One of the finest vehicular experiences I’ve ever had was my first time I weaved around the plastic cones that marked the course at an SCCA autocross event in the parking lot of Arrowhead Stadium. It wasn’t the speed—I rarely made it out of second gear—but the fact that I was able to push my […]

Kei cars, or “K cars,” are tiny Japanese vehicles that are shorter than 3.4 meters long powered by engines no larger than 660cc (with exceptions made for vans, cargo or otherwise). If you’ve ever been to Tokyo, you’ll see that kei cars exist for reasons beyond the Japanese love for all things small; the streets […]

In a flash, your familiar vehicle is now a spinning hunk of metal and glass while your brain fills up with liquid terror: Congratulations, you’ve just been in an accident. Here’s what to do:
• Stay put - You could be hurt. In fact, unless it’s the most inconsequential of accidents, you are hurt, so take […]

I don’t know what I adore most about this video: the sassy, jovial soundtrack; the stubby, ineffectual wings on the car; the revelation that the driver has broken his back many times before, almost as if it were part of his workaday routine; his pretty banging wife; the slow flutter of disintegrating Detroit iron barely […]

What happens when you swap the sensible motor in a Smart with a high-performance motorcycle engine? 13-some-odd seconds, that’s what—enough to beat a Ferrari in the quarter-mile. (Thanks, Billy!)

The late, great Lane Meyer, played by John Cusack in the 1985 flick Better Off Dead, made sweet on Monique over the engine bay of a 1967 Camaro. A fan name of Jeff was so taken with the car that he tracked it down, despite the fact that the man who owned it during the […]

There are plenty of cars out there that I’d drive if I could: BMW M5; Subaru Impreza WRX STi; Bugatti Veyron; Ferrari whatever. But those cars, nice as they might be, aren’t my favorites of all-time. That honor goes to the 1971 to 1973 Buick Riviera, for my money the bitchinest car of all time.
The […]

Sometimes you’ll be strolling through a Parts America or O’Reilly and find yourself in a gallery of chrome slogans and plastic accessories drenched in stick-on flames. This entire section is anathema to a well-dressed car and should be exited immediately as you mutter rejoinders to yourself for even considering the stick-on “Type-R” badge for your […]

Conventional wisdom says that the oil should be changed every 3,000 miles, whether the car has been driven hard or not. Most modern grocery-go-getters have engines that only need an oil change every 10,000 miles, as per manufacturer suggestion.
I suggest the 3,000 mile interval for a couple of reasons: Oil changes are cheap and it […]

Summer may be driving season for some, but for me Fall was the best time for driving; leaving vortexes of leaves around every corner as your engine sucks in the cool air. Of course, my driving days are now over, my beloved car sacrificed to the convenience of not having a car in New York, […]