by Jim McCraw | Mar 5, 2012
Mercedes-Benz proudly claims to building the industry’s very first all-wheel-drive vehicle almost 100 years ago, a giant touring car used for hunting parties in Africa. It started building four-wheel-drive systems for modern passenger cars in 1985, and has used the...
by Jim McCraw | Feb 27, 2012
We thought we’d seen just about everything in radar detection when we heard the news about Escort’s new SmartCord Live system that links your Escort or Beltronics radar detector, your Apple iPhone, and other Escort users into a national network of radar, laser, police...
by Jim McCraw | Dec 6, 2011
Is there a place in tomorrow’s world for the automobile? Perhaps no place is the answer more uncertain than crowded, smog-choked Mexico City, which is precisely the challenge faced by student designers participating in the 2011 Michelin Challenge Design competition....
by Jim McCraw | Jul 1, 2011
We’ve come to think of hybrids as an expensive option – requiring a buyer to pay an often stiff premium in exchange for higher mileage. But Buick has something different in mind. Starting in August, the General Motors division will offer its LaCrosse sedan in two new...
by Jim McCraw | Jun 15, 2011
It started back in 2000 when the first Audi prototype showed up at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. At a race where sports car manufacturer Porsche has won 16 times and Ferrari nine times, the upstarts from Ingolstadt came with a serious race car, the turbocharged...
by Jim McCraw | Jun 13, 2011
The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the greatest auto race on Earth, tests engineering skill, driving skill, mechanical skill and everyone’s patience. This year’s race, the 79th running, showed once again what great racing companies like Audi, Chevrolet, Nissan, and BMW can do....
by Jim McCraw | Mar 24, 2011
The 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine has been a staple of automotive propulsion around the world for decades — in places like Asia and Europe and Australia and Africa, anyway, but not so much here in the States. Americans have tended to shy away from little 122...
by Jim McCraw | Mar 21, 2011
Nissan has a long and rich history in sports car racing that dates back to 1966. Here in America, they raced the little Datsun 510 sedan, the famous 240 Z and its successors, and a raft of Nissan-powered sports prototypes that competed in IMSA GTP prototype and Group...
by Jim McCraw | Feb 3, 2011
Nissan, which does 20% of its business worldwide in light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, has never offered a commercial van in the North American market. Until now. And the one they’ve finally introduced is the biggest one available....
by Jim McCraw | Jan 14, 2011
Late last year, Ford built a desert-racing truck around its new 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V-6 engine and took it to the grueling Baja 1000, the toughest race in North America, for its racing debut. On Saturday morning, in front of 500 or so witnesses, Ford...
by Jim McCraw | Dec 6, 2010
You have to understand. This is Italy. This is not Paris or Frankfurt or Detroit or Chicago or LA. This is the Bologna Motor Show, and Bologna is in the center of Italy, home to Maserati, and close to Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Ducati, to name a few. Italy is the...
by Jim McCraw | Nov 15, 2010
It’s been a busy year for the folks at Chrysler. Almost exactly a year ago, new CEO Sergio Marchionne outlined an aggressive plan to turn the once-bankrupt company around. And if anyone doubted him, the proof will soon start rolling into showrooms – starting with a...
