When I last provided an update on my cross-country V Wagon roadtrip, I was at the Grand Canyon. Since then, I’ve driven through the desert. If you thought these things were one and the same, as I did, you’re mistaken. It turns out the Grand Canyon is surrounded by pine trees and gas stations that charge over five dollars for premium, while the desert is surrounded by nothingness and gas stations that went out of business in the 1970s. But let’s back up. Upon leaving the Grand Canyon, we drove towards California, where a man at the border stopped us and confiscated a large portion of our...

I’m writing to you today from what I believe to be the crown jewel of the entire Best Western hotel chain. By this, I mean the place has a hot tub, a restaurant that serves prime rib, a bowling alley (a bowling alley!), and wireless Internet that worked for approximately seven glorious minutes yesterday evening, provided, of course, that I operated my computer while standing in the closet. Really, it’s great. I’d leave a review, but the rating system is online. The reason for my hotel stay is that I am currently taking my Cadillac CTS-V Wagon on a 5,500-mile roadtrip across the country and...

I recently discovered something unusual: a rare Korean car. I write a lot about rare cars here, but almost never about rare Korean cars. That’s because the Koreans don’t tend to build rare cars. Instead, they build volume cars in huge numbers and hardly pause to think things like: What if we did a convertible pickup? It’s for this reason, I believe, that car enthusiasts have generally not latched on to Korean cars. But today I bring you one Korean car that is unusual: the Elantra Blue. Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’ve looked at the photo and you’re thinking: That’s just a...

Most of us know about the Pagani Zonda. For those of you who don’t know about it, a brief overview: imagine the meanest looking supercar you can conceptualize. Now, double it. And place four exhaust pipes where a normal car might have the license plate. That is the Pagani Zonda. Most people also know the Pagani Zonda used an AMG engine. For those of you who once again don’t know this, a brief overview: the Pagani Zonda used an AMG engine. It was a 7.3-liter V12 that made some monstrous amount of power and torque that print magazines probably used exclamation points to describe. Admittedly,...

I’m thinking about buying this. Or, I should say, I thought about buying this, back when it was three grand. Autoblog ran a story on it the other day, and I figured it wouldn’t top $5k. Well, I was wrong. Let’s back up. What, exactly, is this? It’s a 2001 Pontiac Aztek currently on eBay with the auction price at $14,322.22. And why is it so expensive? Because it’s the first Aztek ever made. That’s right: 2001 Pontiac Aztek VIN# 00001 is currently offered on eBay in pristine condition and – this is true – with a Barrett-Jackson license plate screwed on. It turns out this Aztek...

I’ve recently decided on the automotive low point of the last 20 years. No, I’m not referring to the Suzuki X-90, although it certainly earns an honorable mention. I’m not even talking about the Pontiac Aztek. Instead, I’m referring to running boards. I believe there are two major reasons why running boards are a “feature fail,” and I’ll cover them both. They are: 1. They’re really ugly. I don’t mean slightly ugly, like the BMW 5-Series GT, or even very ugly, like those steel wheels they used on the original Honda CR-V. I mean truly, insanely, unattractive. When I bought my...

Back in the mid-2000s, before Acura went completely off the deep end and teamed up with Angry Birds to promote its cars, there was this thing: the 3.2CL Type-S with a 6-speed manual transmission. Before I get into detail, a little background. When the CL came out in 1997, it was possibly the dullest (it’s a word) two-door vehicle ever revealed to the automotive buying public. That year, two models were available: the 2.2CL, with 145 horsepower, and the 3.0CL, with 200. Unfortunately, the only way you could get a stick was the 2.2CL, which meant basically everything about the CL was a rather numb,...

You know who really annoys me? Those people who go to Europe and rent some diesel car that gets 226 miles per gallon, then return to the states and complain about WHY DON’T CAR COMPANIES SELL THOSE HERE???? or maybe the even better THE CAR COMPANIES ARE IN BED WITH THE OIL COMPANIES TO KEEP FUEL ECONOMY DOWN!!!! The truth is that the only reason those European cars manage to get 226 miles per gallon, or 470 miles per gallon, or whatever those people claim to their friends, is that they have about 47 horsepower and do 0-to-60 in the same amount of time as a tug boat. Seriously: Just a few years ago,...

We all know Audi builds cool stuff. It’s rare that we have to be reminded of this. We remember the C4 “UrS6,” we remember the 2003 RS6 and the 2007-08 RS4, and we remember all those cars painted in that gorgeous shade of non-metallic blue that never seems to pop up on the used market. But I think many of us have forgotten this one. By “this one,” I’m referring to the third-generation S6, which was sold from 2007 through 2011 as a sedan only. Yes, I love it even though it isn’t a high-performance wagon. And it’s hard not to love. The main reason for this is the 5.2-liter V10 mounted...

Today we’re going to talk about a subject I recently covered on The Truth About Cars. And that subject is: Quadrasteer. For those who don’t know, Quadrasteer was a four-wheel steering option that General Motors offered on its GMC Sierra Denali pickup and – this is the cool one – the GMC Yukon XL and Chevrolet Suburban 2500. It only lasted a few years, mainly because there were only about 80 people out there who got really excited by it. I’m one of them. I think Quadrasteer is awesome, largely because it transformed these behemoth trucks into small cars when it came to the turning circle. ...

Remember the 1980s? I don’t. I only caught the tail end of the 1980s, and as a result I believe it’s my birth that was completely responsible for the demise of Communism. Apparently, the 1980s were filled with big hair, crude video games, and that movie where Michael J. Fox visits the future, then the past, then some alternate version of the present before producers decided he was too old to play a high school student anymore. They also included these compact minivans. Behold the the Honda Civic WagoVan, and the Plymouth Colt Vista, all of which were popularized in the 1980s. Also shown is my...

The “GM Bad Idea” segment usually calls out our friends at General Motors for obscure (often, unintentionally obscure) cars they build that were clearly a bad idea at every stage in development, from the first sketches to when the CEO sat inside one and announced: “Eh. Good enough. Not like we’re gonna go bankrupt or anything.” The Chevrolet Aveo is just like that. But it isn’t obscure. The Aveo came out in the US for the 2004 model year. I distinctly remember when it came out, because every single journalist realized immediately that it was outclassed, even back then. This didn’t...

Once again, I’ve been away. This is, I swear, the very last time. It just turns out that writing a book, and then editing a book, and then formatting a book is much more difficult than I ever realized, which is why competent writers have people to do these things. Fortunately, I’ve returned with one of my favorite “It Exists” cars to get things going again. And that car is: the two-door Isuzu Trooper. Now, I’ve never witnessed a two-door Isuzu Trooper in person. A second-generation model, that is. We’ve all seen first-gens rotting out on the lawns of rural America. But I wish I’d...

I recently learned about the Ford C-150 and C-350 Centurion from a reader. It’s good that I didn’t know about it before, because I probably would’ve purchased one, and then complained when it drove like crap. Although there isn’t much info on the Web about these cars, here’s what I’ve gathered. Centurion is a coachbuilder in Michigan. The Ford Bronco is a vehicle. Are you with me so far? In the mid-1990s, Ford only made a two-door Bronco. This satisfied most Bronco buyers, such as OJ Simpson. But there was apparently public demand for a four-door version, which is where Centurion came...

To start, a bit of an apology, as I’ve neglected this site far too much lately. This is because I am in the throes of finishing my e-Book, which I expect to sell to approximately 11 people including my mother twice. Today I wanted to do something a little different: ask your advice. To help promote the book (and possibly reach 12 sales), I’m going to buy a “long term” used car and write weekly reports about how it is, either on Jalopnik or TTAC. These reports will be written in my usual style, which is “never let the facts get in the way of a good story be visible on the page.” The...