Replicarz delivers 3 vintage Indy 500 winners in 1:43 scale Before there were A.J. Watson or Frank Kurtis roadsters to dominate the Indianapolis 500 there were Lou Moore’s Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials. These were blue (naturally) cigar-shaped front-wheel-drive, front-engine racers that, like Team Penske or Team Ganassi’s sleek cars today, were perfectly prepared and... Continue Reading →
2015 Mercedes-Benz ML400 4Matic
Luxury laden Mercedes ML400 will spoil you Most of us will never drive a Mercedes-Benz M Class, and that’s probably just as well because we’d all just be spoiled. There’s not much to put a person off, unless it’s the price. But even there you have some choices to make that might allow a few... Continue Reading →
Die-cast: Automodello 1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mark I
Get Smart, you'll like this Sunbeam Tiger in any color Baby Boomers who still can’t get the “Get Smart” theme song out of their heads will recall Maxwell Smart racing to a stop in a red Sunbeam Tiger at the start of every show. The song ran on while Max walked down stairs and a... Continue Reading →
2015 BMW X4 xDrive 35i
BMW X4 blends car, SUV and gets it about half right When is a car not a car, or an SUV an SUV? When it is an X4, BMW’s new blended vehicle. From the front it looks like a BMW sedan, it even has four doors, but a decidedly taller profile that unfortunately looks bloated... Continue Reading →
2015 Subaru WRX Limited
Subaru's WRX still wicked fast, and somewhat practical WRX is Subaru’s abbreviation for wicked fast! Has been for 23 years too, and yet, this flipped-out head case of a car is still a rush, a thrill, a beast. But it’s way more affordable than most speed-oriented machines, and as practical in most ways as any... Continue Reading →
2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe RWD Premium
Sporty, stylish ATS Coupe takes aim at younger monied buyers Cadillac has a hit on its hands with the compact luxury ATS sedan, and now there’s a sporty coupe for you to tuck in your garage next to the 4-door. That’s certainly Cadillac’s hope. Its marketers are looking for a lot of well-off younger buyers opting... Continue Reading →
Die-cast: Automodello 1938 Packard Twelve Convertible Victoria
Packard Twelve highlights elegant 1930s styling While I prefer post-war cars, probably something to do with my age, I appreciate fine car design from earlier eras, such as the 1930s. Automodello’s fine 1:43 resin models seem to know no styling limits and certainly bridge a variety of decades. So there’s no surprise that Automodello now turns... Continue Reading →
2015 Acura TLX 3.5L SH-AWD Tech
New TLX a blend of two Acura winners Acura basically blends two of its fine sedans, the TL and TSX into one, now the mid-size TLX. Beyond the alphabet scrambling, the tested dark blue TLX 3.5L SH-AWD Tech is a solid luxury sedan that will seat four in comfort, five if needed. This version comes too... Continue Reading →
Slot Car: Ninco Formula 1 (Jordan)
Ninco, now being distributed exclusively by Professor Motor in the U.S., is reintroducing a series of five somewhat generic Formula 1 cars to its lineup, a good product for clubs or groups that enjoy racing identical cars. These racers resemble the former SCX F1 cars in that the front suspension looks real, with A-arms and... Continue Reading →
2015 Dodge Challenger SXT
Chubby Challenger falls short in muscle car wars Funny, muscle cars came and went in the 1960s and early 1970s as gas prices soared and insurance prices became an issue for many buyers. Yet muscle cars made a strong comeback in the last decade, despite high gas prices and a shift toward “green” eco-friendly vehicles.... Continue Reading →