Can New Technology End Distracted and Drowsy Driving?

Posted on Apr 18, 2021 in Safety | Comments Off on Can New Technology End Distracted and Drowsy Driving?

How far should an automaker go to make sure the drivers of its cars stay safe by limiting the amount of distractions behind the wheel? The latest news on battling distracted driving falls under the category of either creepy or cool, depending on your take on in-car technology. After my experience this weekend, though, I wouldn’t just call it cool, I’d call it...

Where the muscle car meets the American West: a road-trip story

Posted on Apr 11, 2021 in Featured | 2 comments

It could be argued that the muscle car era drew much of its inspiration and style from the American West. Try this on for size: The cowboy hat exudes the same freedom and power and, well, American-ness that a “Z/28” badge on a Camaro does. Feel that? And to take that theory a step further, think of some of the classic names exclusive to the Muscle Car Era:...

NASCAR: Why?

Posted on Apr 5, 2021 in Racing | 3 comments

I know, it brings in a lot of money even though attendance keeps dropping. It’s a spectacle, yes, though so was throwing Christians to the lions. It takes some skill to drive 200 mph in a pack. Skill does not equate to sport. The recent series of fiascos at the Daytona 500 just confirms what we all know from watching South Park’s 2010 send-up of NASCAR (wherein...

Where wood meets magnificence: Chrysler’s Town and Country nameplate turns 75

Posted on Mar 17, 2021 in Featured | 2 comments

1947 Chrysler Town and Country. Appropriately, and unlike pretty much every other car, one of the most celebrated nameplates in Chrysler’s history, the Town and Country, originated not with a sketch or a design brief, but with a name that eventually became a car. That nameplate has also proved one of Chrysler’s most versatile and longest lasting, with its 75th...

An Unexpected Japanese Classic: The Honda Mobilio

Posted on Mar 16, 2021 in Editorials | 1 comment

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The Town & Country I worked so hard to import into Japan was supposed to be my wife’s. I had planned to buy whatever I wanted and, although I hadn’t quite decided on what that was going to be, classic Japanese iron was on my mind. The second-generation Toyota Soarer and the ’90s-era Toyota Celica GT-Four were leading...

Audi S4 Goes for Joy Ride: Would It Bother You?

Posted on Mar 15, 2021 in Safety | Comments Off on Audi S4 Goes for Joy Ride: Would It Bother You?

Remember the joyride scene in the 1963 Ferrari California Spyder from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”? In the movie, a valet takes the classic Ferrari for an afternoon spin but has the car back in the garage before anyone notices it’s gone. The scene was a lesson in how to properly take a car that isn’t yours for the ride of your life. Doing so in real life is...

A Time of Death and Heroes

Posted on Mar 11, 2021 in Antique | Comments Off on A Time of Death and Heroes

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win. – Enzo Ferrari It was Henry Ford who said that “Auto Racing began 5 minutes after the second car was built,” and since the very late 1800’s we have been in awe of the brave and somewhat crazy men who risk their lives for competition. Motorsport of today is a multi-national, big money...

Audi Creates New Sustaniable Fuels

Posted on Feb 24, 2021 in Technology | 2 comments

Audi will begin testing a new fuel known as “e-benzin,” a synthetic produced in collaboration with France based Global Bioenergies. “e-benzin” was created without the use of petroleum, is iso-octane free and burns with a cleaner, higher octane. Audi is continually working with Global Bioenergies to refine “e-benzin” so it will eventually require zero biomass....

Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget

Posted on Feb 22, 2021 in Antique | Comments Off on Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget

Style and luxury are usually sold at a premium. In the world of classic cars, that doesn’t always need to be the case. A simple search on sites like Hemmings and eBay will unearth a wealth of cars that will make heads turn, but also not put you in the poor house…if you are lucky. To find the right car, you should avoid cars that are too obvious. An old Rolls...

How to Solve This Smelly Problem?

Posted on Feb 12, 2021 in Safety | 3 comments

It started with a smell. The terribly awful odor of death is unmistakable, and it came from somewhere inside my car. After throwing a small tantrum, I emptied everything out of our Legacy, hooked up the vacuum and told myself I wouldn’t stop until I found “the problem.” I vacuumed every nook and cranny, under the seats, in the glovebox… and found nothing. The...

Oldsmobile Toronado, GM’s most ground-breaking production car, turns 50

Posted on Feb 9, 2021 in Featured | 2 comments

In mid-Sixties America, front-wheel drive represented—at the same time—automotive past and future. Many others had tried it, but their efforts seemed relegated to the history books, with the last of the bunch 30 years gone. And yet the coming tide of imported cars included many a puller-type as well as pushers. It fell, then, to Oldsmobile to bridge the gap,...

Which Car Will Make The Best Nostalgia Machine?

Posted on Feb 2, 2021 in Editorials | 2 comments

Greg writes: Hi Bark, I’m a 32-year-old red-blooded male, life-long car enthusiast and hopeful to be raising a few future enthusiasts in the foreseeable future. I can smell which way the wind is blowing and know that the car market is going to look very different in the future. I’m excited about electric cars, but also want a “timepiece” that’s tasteful, fun,...

Peugeot Out, Toyota In for Le Mans Race

Posted on Feb 1, 2021 in Racing | 1 comment

World racing fans were shocked last week when Peugeot, after some real successes, abruptly withdrew from the Le Mans LMP (Le Mans Prototype) 24-hour competition. Peugeot has had a great back-and-forth duel with Audi, both running turbodiesels, particularly last year, when the team lost by some 13.8 seconds after much lead-changing. Peugeots finished second...