First Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Up!

By John LeBlanc BERLIN, GERMANY—Alexandra liked my little red Up!. First, for its chunky, iPod-like looks, then for its tidy dimensions. “It looks good; and it looks like it would be easy to park,” she gushed, as I took photos of Volkswagen’s latest city car on the busy streets of Germany’s capital city. As an […]

2012 Detroit: Worst in Show

By John LeBlanc Despite what the local media were saying, this year’s Detroit auto show was a bit of a yawner. Okay, a real, big yawner. Not only were the number of true concepts at an all-time low, but most of the types of exotic brands car enthusiasts drool over (i.e. Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces) didn’t […]

Top 10s: 2012 Montreal show must-sees

By John LeBlanc MONTREAL—The Detroit auto show gets all the attention this time of year. But for Canadian new car buyers, the Montréal International Auto Show is a more relevant event. First on the Canadian auto show calendar, automakers use the Québec show to prep for the spring selling season. Held over at the Palais […]

2011 in Review: The worst car I drove for >$40k

By John LeBlanc Let me be clear: I’ve never understood the romantic fascination with late 1960s American muscle cars. They were poorly made. Space inefficient. Handled like a bag of squirrels. And consumed fossil fuels like a starving man at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Yet here we are, four decades later, and the U.S. brands still […]

2011 in Review: The best driving experience

By John LeBlanc Over the course of any year’s worth of an auto writer’s work, you’ll find many reports of us driving new, fast cars on closed circuits and race courses. But many of these so-called “track” events are either hampered by a limited number of laps, limited number of cars, or a slower-than-hoped for […]

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