First Drive: 2013 Ford Fusion

Story and photos by John LeBlanc SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — The family sedan segment has become a virtual game of leapfrog. Seemingly, every few weeks, some automaker is debuting an all-new, mid-sized four-door of some sort, quickly followed by a rival launching shortly thereafter. In the past year alone, we’ve seen redesigned versions of mainstream, […]

First Drive: 2013 Ford Fusion

Story and photos by John LeBlanc SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — The family sedan segment has become a virtual game of leapfrog. Seemingly, every few weeks, some automaker is debuting an all-new, mid-sized four-door of some sort, quickly followed by a rival launching shortly thereafter. In the past year alone, we’ve seen redesigned versions of mainstream, mid-sized […]

First Drive: 2013 Lexus ES

By John LeBlanc NEWBERG, Oregon – Stop me if you’ve heard this story before: A once dominant Japanese luxury brand falls on hard times. Primarily due to decidedly conservative product development and a loyal-but-aging customer base. Said brand retrenches. Then comes back with a new, more aggressive design language (illustrated via a halo concept car), […]

The Crank: Toyota’s Prius no longer niche

By John LeBlanc Remember when the original Prius went on sale in the late 1990s? As one of the first, mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid cars, the quirky Toyota was considered a cult car at best. Today, 15 years later, the Prius family—consisting now of four models, the original Prius hatchback, the Prius plug-in hybrid, the larger […]

First Drive & Video: 2013 Acura ILX

By John LeBlanc SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – Honda’s premium Acura brand is in the midst of one of its largest product makeovers ever. And one of Acura’s most important new vehicles for the Canadian market is the new 2013 Acura ILX compact sedan, the brand’s latest entry in a segment it virtually created almost two decades […]

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