RideLust

Thumbs Up: Goes like a V8, drinks gas like a V6.

Thumbs Down: Interior not up to Ford’s usual standards.

Buy This Car If: You want a sporty but (relatively) frugal AWD American sedan.

The American motoring public had never seen anything like the original Ford Taurus SHO, launched in 1989. It was a genuine sport sedan, in family sedan disguise, built and sold by a major U.S. automaker for thousands less than the competition from Germany. It featured a Yamaha-designed, 24-valve, 3.0-liter V-6 good for 220 horsepower and mated only to a five speed manual transmission. Quick for a sedan of its size (by 1989 standards, at least) the SHO could dash from 0 to 60 in just over 6.5 seconds and topped out at 143 miles per hour. The original SHO was a huge hit, and Ford had no trouble selling through its build quantity of 15,519 units. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Stellar interior, great content for the price.

Thumbs Down: Vague, over-boosted steering.

Buy This Car If: You want a domestic luxury alternative to the Cadillac SRX.

Like Rodney Dangerfield, Lincoln can’t get any respect. Ford’s luxury brand spent years mired in mediocrity, and now that it’s stepped up its game no one seems to know about it. Perhaps it spent too many years living in the shadow of now defunct Mercury, or perhaps it’s trapped in a time warp between its traditional (and aging) customer base and the younger luxury buyers it hopes to attract. Quirky styling aside, the Lincoln products I’ve driven offer a solid build quality and a surprising amount of content for the price. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Comfortable, quiet and reasonably priced for the segment.

Thumbs Down: Meaty A and B pillars impact visibility.

Buy This Car If: You want a luxury crossover with a unique sense of style.

Shortly before its demise, GM used the slogan, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile” to shill for its near-luxury division. While the slogan took some artistic license back then (there was a reason why Oldsmobile went out of business, after all), the motto would be very appropriate to use for Cadillac today. After decades of obscurity, bizarre product choices and cars designed exclusively for those who hated to drive, Cadillac has turned a corner. Read More…

Thumbs Up: The first truly new automotive technology in decades.

Thumbs Down: New “lower” price makes car more expensive.

Buy This Car If: You want an electric car that has a virtually unlimited range.

Even before the current post-crash-test fire media hype, the Chevrolet Volt was the most misunderstood and politicized car in the history of the automobile. Detractors called it “just another hybrid,” without bothering to learn what makes the Volt different from ordinary parallel hybrid automobiles like the best-selling Toyota Prius. Worse, they panned it for “only” getting 37 miles per gallon in generator mode, or “only” having a battery range of 35 miles, missing the point of the car entirely. General Motors was upfront during both the development and the launch of the car: for an admittedly narrow range of the population, the Volt is the perfect automobile. For the rest of us, it’s a very good choice for a four-seat sedan that blends battery power and range-extending generator power. Read More…

Thumbs Up: Unbeatable performance for the price.

Thumbs Down: The seats are as bad as everyone says.

Buy This Car If: You have a craving for speed and a modest bank account.

Corvettes, like Mazda Miatas, have gotten a bum rap over the years. While the Corvette may not have the whole “chick car” stigma to overcome, it’s still saddled with the image of being the world’s premier midlife crisis car. Take a look at the Corvettes you see around you on the road, and it’s easy to see how this stereotype came about. Read More…

It’s got a supercharged late model 426 HEMI, fully modern suspension and it was built by Year One. This is “BIG TIME”, the 1969 Dodge Charger that looks like heaven, but goes like the devil.

Source: Youtube.com

Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for SEMA, the largest after market automotive products show in the world. SEMA takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center and is an absolute thrill for anyone who is a gearhead. This year however is going to be a little different, you see I’ve been chosen to participate in this years 2011 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational with our 1969 Dodge Daytona Tribute. This event brings together 50 of the most highly modified and badass cars in the country to compete in a series of high performance events. Everything from modified imports and muscle cars, to one-off full-on customs will be present with the single goal of being crowned the 2011 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car. This event is not for the faint of heart, as it will test both the driver and vehicle to the max, which is why we’ve been wrenching on the Daytona for the last week.

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Thumbs Up: Blends luxury with practicality; exponentially better than the previous model

Thumbs Down: Damn, that’s a lot of chrome; least user-friendly infotainment interface

Buy This Car If: You really want a Chrysler 300, but have 5 kids to haul around

In 1984, Dodge introduced a vehicle called the Caravan, followed by a similar model from Plymouth called the Voyager. No one knew it at the time, but we were witnessing the birth of an entirely new segment (in North America, at least) called the “minivan.” At a time when Baby Boomers were cranking out offspring like hormone-dosed rabbits, Chrysler found a way to blend value and versatility into a single package, creating the ideal vehicle for the growing family. Minivans could carry up to seven passengers, or they could be configured to haul an impressive amount of swag, making them the darlings of the Saturday-morning garage sale set. Read More…

Our automotive buddy and Ridelust contributor Scott Vandekerckhove pinged me about a story he did for Modern Mopar Magazine. It’s about the new 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 and well… let’s just say that this new Jeep is one hammer of an SUV that’s ready to take on the world’s best!

Try to expand your vision of the future for just a bit. Imagine a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by warfare where buildings lie in ruin and vegetation has begun to spread wildly.

Streets and highways are riddled with abandoned vehicles vacated by their passengers in an escape from sheer terror. Something very bad happened here.
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Thumbs Up: A vast improvement over the old Sebring, in every way.

Thumbs Down: Handling compromised by plush ride quality, lots of chrome.

Buy This Car If: You want a made-in-America midsize sedan with style and personality.

Calling the 2011 Chrysler 200 better than the outgoing Chrysler Sebring is damning the new car by faint praise. While both cars share the same platform, the Chrysler 200 is improved in every conceivable way; the exterior styling is fresh and distinctive, the 200’s interior is now-class-leading and even the optional Pentastar V-6 engine returns better fuel economy while producing more horsepower. The old Sebring was the quintessential rental car, and one you’d begrudgingly accept only if the last Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion or Mitsubishi Galant was gone from the rental fleet inventory. Read More…