Top 10s: New Retro-mobiles

By John LeBlanc You can’t bring back the past. But with some new cars these days, you can certainly try and buy it. Volkswagen’s 1999 New Beetle started the modern retro-mobile (old-fashioned clothes over modern mechanicals) trend. Using an existing front-engine Golf chassis, it was styled to look like the rear-engine “Bug” that became a […]

The Crank: Japan’s automakers are in catch-up mode

By John LeBlanc The big stink south of the border last week was the launch of the new 2012 Toyota Camry family sedan (above left). A “big stink” because like Honda’s compact Civic sedan (above right) up here in the Great White North, the midsize Camry has been the perennially best-selling non-pickup new car for something like 13 […]

Prince Edward Highlander / The Wrapup

By John LeBlanc SPRINGBROOK, P.E.I. – The concept of a hybrid crossover seems perfect for the modern family vacation vehicle. Crossovers offer the all-wheel-drive practicality of sports-utility-vehicles. Being car-based, though, they drive nicer, weigh less, and tend to be more space and fuel efficient than SUVs.

Prince Edward Highlander / Days 12 & 13 – Fueling around

By John LeBlanc Rain, or the threat thereof, kept our day tripping during the remaining days of our Prince Edward Island sojourn to close-by destinations. But after nearly two weeks behind the wheel of our loaned 2011 Toyota Highlander Hybrid, I now have a decent idea of what kind of fuel economy this large-ish crossover […]

Prince Edward Highlander / Days 10 & 11 – Highlander definitely a “passenger first” proposition

By John LeBlanc August 3 / Taking advantage of some sun and a high of 27 C, we spent the last few days of our Prince Edward Island holiday racking up the klicks in our loaned 2011 Highlander Hybrid. On Monday, we zigzagged from our homestead just east of Cavendish on the north shore, to […]

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