Martin Padgett, Editorial Director
Articles
-
While stock Chrysler 300 sedans ride with V-6 or HEMI power, and the new 2012 SRT8 storms along with 465 hp, there's only one new Chrysler powered by rap.
At the 2011 New York auto show, Chrysler's... -
Maserati Granturismo MC: 2011 New York Auto ShowWith the Convertible already launched at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, Maserati's news for the New York auto show comes in the lissome form of the Granturismo MC coupe, which it showcased at its Manhattan showroom tonight, flanked by its droptop colleague. The MC's spawned from Maserati's racing...
Martin Padgett -
Apple Shuts Down Toyota Jailbreak AppJailbreaking your iPhone may be legal now, but that doesn't mean the UI perfectionistas at Apple will let other megacorporations have their way with the lovely walled garden that is the iPhone. Two tech sites report today that Apple has come down on Toyota for promoting an app that puts custom...
Martin Padgett -
Video: The Best April Fool's Day Car Pranks Everphoto by Flickr user SashaFatCat April Fool's Day is here--and exactly what have you done to screw with your friends' heads? Nothing? Lame. It's pretty easy to use your car as a tool of mental mayhem--but you've got to be good about it. Moving their car to a different space? Amateur hour. Moving...
Martin Padgett -
2011 Aston Martin Vantage S: First DriveThe Geneva Motor Show is over, but the craptastic weather's following the whiny, overly privileged herd of automotive journos stampeding south for assorted first drives. Porsche's Cayman R drive meets up with pouring rain in Mallorca; by the time we're in the Canary Islands for a two-parter with...
Martin Padgett -
2011 Aston Martin Vantage S: New VideoIt's T-minus three hours before we post up our first drive of the 2011 Aston Martin Vantage S, but this video clip sitting in a desktop folder should tide you over for about 180 more minutes. Aston captured the Vantage on the Ascari Race Resort track before the first American and Aussie journalists...
Martin Padgett -
Thanks to the wonders of time zones and the big global clock in Greenwich, England, we've finally figured out that the embargo on driving impressions for the 2011 Aston Martin Vantage S is nearly... -
2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 First DriveThe 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK still may be the least honed, least intense of the trio of pricey German roadsters, but it's ripened over its 15 years and three generations. New for 2012, the latest SLK has pretty much steamrolled over any trace of its dainty past and hot-paved it with real...
Martin Padgett -
2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class: First DriveThis week's 2011 Geneva motor show turned the Swiss town's Palexpo hall into a virtual exotic-car warehouse, stuffed with Aventadors and Ferrari FFs and the usual microbrew blend of Rinspeeds, Gumperts and Paganis. At the Mercedes-Benz stand, rubbing elbows with its frenemies next door at BMW...
Martin Padgett -
Human Car Wrecks: Charlie Sheen (Duh!)Eddie Griffin totals an Enzo. La Lohan does time for two DUIs. Paris Hilton bedazzles her pink Bentley, which is not a euphemism. It's so awful, you have to watch. None of 'em quite lives up to the spontaneous combustion currently en fuego in the form of Carlos Irwin Estevez, a.k.a. Charlie Sheen...
Martin Padgett -
2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 first drive reviewBy the time you've settled into lap three around Laguna Seca, the Boss is shouting at you and you don't even care. This isn't your office, so revel in it. This Boss hammers your tympani with a proprietary blend of pleasure and pain--sound familiar?--but none of the kvetching over expense reports or...
Martin Padgett -
2011 Geneva Motor Show: Ferrari FF Makes Online DebutFerrari says its new FF--its big premiere for the upcoming 2011 Geneva Motor Show--is its first four-wheel-drive sports car ever. The new FF made its online debut today, in advance of the Geneva show, with the explanation that "FF" stands for four-wheel drive and four seats. Powered by a V-12...
Martin Padgett -
It's one of the most hotly anticipated new cars on display at the 2011 Detroit auto show--and maybe that's surprising, since the 40-mpg 2012 Hyundai Veloster comes from humbler beginnings than... -
2011 Kia KV7 Concept: 2011 Detroit Auto ShowThe 2011 Detroit Auto Show won't be short on concept cars, particularly from South Korea's automakers. While its cousins at Hyundai are bringing a Curb concept, Kia will pull the covers off the KV7 concept crossover, a blend of SUV cues and minivan seating, with a dash of social media thrown in for...
Martin Padgett -
BMW Prices 1-Series M Coupe, 2012 6-Series ConvertibleWhile it showcases both new sportscars on the floor of the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, BMW also has priced its new 2011 1-Series M Coupe and its 2012 650i Convertible. The M Coupe carries a base price of $47,010, including destination and comes stuffed like a Bavarian Christmas stocking with a...
Martin Padgett -
2011 Detroit Auto Show: U.S.-Made Volkswagen To Be A PassatThe 2011 Detroit Auto Show is underway, and tonight's reveal of the new Volkswagen "NMS" mid-size sedan is being preceded with word about the car's name. According to a report in the Detroit News, the new sedan will carry the Passat name. If the reports are accurate, the new four-door will follow...
Martin Padgett -
2011 Kia KD7 Concept Teaser: 2011 Detroit Auto ShowAs the 2011 Detroit Auto Show approaches, the flurry of teaser sketches is picking up into a steady drift of information "leaks." This hour's latest? Another glimpse of the upcoming Kia KV7 crossover, a Flex-like creation on first glance that showcases a pair of conventional doors--along with a...
Martin Padgett -
2011 Hyundai Curb Concept Teaser: 2011 Detroit Auto ShowWhen the 2011 Detroit Auto Show kicks off next week, Hyundai will be one of the brands drawing throngs to its press preview. In part, that's because it's planning the world debut of its unusual 2012 Veloster hatchback--with the promise of 40-mpg fuel economy and a unique four-door body that teams a...
Martin Padgett -
Last fall we brought you the first drive of the 2012 Ford C-Max, but since the vehicles we drove were European-spec vehicles, we've been waiting on word of the final U.S. specifications.
Today...
-
2012 Ford C-Max: Smart Tailgate Opens At the Wave of a FootWith the 2012 Ford C-Max, the automaker wants minivans to get small and get friendlier--and now they're getting your feet involved. Following up on the first use of the technology in the European version of the 2011 BMW 5-Series, the U.S.-bound 2012 C-Max gets foot-gesture capability--meaning, with...
Martin Padgett -
2011 MINI Paceman Concept: 2011 Detroit Show PreviewThe 2011 MINI Countryman is the first four-door in the British brand's lineup--but a new two-door version could be in the works, if the MINI Paceman concept is any indication. The Paceman concept will make its world debut at the 2011 Detroit auto show on January 10. Calling the new design study a...
Martin Padgett -
2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon: New PhotosThe 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon made the cut for TheCarConnection's Best Car to Buy 2011 competition, though the new Hyundai Sonata passed it for the top honors. But with an overall score of 8.5 out of 10 riding on last year's TSX sedan, we're expecting great things from the Sport Wagon in our first...
Martin Padgett -
2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon Priced from $30,960The 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon arrives in showrooms soon wearing a base price tag of $30,960, not including destination charges. The Sport Wagon shares most of its basics with the TSX sedan, which showed up to this year's 2010 Los Angeles auto show with some new spiffs of its own. But while the TSX...
Martin Padgett -
The MA List: 6 Concept Cars That Cried Wolf!Concept cars are a mixed breed. Sometimes, they're the real thing slightly disguised, and sometimes they're way-off abstractions in the Tomorrowland vein. In a handful of cases, concept cars are annoying knock-offs of the boy who cried wolf, without the bit that makes the fairy tale appealing. You...
Martin Padgett