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Coupe – feminine noun. Cutting; cutting out; cut. According to the Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary at least, this is the definition of a word that always held special promise for car lovers worldwide. But the evocative nature of the term, and the fact that French is no longer the world’s lingua franca, have given today’s automakers license to apply the term to almost anything. If a car’s roof line even remotely resembles a rotten piece of a banana, it’s a coupe. Marketing, after all, is a more powerful force than grammar. Read the rest of this entry »

Et tu 4Runner? So many historically famous cars are back with “good old days” styling but added overweight dimensions to the party. It’s sort of like Fat Elvis, on four wheels. That said, “Moody Blue” is a pretty catchy song. And there’s nothing especially wrong with the 2010 Toyota 4Runner. Elvis rocked the rhinestones with passion and the 4Runner combines it’s rugged past with urban sheetmetal and a host of electronic cocktails for pleasure and enjoyment. Which gives the impression that happy days are here again, even if polypharmacy did lead to the death of the King of Rock ‘N Roll. Import us cars Read the rest of this entry »

A British man has been banned from driving for three years after he was caught behind the wheel of a pink toy Barbie car while drunk.

According to The Sun, Paul Hutton was over the UK legal limit when he was pulled over near his Essex home by a police patrol car. Read the rest of this entry »

At the 42nd Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Volkswagen AG in Hamburg, the most economical car in the world is presented: the 1-litre car. The prototype, which until now has been kept closely under wraps, and which many people never believed could be built, was driven under its own power from Wolfs burg to the Annual Meeting in Hamburg. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m old enough to remember when Mercedes used the tagline “engineered like no other car in the world,” and no one questioned it. When the 1986 W124 E-Class was introduced, Car & Driver proclaimed it “the best car in the world.” In the quarter-century since, Mercedes’ position in the automotive pecking order has become less certain. Lexus came out of nowhere, and BMW has managed to successfully expand upward from the 3-Series and to become a provider of luxury as well as sport. For 2010 Mercedes has totally redesigned the E-Class. Any chance it’s 1986 all over again? Read the rest of this entry »

In recent years the traditional B-segment hatchback has seen three or five changes. The definition has become blurred with 5-door hatch describing anything from a Chevrolet Matiz to a mini MPV, supermini or SUV.

So, there’s widely differing vehicle segments with the same parameters but people have come to expect cars that are capable of spanning the gaps; that is to say, suitable for most eventualities, nice looking, nice fuel economy and not expensive. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the best SUV in the world. Why? Because it doesn’t drive like an SUV. From a pure philosophical point of view, I hate this thing. Porsches should be sports cars, race cars, things that capture your imagination & take you places in such a way that other vehicles are merely transportation. But not an SUV. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave it to South Korean automaker Kia to go Chevy one better with its 2011 Sorento, a fresh crossover built in an all-new $1 billion factory in the hinterlands of Georgia near the Alabama state line. The 2011 model shares nothing with the Sorento that was sold in the United States from 2002 to 2009. The previous Sorento was a body-on-frame vehicle with all the panache of a cheap pickup van. The 2011 model is a slick, smooth, unibody ute with new engines and an all-new chassis (shared with the Hyundai Santa Fe). Read the rest of this entry »

Aston Martin understands: When weather permits, aural delights this pure should not be stifled behind layers of aluminum & glass & lacquer. The majestic notes of its 6.0-liter V12–a rumbling basso lifting the throaty tenors, a chorus of sopranos erupting in full song as the throttle opens wide–should flow freely, to drift on the air & bounce off the trees & dance merrily around the ears, mingling with the warmth of a summer wind & basking in the rays of a setting sun. Read the rest of this entry »

The Caddilac CTS-V looks sharp & sounds impressive, even at idle, but it doesn’t jump out as something as special as it is–which in my book is a great thing. No require to alert the authorities, or the competition, of your true capabilities. Read the rest of this entry »