact, I always wondered why the Japanese automaker didn’t simply put the Insight’s drivetrain into its […]

Paris 2010: Toyota

By John LeBlanc PARIS – It’s no news that Toyota ‘s subcompact Yaris is getting a little long-in-the-tooth. Especially when rivals like the Honda Fit and new Ford Fiesta and Mazda2 offer frugality, features, better build quality and more fun-to-drive characteristics the yawn-fest Toyota can’t match any day of the week.

Paris 2010: General Motors

By John LeBlanc PARIS – Just as GM Canada is getting ready to launch its new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan back home, it’s hard to ignore some of the tastier European compacts from the General that debuted here at this year’s Paris show.

The Crank: Will Canadians take to stale Scions?

By John LeBlanc Let’s get something straight. Scion—Toyota’s so-called “youth brand”—is all about fashion. The three Scions being introduced to Canada this fall don’t offer much differences mechanically than the Toyotas they’re based on. After being introduced to U.S. customers in 2003, it took Toyota Canada took another five years, in 2008, to make up […]

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