2010 Detroit: Not-so-mini Mini materializes

By John LeBlanc DETROIT – According to Ian Robertson, BMW Sales and Marketing board member, the Mini Beachcomber concept is “a Mini that’s tough, fearless and ready for any open air adventure. Maybe.

Bye-Bye 2009: Most Influential Cars of the Decade

By John LeBlanc These weren’t the best-selling, best-looking or best-performing new cars from the past decade. But these were the vehicles that set trends and had other automakers scrambling to play catch-up. Chronologically, here are the 10 most influential cars:

Road Trip: Mini goes hunting for Airstreams

Story and photos by John LeBlanc PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.– “Don’t stop. Keep right on going. Hitch up your trailer and go to Canada or down to Old Mexico … Find out what’s at the end of some country road. Go see what’s over the next hill, and the one after that, and the one after that.” […]

Comparo: Five frugal sports cars

Story and photos by John LeBlanc If you think about it, the first sports cars – the iconic post-World War II cars from MG, Triumph or Alfa Romeo, powered by small displacement four-cylinder engines – were relatively green for their time. Then a certain chicken farmer named Carroll Shelby from Texas came along and stuffed […]

First Drive: 2010 Mini E

Story and photos by John LeBlanc Los Angeles–Imagine your next car not only emits zero tailpipe emissions but also never asks to be filled up at a gas station. Ever. Now imagine that it doesn’t look like a golf cart or a rejected prop from a failed sci-fi movie. It meets all of today’s stringent […]

« go back