Author Archive
2014 Ford F-150 Tremor
Ford introduced the newest member of the ever-expanding F-150 at a recent press event held at the company’s proving grounds in Dearborn, Michigan. The 2014 F-150 Tremor is a regular-cab short-wheelbase model that packs the company’s 365-horsepower turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 “EcoBoost” engine.
Photo Feature: 1963 Ford Fairlane
1963 Ford Fairlane
Note: This article is reprinted from the April 2013 issue of Collectible Automobile.
If Frank Sinatra had been a Ford man, he might have sang about how 1963 was a very good year. In Dearborn, it certainly was.
At the start of the model run, Ford’s four passenger-car lines wore freshened styling. For the midsized Fairlanes, the most obvious change was a restyled front end along the lines of the year’s full-sized Fords. The rear fenders still wore small fins, though.
Dan Gurney and the Lotus 29.
The year 1963 was an exceptionally good one as far as car debuts go. John Biel has already looked at the Porsche 911 and Jeep Wagoneer, and of course there was the Buick Riviera and the original Corvette Sting Ray.
Review Flashback! 1975 AMC Matador
1975 AMC Matador
American Motors entered 1975 as a company in transition. The top-of-the-line Ambassador and sporty Javelin were both discontinued at the end of the 1974 model run. The company’s plan was to concentrate on small cars, including its compact Hornet and subcompact Gremlin. During the year, the wide-yet-small Pacer was introduced. The last car in the line was AMC’s largest, the intermediate-sized Matador.
2014 Camaro Z/28
The surprise introduction of the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 was the big news from Chevy at the 2013 New York Auto Show. This track-focused Camaro joins the refreshed 2014 Camaro lineup. (See Consumer Guide’s review of the 2013 Chevrolet Camaro.)
2014 Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel
At the 2013 Chicago Auto Show, Chevrolet introduced the newest variant of its compact sedan, the 2014 Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel. This car, which will be available in the United States and Canada, uses a 148-horsepower 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine and a 6-speed automatic transmission. The company is projecting 42 mpg on the highway and claims that the car will offer best-in-class driving range.
ZF manufactures the Interactive Drive Control System (IDCS), which is standard on the Buick Regal GS.
While the badge may say your new car is a Buick or a BMW, there’s an excellent chance that many of its parts, or even entire assemblies, were built by a completely different company. I’d guess that most consumers are aware that many of their car’s parts are made by outside suppliers through the relatively recent phenomena of branded audio systems. Think of some of the brands that appear on new car stereos today: Bose, Sony, and Fender to name a few.
2013 BMW X1
Below are the test drive notes of Consumer Guide Automotive Editor Don Sikora.
Acceleration: X1 is rather quick from a stop, but ECO PRO really dulls the throttle dramatically. Stop-start system seems slightly better than in the new 3-Series, but that doesn’t mean it is seamless.
2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 10th Anniversary Edition
Chrysler used the 2012 Los Angeles Auto show to introduce a couple of new variants of two of the company’s best-known models.
2014 Mitsubishi Outlander
Mitsubishi is celebrating 30 years in the U.S. auto market. To help mark the occasion, the Japanese automaker introduced a limited-edition version of the 2013 Outlander Sport compact SUV—along with an all-new 2014 Outlander compact SUV—at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show.
