New models, retooled favourites and significant new features
It's time for some auto industry odds and ends, random notes and updates that have come my way lately. Subaru Subaru has just announced the pricing structure for the 2022 Legacy and Outback. Available in five trim levels, the newest Legacy continues to have a full-time all-wheel-drive system and can be had with a turbocharged…
Once the top is down, you understand. As well as improving all-round visibility, it gives this car a whole new dimension in driveability
When Ford introduced its Mustang convertible in 1964, it was powered by an optional 260-cubic-inch (4.3-litre) cast-iron V8 engine that developed just over 160 horsepower. It was later bumped up to 289 cubic inches and more, and Ford went on to sell over a million of the first-generation Mustang in its first year of production.…
The RF excels at point-and-squirt city handling, and can carve corners with the best of them
Mazda doesn’t often get it wrong. Over the years, it has produced some very well designed – and successful – cars and trucks. Models like the Mazda5, Mazda3 and, going back, the B2200 pickup have really struck a chord with buyers. They have cemented the company’s reputation as a thoughtful, astute manufacturer that knows how…
Every now and then, carmakers get it right. They come up with a model that’s well designed, well engineered, affordable, driveable and reliable. Models like the Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Mazda 5, Porsche Boxster and, if you go back in time, the BMW 2002 and E30, Volvo 240, MGB, Volkswagen Beetle, Jaguar E-Type and so…
It has a kind of muscularity about it, but not clumsy or overdone, and features a visual presence few others can match
Here’s another in my series of ones that got away – cars that I’ve encountered over the years and wish I’d kept. But in this case, I couldn’t have afforded it in the first place. When it was introduced in 2010, the Porsche Panamera was priced in the $120,000 neighbourhood – before taxes. Hard to…
Usually car manufacturers are falling over themselves at this time of year, introducing new models, debuting industry updates, unveiling new technology, providing new vehicle test drives and so on. It’s also traditionally when auto scribes start attending various new car launches and industry events, and filing update stories. But with COVID-19, social distancing and all…
It offers hell-for-leather performance, yet idles like a purring cat at stoplights and is perfectly civilized on the highway
In the spirit of social distancing and stay-at-home isolation, here’s a look at a nearly forgotten classic and one of my favourite cars. One that got away from me and I really wish I’d kept: the third-generation Mazda RX-7. In the 1990s, sales were brisk for this Japanese company. Its motor sports division was basking…
In a world filled with anonymous SUVs and universally similar sedans and hatchbacks, seeing a Morgan going down the highway is like a breath of fresh air
Last year, the Morgan Motor Co., which started selling its iconic three-wheeled runabout in England in 1910, was sold to an Italian investment firm. Egad! But the beat goes on and the Morgan is still as iconic as ever. Arguably it’s most recognizable model is the three-wheeler. Available in the U.S., the 3 Wheeler is…
The Volkswagen Rabbit was the original hatchback pocket rocket when it was introduced to North American in 1974. It quickly morphed from sensible urban transport to a lively, performance-oriented corner-carver that was immediately popular with enthusiasts and racers around the world when the GTI was introduced two years later. Over the years, it has been…
If you overlook its hopeless stereo system, the Mazda3 is everything you could ask for in a compact car. It ticks most of the boxes
Years ago, while teaching my eldest daughter to drive, I tried to impress upon her the value of learning to drive a manual stick shift. “All the really cool cars have one,” I reasoned. “And it’s just more fun to drive a car with a manual transmission. You are more in touch with the car’s…