Modern Classic Vehicles
Vehicles inevitably bound to be classics due to great engineering, and excellent design. It doesn't matter what year you buy, they'll always be classics.
Chevrolet Corvette.
America's top sports car like nothing else in the world, By Derek Price. Get behind the wheel of a 'Vette, though, and you'll soon realize there's absolutely no other car like this on the planet. It's a blue-collar supercar. Its engine is like a killer dump truck from hell. Blip the throttle, and it sounds like God hocking a loogie. It's the raw, raucous, nasty, wonderful sound of 430 horsepower belching out the exhaust pipes, emitting one of the most frightening melodies in the automotive world. Combine all that power with a featherweight body, skateboard suspension, go-kart steering and jumbo-jet tires, and you've got a vehicle like absolutely no other on the road. That's the mystique of the Corvette. You can find faster cars than this $47,000 Chevy, but they usually cost twice as much. You can also find cars that are more refined, and certainly more comfortable. But really, why would you want to? Few sports cars test the limits of your driving skills like this one. Normally I enjoy turning off the traction control on cars I test to see what the limitations of the vehicle are. But when I turned off the traction control on the Vette, I quickly realized the car's limits are far higher than my own as a driver. In fact, I bet there are only a handful of drivers on the planet -- all of them highly paid professionals -- who can really, truly discover the limits of this great car. Read more...
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Lexus LS 460
Is This the Best Car Ever Made? By Keith Burton. In the long history of automobiles few actually deserve a place in history. But those that do represent their maker’s achievement in such things as style, power, and grace of operation. Such a car now exists in the 2007 Lexus LS 460, which is arguably the best, and most advanced car ever built...The LS is the car that built Lexus since the first version wowed buyers over 15 years ago. As most people know today, Lexus is Toyota’s premium vehicle division, and over the years, Lexus has prospered and built a reputation of meticulously crafted vehicles from automobiles to luxury SUV’s. Lexus has also become a leader in technology. The company offered the first hybrid SUV, for example. But most people will remember the electro-luminescent gauge cluster that first saw its appearance on the original LS. The brilliantly clear panel became a luxury must-have for any manufacture thereafter. But it was the quality and quiet way the earlier Lexus LS cars performed that won fans. more...top of page
Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
Edmunds Review. Gorgeous styling, excellent handling, highly customizable, seductive exhaust rumble and roar, small production numbers ensure exclusivity, cheapest way to get into an Aston Martin. Just look at the thing! That's about the only selling line the 2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage will ever need. If you've seen a V8 Vantage on the road, you know what we're talking about. Few other cars look this, well, sexy. Thankfully, this baby Aston has impressive talent lurking beneath its gorgeous face. It all starts with Aston Martin's aluminum VH platform that also underpins the DB9 and DBS. This intricate assembly of aluminum extrusions, steel and magnesium castings and composite body panels are all bonded together with advance adhesives for light weight and exceptional rigidity. There are other desirable attributes as well, including a rear-mounted transaxle for enhanced weight distribution and a dry-sump lubrication system for the car's V8 engine. More...top of page
Nissan GT-R
Motor Trend's Ron Kiino Review. Yes, we are fully aware of the GT-R's best-known nickname Godzilla -- so called because the automotive press found previous generations as ferocious and all-conquering as Japan's fire-breathing monster. But following a full week of intensive evaluation in Nissan's new sports car, we here at Motor Trend now lay claim to a more suitable GT-R moniker -- Ichiban. From Japanese, ichiban translates to number one. In Motor Trend vernacular, however, it simply denotes: 2009 Car of the Year. Every September, it seems a few editors comment, this is the toughest field I can remember. Sure enough, as this year's testing drew to a close, several staff members expressed those same sentiments. And for sound reason-the competitive set is more imposing than Jamaica's Olympic track team. From the jumbo-shrimp Honda Fit and the discount-Lexus Hyundai Genesis to the quicker-than-a-Cayman BMW 1 series and the cat's-meow Jaguar XF, this year's pool runs deeper than any of recent memory. Yet, no contender proved as profound, awe-inspiring, or, more important, able to fulfill our criteria as the GT-R. How did Nissan so competently clinch the calipers?
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Ford Mustang
Edmunds.com Review. The Ford Mustang is the longest surviving of the affordable breed of classic American muscle cars. Sold always in coupe and most times in convertible and 2+2 fastback forms as well since its 1964 introduction, the Ford Mustang is the only one of the original pony cars to enjoy an uninterrupted production run. It hasn't been easy either, as oil crises, tightening emissions standards and corporate budget cuts have put the Mustang's future in doubt on more than one occasion. Ultimately, though, its iconic status within the Ford lineup and popularity with consumers has seen it through.
There have been many great Mustangs over the decades: Most revered as collector cars are the 1965-'70 Shelby Mustangs, the '69 and '70 Boss 302 and 429 and the '69 and '70 Mach 1. Even newer versions are revered, such as the 1984-'86 turbocharged SVOs, 2000 Cobra R and 2003 and '04 supercharged SVT Cobra. Most Mustangs have had far more pedestrian credentials, of course, but the Mustang has long been the choice of consumers seeking power and style in a rear-wheel-drive coupe, fastback or convertible. The current-generation Ford Mustang is easily the best ever from the standpoints of performance, refinement and day-to-day livability.
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