New VW Passat hits for the cycle ... It may be a bit early in the calendar year to talk about hitting for the cycle, but the 2017 Volkswagen Passat does just that. Rare is the mid-size car that delivers healthy power, refined handling and ride along with a quiet interior. Often a sedan with... Continue Reading →
2017 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum 4WD
New Nissan Pathfinder more civilized, comfy ... My Navy son had a Nissan Pathfinder years ago and it was a true sport-utility truck, built on a truck chassis and able to go off-roading with the other utes of the day. Pathfinder has been around now for 30 years, but those trucklike days are gone as more... Continue Reading →
Die-cast: NEO’s 1933 Cadillac Fleetwood All-weather Pheaton
'33 Cadillac Fleetwood long on style ... There have been some fine luxury cars made in the United States, exemplary machines that set the auto world on its proverbial ear. Pierce-Arrow, Packard, Duesenberg, Auburn and Cadillac come to mind. Only Cadillac is left, but that’s because GM kept it alive through the Great Depression when it... Continue Reading →
2017 Infiniti Q60 Premium AWD
New Q60 emphasizes performance, but ride suffers ... Driving similar cars back to back puts both into perspective, an unfortunate turn for the sporty Infiniti Q60. I’d driven the Mercedes-Benz C300 coupe with 4Matic, its all-wheel-drive system, the week before I slipped behind the wheel of the new Q60, which replaces the fine G37 in Infiniti’s lineup.... Continue Reading →
Die-cast: Auto World’s 1957 Ford Thunderbird
1957 T-bird wonderful in white! ... Early Thunderbirds were a lovely blend of two-seater styling and boulevard cruiser with dandy hooded headlights and tiny jet-like fins on the tail. This was Ford’s effort to Americanize the sports car market that the British car makers had created after World War II, and it worked. Thunderbirds were... Continue Reading →
2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe 4Matic
Mercedes' sporty C300 coupe a smoothie ... Mercedes-Benz is on a roll. Not only has its Formula 1 racing team dominated for three straight years, now its street cars are back on top of their game. A couple years ago I sort of fell for the C300 sedan and now, in the dead of winter I... Continue Reading →
Die-cast: Replicarz’s 1968 STP Chevy C10 & tandem race trailer
Truck, trailer and 'Mr. 500' make racy display ... Collectors who like to create scenes for displaying their models will be thrilled by three new items from Replicarz, a 1968 Chevy C10 pickup and tandem race trailer, plus a figure of Andy Granatelli. All are sold separately, so you can create your own diorama to... Continue Reading →
2017 Kia Cadenza Limited
Kia's Cadenza delivers luxury economically ... Back when I was kid in the 1960s and ‘70s a large luxury sedan meant a Buick, Lincoln, or certainly a Cadillac. Today, nearly every car maker has a large luxury model, some on the sporty side, but more favoring the luxury end, emphasizing smoothness and quietness. As us Boomers... Continue Reading →
Die-cast: Chevy Corvette C7 Z06
Autoart creates a stellar Corvette C7 Z06 ... Vettes are cool even if their current buyers are skewing gray and retired. Still, you gotta have a little coin to own a new Vette, especially the Z06 model, one of the racier versions. A new one will cost you $79,500, so that’s why Autoart’s 1/18 scale... Continue Reading →
2017 Toyota Corolla XSE
Toyota Corolla still running strong 50 years on ... Like Energizer’s bunny, Toyota’s Corolla just keeps on running through the generations and has succeeded like no other car model. It’s now 50-year run has resulted in more than 40 million Corollas being sold, most of any model. That’s more than the VW Beetle, the other... Continue Reading →