Tweet Photo by Randy Stern As I mentioned in my 2013 Chicago Auto Show piece, two Ride-and-Drive experiences were actually available on both Media and Social Media Preview days. In a city where you are shuttled between hotel, McCormick Place, private affairs and so far, the opportunity to take the wheel of a vehicle is …
Tweet 2012 Chrysler Town & Country Limited. All photos by Randy Stern The life of an automotive writer is not always glamorous. This year alone, I could count on one hand the number of glamorous moments I had in doing this work – make that three fingers. Everything else required plenty of legwork, groveling, a …
When the term "luxury car" is said, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Throughout the 1990s, the SUV craze took hold on the American motoring scene. It began with the perception that if you civilized something that resembled a Jeep, you could make a mint for families who were bored of minivans. After seeing Jeep secure their future through the 1984 Cherokee, every auto manufacturer felt compelled to make one.
TweetIn other to become a fully-fledged automotive enthusiast, you must drive a [fill in the blank]. I am certain there will be many responses as to complete the sentence above. It will probably take an entire post to parse out every possible answer. There will most likely be a good chunk of people that will …
TweetWho says that North Americans do not deserve some of the fruits of global excellence? It took us nearly 30 years for Fiat to return to this market. The leverage was a stake in Chrysler toward enabling distribution and production of its vehicles for our market. The Cinquecento – er, 500 – arrived last year …
Looking back at my youth, I would imagine that a few of my friends took up this first step in motorsport. I would have loved to partake, but I was a fat kid and we don't fit in those things.
In a single day, I met various GM executives, employees, interns and my main contact at the company. I also met some great people and vehicles at the three Twin Cities dealerships where GM was holding their outreach programming at.
When we get to a certain age…or, near it…we often compile a list of things we always wanted to see or do before it’s too late. As fatalistic and morbid as it sounds, the bucket list is where our dreams get a final chance to be fully realized.
Though that is not entirely true, as the X1/9 and Spider 2000 were sold under their respective design house brands, Bertone and Pininfarina, well into the 1980s. In the end, Fiat no longer mattered as they faced the rise of Asian products promising a different kind of sporty automobile. By the mid-1990s, with Volkswagen left as Europe’s only mainstream brand on this continent, the consumer base yearned for another chance at some serious choices against the Japanese and Koreans. That is, until now.