RideLust

The 2012 Trans Am. Image: Trans America Muscle

If you’ve worn black in mourning every day since the demise of Pontiac, and you wish that someone would build a decent Trans Am replica from the new Camaro, here’s some good news for you. Trans America Muscle builds new Trans Am, and I’ve got to say the cars look fantastic. They’re not inexpensive, and the car shown in the Street Fire video below would sticker out at $59,500. Assuming that includes the price of a 2012 Camaro SS, that’s a reasonable price to ask. Read More…

Every once in a great while a car comes along that winds up defining a segment. For some the term “hot rod” automatically refers to a 1932 Ford Coupe. For others, mention “first car,” and the Volkswagen Beetle comes to mind. For sport compacts, it may be the Honda CRX Si. The 2012 Hyundai Veloster has that kind of potential, too, even if the segment it will come to dominate hasn’t yet been clearly defined. Read More…

The 2011 Acura RL. Image: Honda

To be fair, 2011 isn’t quite over yet, so declaring five cars the worst sellers of the year prior to December 31 means opening yourself up to criticism and ridicule if a particular model bounces back. That said, it’s a fair bet that these five cars, picked by MSNBC as the worst sales performers among mainstream automobiles, won’t be rising out of the sales basement. Most are dated designs, and some soldier on simply because a manufacturer has paid for the tooling and can’t afford a new replacement model. Others are quirky for the sake of being quirky, which is never a good thing. At least Saabs were quirky for the sake of being innovative. Read More…

The Mercedes Benz Concept A Class has been given a green light for production. Don’t expect the A Class that hits showrooms to be quite as wild as the A Class you see in the You Tube video below, since concepts are built without regards to cost or even function. Still, the A-Class may be the most significant Mercedes-Benz to hit these shores in a long, long, time. Why? Because it’s edgy, not conservative, and it’s aimed at a much broader audience that previous Mercedes models. That’s a politically correct way of saying that it will be cheaper, too. Read More…

The Mark VI Volkswagen GTI was released in 2010, and the car upped the ante for Volkswagen’s entry into the hot hatchback class. Sure, cars like the Subaru WRX and the Mazdaspeed 3 were “faster,” but the GTI brought a level of sophistication with it that the others lacked. If going fast is your only concern, then either the Subie or the Mazda are better choices; if you live in the real world, where occasional track days are punctuated with daily commuting, then the GTI really starts to shine. Read More…

The 2012 Hyundai Veloster. Image: Hyundai Motor America

I’m heading off to St. Petersburg (Florida, not Russia) later this week to drive the new Hyundai Veloster. Hyundai has a lot riding on it’s funky-fresh hatchback, which features a third door on the passenger side for easy and safe passenger off-loading, Unless you live in a right-hand drive country, in which case the third door may well be for population control. Read More…

The 2011 Smart fortwo. Image: Smart

We Americans may not think much of the diminutive Smart fortwo urban commuter car, but the rest of the world loves it. In fact, the second generation Smart fortwo has just crossed the 500,000 sales mark, despite just hitting the market in 2008. Dr. Annette Winkler, head of Smart, called the car an “icon, which is indispensable in the cities of the world.” Read More…

When Ford initially launched the SVT Raptor back in 2009, its promo videos would have led you to believe the truck was ten-feet-tall and bulletproof. While close, even the stoutest off-roaders have their weak points, and in the case of the Raptor this appeared to be the rear frame. After 10 of 14 trucks on a a single high speed desert run reported bent frames, Ford was quick to point out that the trucks suffering damage hit something hard, at speed. Besides, Ford said, all the trucks made it home, which wouldn’t have happened if a stouter frame caused the shock mounting points to fail. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Good looks and practicality

Thumbs Down: No diesel version In US

Buy This Car If: You can afford the price of admission

The 2012 Audi A7 may be the Swiss Army Knife of luxury sedans. It’s speed and handling definitely put it in the “sport sedan” column, its quattro AWD gives it all-weather confidence and it’s cavernous hatchback makes it nearly as versatile as an SUV or crossover. It’s drop-dead gorgeous, too, especially when you view it from the rear three-quarter perspective. Read More…

For sale, one owner, low miles... Image: Flickr user Chris Waits

If you buy a used car from a dealer, how do you know the car hasn’t been through a flood, or hasn’t been pieced together from various donor cars? Generally speaking, unless you research the VIN in advance, there’s no way of knowing whether or not you’re buying a salvaged vehicle. Don’t expect dealers to be up front about this, since salvage vehicles often sell for thousands less than ordinary used cars. In some states, you may not even be able to insure a salvaged vehicle, so who needs the hassle of trying to return a used car to an unscrupulous dealer? Read More…