When the Dodge Durango was introduced in 1998, it was perfect for Goldilocks – not too big, not too small.
With a spacious cabin, rugged performance and valuable third-row seat, the Durango quickly gained a following for its just-right proportions that neatly filled the void between midsize and full-size SUVs. It was a perfect fit – for a while. Read more…
Holy crap!
German engineering, 340 horsepower, a lowered suspension, six-speed manual transmission, gorgeous body, and a convertible top that lowers with the push of a button — it’s got everything, plus a relatively comfortable back seat. What else can you say about a car like this? Read more…
All Aboard, This Ship is Pulling Out
So what is the Aviator, a 7/8ths Navigator, or a rebadged Mercury Mountaineer/Ford Explorer? Well, about a year ago we took a Mercury Mountaineer to the northern part of Michigan’s mitten for a long weekend camping to determine its place in the stable. With that in mind, one can easily see we’re long overdue for an extensive jaunt across country. With that we packed up our gear, pointed the baby Nav north and gave it some gas. Destination: North Manitou Island, for a long weekend of driving, photographing, logbooking, swatting mosquitoes, and sleeping upon a fairly lumpy piece of good ole terra firma. Read more…
When you grow up in rural East Texas, you know what loyalty is. It’s what a man feels for his pickup truck.
As a boy, it wasn’t uncommon for me to hear someone say, “My daddy drove a Ford ’til he died, and I’m gonna drive a Ford ’til I die,” or some variation with either Dodge or Chevy. Texas men are more devoted to their trucks than to their wives. Read more…
For a guy who grew up in Texas, I’m an oddball. I don’t like trucks.
It seems like pickups are divided into two distinct categories, neither of which tickle my automotive fancy. The first is the giant, full-size truck that can tow just about anything and drive just about anywhere, which is great for those weekends when you need the power and cargo space that only these brutes can offer. Only problem is having to drive them the rest of the week, which means spending a fortune in gas and barely squeezing into parking spots at the SuperMart. Read more…
The Best Gets Even Better
Alas, our number finally came up for a chance to have a go at the latest edition of Ford’s top seller, the F-150. Upon taking delivery of our well broken in pre-production model Lariat SuperCrew 4×4 we promptly declared that this truck was huge and got the most obvious part of our evaluation done. Greenies, tree huggers, environmental wackos and otherwise small car weenies need not continue reading. Read more…
Call it the new American dream machine.
GMC’s Yukon XL Denali is today’s pinnacle of American style and luxury, not unlike Detroit’s classic family cruisers from the 1950s that were slathered in chrome, decked with tail fins and packed with the latest goodies. Read more…
Want a Mercedes CL-class dream coupe but don’t want to pay $100,000 for one? Then take a close look at the CLK. Read more…
The Muscle Car Lives
We have discovered a fail-proof litmus test of automotive enthusiasm. If you sit behind the wheel of a Mustang Mach 1 while you blip the aluminum throttle pedal, watch the shaker hood torque to the right, listen to the burly exhaust note, and the hair on your neck does not stand up, you are dead–or might as well be. That result means you are one of the millions who prefer a Camry to a Camaro and there’s no point in you reading the rest of this review because you’ll just dismiss the Mustang as cramped and loud. Now we’re the first to admit the Camry is as near to perfection in automotive transportation as you can get, but we are part of that ever-shrinking minority that will trade off a good chunk of perfection for a big dose of muscular styling and a throaty V8 to back it up. Call us old-fashioned, but we’ll take a Mustang over a pocket-rocket any day of the week-especially a Mustang this good. Read more…
For The Boy Racer In All 60 Year Olds
The side of our brain that is based in reality tells us there is probably no need for a hot-rod version of a car whose buyers are all well over the hill and don’t drive much faster than 45 mph. But on the other side of our brain, the one that has been completely consumed by horsepower and speed, we think maybe there are enough buyers to create a big-wheeled, high-horsepower full-size domestic sedan. After all, Chevrolet did it in the mid 1990s and found a loyal group of buyers who fell in love with the Corvette powered Impala SS. It’s unfortunate, but the SS isn’t around today, though Mercury thinks it can make enthusiasts lust after its 2003 Marauder the same way they did for Chevy’s long gone Super Sport. Read more…
