Automotive Reviews
Two Doors
2011 Mercedes E550 Cabriolet
Aug 12th
The modern automobile is more than just a way to get from place to place. A car can be a statement of purpose and status, or it can be a simple work of art. It can be away to interact with one’s world, and an escape from that very same thing. The transcendent nature of the car is strong in convertibles, and the all-new Mercedes E550 cabriolet raises it to an art form.
Sharing underpinnings with the rest of the new-for-2010 E-Class, the new E550 cabriolet brings fresh styling, top-up and top-down comfort and radical new safety technology to the table, but that’s not all. This four-passenger droptop also exudes a confident and comfortable pleasure for life that rubs off all too easily on the driver. One does not step lightly into the E550. More >
2012 Fiat 500 Cabriolet
Jun 24th
The Fiat 500C isn’t just cute; it knows it’s cute. In true Italian fashion, this little car doesn’t stand by the curb being adorable and feigning surprise when someone notices. No, the Fiat 500C jumps out at you, steps into your field of vision with its retro sheet metal covered in a wide range of designer hues, and says, “Look at me. I am adorable, and you cannot resist.”
And why would you want to? The Italian manufacturer, making a return to the U.S. market after almost three decades, is hitting the streets of North America with a subcompact that combines the style of a classic Euro-commuter with modern fuel efficiency and safety, one of the quietest rides in its class, and a funky-cool canvas soft-top. More >
2011 Mercedes SLS AMG
Feb 17th
It seems like an opportunity too good to be true: I am at a multi-vehicle drive event, and the Mercedes SLS AMG is sitting in the paddock unattended. Getting a moment alone with an exotic car when there are sixty-five other automotive journalists present is akin to getting an audience with the Pope on Easter Sunday. These things just don’t happen.
Without hesitating or breaking into a run, I approach the SLS AMG, whose driver’s door stands invitingly open. Nobody challenges me, or jumps into the driver’s seat before I can. I take the chance. I slip inside and pull the gullwing door shut behind me, blocking out the sounds from the track. I find myself wrapped instantly in taut red leather. I’ve sat in the Italian hypercars–Lamborghini Murcielago and Gallardo, Ferrari 599 GTB and Scaglietti—and they’ve never done all that much for me. The Mercedes SLS AMG feels different. It feels like a place that I want to be in. Where the Ferrari and Lamborghini seem to be trying to intimidate their passengers into leaving, the SLS AMG is a chamber of awesome secrets and adventures, just waiting to be activated. I feel instantly at home, in a car-guy-connecting-to-a-car way that doesn’t happen every day. This feels like the first time I sat in a Miata. This is fated. This car WANTS me to drive it, and if anybody tries to keep it from happening, they’re going to have a fight on their hands. More >