It might be difficult to imagine now, more than 30 years later, but in 1972, a French-designed
and built automobile was extensively regarded as the best car in the world. If one discounts the Panhard et Levassor models of the early 1900s, this might be the one and only time a French car was acknowledged as the best on the globe, and that is unsurprising since French cars usually enjoy the same esteem granted to Mexican banking practices and Scottish cuisine. How did the planets sided in favor of the Citroen SM? Well, that is an interesting story indeed. Read more . . .
Ironically, the origins of Cadillac, the pre-eminent division of General Motors, revolve around the guy who would become General Motors greatest rival. 
Even today, the Cadillac’s official history intentionally keeps the union murky, but the fact is that the first Cadillac was designed by none other than the famous Henry Ford. The story is all part of the confusing maze of transactions, incorporations and reorganizations that were part and parcel of the dawn of the American automobile industry. Read more . . .
Nowadays, American Motors is but a vague memory, and not necessarily a pleasant one.
Those few American Motors-built vehicles that are still on the road today include shabby, old Jeeps and tatty Renault-based Alliances, rusting their way toward oblivion, certainly not the stuff of automotive fable. But there was a bright, shining half-decade or so when lowly American Motors gained a reputation for manufacturing attractive, sporty cars. And the version that was the centerpiece of American Motors’ version of Brigadoon was the American Motors Javelin. Read more . . .
Spring has sprung. Across the country, flowers are beginning to peek their way out of nascent bushes. Robins are returning from their winter vacations, and another harbinger of the vernal season has started to emerge from the snow and slush–potholes.
Winter weather doesn’t just take its toll on us human beings; it also plays havoc with our roads. Repeated freezing and thawing can chew up a road surface, filling it with holes, some so deep they can easily swallow up a wheel and tire. Often filled with water that Read more . . .
At first, hybrid vehicles touted their freedom from electric cords. Now it appears that the electric cord might be the salvation of hybrids, a vehicle type that might need a new wrinkle to continue its upward climb. When the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles were first introduced to the US market, their manufacturers were quick to point out that they never had to be plugged in. Since the plug-in General Motors EV-1 was considered by GM to be a dismal failure in the marketplace, the fact that the Prius and Insight never had to be connected to a receptacle was seen as a major plus. And now large-format lithium-ion rechargeable Read more . . .