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 […]

The Crank: Do stripes make BMW’s Minis go faster?

By John LeBlanc Automotive legend has it American road racer Briggs Cunningham put the first ever stripe on a racing car.  After his white 1951 C4-R was seen with the contrasting pair of blue stripes that ran across the car from trunk to hood, a trend was quickly started, one that eventually migrated to production […]

Best 2011 Performance Car for <$50k

By John LeBlanc As the new 2012 models start to infiltrate new car showrooms, here are my top picks of remaining 2011 models that may still be lingering on dealer lots: