My next-door neighbor occasionally flags me down to check out the Ride of the Week. He recently mentioned that he prefers cars that are a bit offbeat, a sentiment I can certainly appreciate. He and I aren’t the only ones. Bruce Weiner, owner of the now-closed-to-the-public Microcar Museum in Madison, Georgia, reportedly turned to weird little cars after becoming bored […]

When I heard about Ford’s new-to-the-U.S. three-cylinder EcoBoost engine available on the subcompact Fiesta, I was intrigued. The tiny, 1.0-liter turbocharged motor is lightweight yet relatively powerful, and Europeans – both auto experts and everyday drivers – have raved about it for years. But beyond this interesting engine, my expectations for the 2014 Ford Fiesta SFE were modest. This is […]

You’ll hear no complaints from me when the Ride of the Week can make the following claim: under the hood of this little sedan is the most powerful production 4-cylinder engine in the world. The 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG builds on one of the luxury brands newest models, the compact CLA sedan. It’s another so-called “four-door coupe” that joined the […]

Here’s a first look at the latest Ride of the Week: the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel. A small badge that reads “2.0TD” is mounted on the decklid of this compact Chevy sedan. It’s the only indication that this Cruze runs on Europe’s favorite fuel. To the casual observer, the diesel-powered version is identical to it’s gasoline counterpart. Drivers, however, will notice three significant […]

The latest Ride of the Week is a 2013 Buick Encore Premium FWD. The Encore is a compact 5-passenger crossover that debuted for the 2013 model year. Earlier this year I had an opportunity to get an up-close look at the Encore and take a short drive, but it wasn’t enough exposure to really get a sense of what this […]

Here’s a first look at the latest Ride of the Week, a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Turbo LTZ. If you told me just a few years ago that I could soon buy a Chevy Malibu with a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine instead of a V6, I would’ve guessed that was unlikely. If you told me that this engine would have a displacement […]

Here’s a first look at the latest Ride of the Week, the 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth. An earlier post on LivingVroom explains my excitement about the Abarth name and this little pocket rocket in particular. I also covered the 500 Abarth for AutoTrader.com at the LA Auto Show, and I’ve been itching to drive it ever since I first heard […]

GAAMA members enjoyed a look at the new 2013 Audi allroad today at Parish Food & Goods in Inman Park. Now based on the A4 Avant wagon, the allroad name returns after a seven year absence, bringing standard all-wheel drive, rugged styling and higher ground clearance than the standard A4 sedan. The allroad also offers Audi connect telematics, which includes […]

I traveled to Charlotte to meet up with Mini Takes The States, the 3,900-mile cross-country rally that brings together thousands of Mini owners, drivers and enthusiasts. We partied in Charlotte, drove on Charlotte Motor Speedway, slayed The Dragon at Deal’s Gap and autocrossed in Nashville. Then the rally went west, I headed back home to Atlanta. Last weekend the group […]

Forget what you think you know about Buick before stepping into the brand’s smallest and most affordable model, the Verano. It seems logical that a well-rounded understanding of the history of a subject would make a writer better suited to cover it in a thoughtful and insightful way. For an automotive writer, familiarity with models of decades past should provide […]