Automotive Reviews
Posts tagged luxury
2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
May 21st
Here’s a not-so-secret fact: the quickest way to get me to fall in love with a sedan that I generally approve of but am not excited about is to turn it into a station wagon. Tack a cargo area on the rear end, and a competent sedan turns into a chariot made of awesome. That’s just the way I roll.
That said, it’s no surprise that I was happy to hear of Cadillac’s plans to create a sport wagon out of the CTS, and even happier to meet it. The CTS is a standout among compact luxury sedans, combining Cadillac’s angular and upscale new styling with competent road manners without losing its basic American-ness. Taking that existing goodness and adding a boxy cargo space on the back? A surefire hit, at least in my eyes. But will the rest of the world agree? After all, this would be Cadillac’s first attempt at a true station wagon–those Caddy wagons that you might have seen occasionally during the 1950s and 1970s were all coachbuilt vehicles, not true Cadillacs. More >
2004 Lincoln LS V8
May 5th
Semi-annual drive events are a good opportunity for auto writers to drive a number of new cars back to back. They’re also not unlike high school dances, as everyone scrambles for a chance at the latest Mercedes, Maserati, or Jaguar. At a recent such event, I decided to take a break from elbowing my way into the line for the debutantes, and found a 2004 Lincoln LS siting practically forgotten at the back of the lot. No one had driven it all day.
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2010 Lincoln MKT
Mar 26th
The SUV backlash that everyone predicted is in full swing. Customers are deserting truck-based sport-utility vehicles in droves, and a growing number of multi-purpose crossover vehicles are taking their place, at both the low and high ends of the market. The marketing folks will talk about how it’s an opportunity to serve customers as never before; what they really mean is, “What do luxury buyers want these days?” The market’s changed, and that’s why we’re looking down the split-grilled barrel of a great big Lincoln station wagon.
Okay, it’s not technically a “station wagon.” The all-new MKT is Lincoln’s full-size luxury crossover vehicle. It’s a mega-wagon that features three rows of seating, a wide range of safety technologies, Ford’s new EcoBoost engine which provides V8-like horsepower with V6 fuel economy, and of course Lincoln’s brand of American luxury. Show-car styling and a generous girth give the MKT an impressive bearing on the road, and a newfound sense of luxury makes it a comfortable place to be, as well. Of course, that pesky question still remains: is it what luxury buyers want? More >