Ever wonder how come there are men (and women) in costumes “policing” the rest of us? Most people accept this relationship as both given – and eternal. That there have always been men (if not always women) in costumes “policing” the rest of us. But, in fact, it’s a relatively novel thing. Think back...
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Driving can be fun; it’s often necessary. But rarely is it cheap. From buying a car to maintaining it to paying the seemingly endless (and myriad) fees associated with the “privilege” of being “allowed” to use the damn things – repetitive/annual taxes, insurance-at-gunpoint, etc. – many of us end up spending a far-from-small fortune...
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No car salesman ever wants to find himself admitting to a customer that he just hasn’t got what they’re looking for . . . but the guy down the street does. Before the introduction of the JX35, that was exactly the situation Infiniti salesmen – and dealers – were in. There was the Q56...
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Back in the late ’70s, engineers over at Chrysler came up with a way to help their existing engines – which had been designed back in the 1950s and ’60s – stay compliant with emissions control requirements passed years later. It was called Lean Burn. Some of you may remember. By increasing the air...
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Acura has what you might call a Lincoln Problem. Just as Ford is trying to jump-start its dead-in-the-water lux division (Ford sells more Mustangs in a year than Lincoln sells cars) Acura is trying to become more than a purveyor of really nice Hondas. That’s harsh – but it’s reality, insofar as how buyers...
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Some people are mad at GM (and Chrysler) over the bailout bucks. I’m not happy about that, either. But lately, I’m mad at Ford – which bequeathed unto us the idiot idea of pick-up truck bed walls so high you need a ladder to access what’s in the bed. I’m well over six feet...
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If GM’s board had simply hired away the entire management team at Hyundai back in ’08 – and fired everyone at the Renaissance Center in Detroit – it would saved taxpayers a lot of money. Those guys – the Hyundai guys – know what they’re doing. One brilliant design after the next. It’s almost...
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Not “buckling up for safety” can get you killed all right. By a cop. That’s what happened to Deland, Florida resident Marlon Brown about a week ago. Brown was killed – run over – by Deland Police Officer James Harris, who pursued him with his squad car after Brown tried to run away on...
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Minivans – traditional minivans – are becoming scarce. GM and Ford don’t even make them anymore. That leaves Chrysler (Town & County – and its lower-rent Dodge sibling, the Caravan – which is also re-sold by VW as the Routan), the Honda Odyssey, Toyota’s Sienna – and the Nissan Quest, subject of this write-up....
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In a few years, six-speed transmissions will probably seem as dated as Powerglides or threes-on-the-tree do today. Several current model-year cars already have seven and even eight-speed transmissions (Porsche 911, Chrysler 300, BMW 5 Series, etc.). This is about twice the number of gears the typical automotive transmission boasted as recently as the Clinton...
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