Sixty-one summers ago, a compact car called the Toyopet Crown went on sale in California. The four-cylinder engine provided a top speed of 78 mph for negotiating LA’s notoriously busy freeways. This $2,200 car was Toyota’s first offering in America. Last year, Toyota sold over 2.4 million new vehicles in America, making it the second …
Volvo, once a part of Ford Motor Co.’s Premier Portfolio with Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin, has aggressively moved beyond this ill-conceived marriage with the significant aid of new owner Gheely Holding’s financial resources. Selling well in China (home of Gheely) and doing better in Europe, its home turf, Volvo is doing better in …
With summer in full swing, youthful minds wander to sports cars, convertibles and top-down adventures on warm summer evenings. Unfortunately, apparently not as many “sports” long for the wind-in-your-hair thrills found in a roadster or a cabriolet, as the choices for drop-top cars is thinning each year. Fortunately, the German automakers retain a fond appreciation …
While many automakers are diving headfirst into the EV end of the automotive pool — despite modest consumer interest — Toyota is doubling down on its tried-and-true hybrid powertrain technology with its latest Corolla and RAV4 hybrid models. After a week with a brand-new XSE-trimmed RAV4 Hybrid, it is clear that this compact crossover is …
Without any doubt, today’s compact cars are the best small automobiles ever offered from the automakers. Stocked with safety gear previously reserved for luxury cars, plus creature features that buyers crave, the latest compact offerings are neither cheap nor unappealing. Unfortunately, the crossover buzz-saw has decimated car sales of all stripes; since 2010, compact car …
Decades ago, GM’s various car divisions dominated station wagon sales with an assortment of ladder frame-based, full-size, rear-drive models plus a variety of midsize front-drive wagons. Olds Vista Cruiser, Chevy Estates and Buick Roadmasters were but a few of these family vehicles that towed, worked and commuted before minivans and SUVs. Except for Volvo and …
In a segment that Ford used to dominate in the U.S. market, but abandoned in 2011, a new Global Ranger design is returning for American and Canadian buyers once again interested in smaller pickup trucks. The first Ranger appeared in 1983 and went on to achieve 29 years of market success as a decent alternative …
The Land Rover auto brand is just as significant to the British as Jeep is to American drivers, due in most part to the importance of the premium Range Rover lineup. Born in 1970 to complement the smaller Series II Land Rovers, the original Range Rover was decidedly more utilitarian when compared to today’s ultra-luxurious …
Fifty years ago, Honda and Kawasaki forever changed the dynamics of performance motorcycles, upending established industry norms by introducing new four-cylinder and three-cylinder bikes that upended the market with bikes built by BSA, Triumph, Harley Davidson and Norton. The new Asian motorcycles proved to be faster, more efficient and vastly more reliable. In 10 years, …
WATERBURY, Vt. — Heading east across Route 2 from Montpelier back to Maine, the main thoroughfare carrying northern New England’s commerce, is a tortured two-track of broken pavement. Snaking along the valleys and hills of very rural Vermont, Route 2 is the epitome of what infrastructure investment should mean. A large grader plowing up the …
This is the long-awaited Jeep pickup named Gladiator, the first since 1992’s Comanche. While based on the Wrangler Unlimited four-door model, this is much more than a Wrangler with a pickup bed wedded to the back. Not since the Dodge Hellcat’s debut four years ago have so many people stopped to inspect, ride along beside …
Since buyers have long since forsaken more sensible front-drive minivans for three-row crossovers often equipped with AWD, one can imagine that the segment provides ample choices — with continuous upgrades. Very safe assumption, as the profits (and the competition) in this class virtually dictate constant updates. Under these conditions, Nissan has given the Pathfinder only …
