Martin Padgett, Editorial Director
Articles
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Lamborghini. For some of us, it means the Countach, the ultimate Eighties poster car, maybe the craziest supercar of all time.
For others, it's the Aventador, the state of the art supercar with...
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The Mazda Miata that found its way home: Time Machine Test DriveWhen you run into an old friend after 15 years, can you pick up like no time’s been lost? Reunions are something I normally don’t do. The open-all-night nostalgia factory that is Facebook has pretty much killed them, anyway. But I am all about your serendipity, your stunning...
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2016 Chevrolet Camaro first drive review Muscle-car fans have had quite a feast in the past two years, with the 707-horsepower Challenger and Charger Hellcat and the 526-hp Shelby GT350 laying untold stripes on countless roads across America. (Dozens of them may be ours. Maybe not. Prove it in court.) But they won't be able to pass up...
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2017 Audi A4 first drive reviewThe arrival of an all-new Audi A4 is no small occasion. It's the profit powerhouse, the "center of gravity" for Audi of America, as product manager Filip Brabec puts it. Cars like the A4 represent the biggest slice of the luxury-car market in the U.S., and the most competitive. The lineup in the...
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2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn Preview VideoRolls-Royce is upping the ante in drop-top style. It’s introducing a new convertible to its ultra-luxury lineup in the form of this car—the Rolls-Royce Dawn. Not shy about it at all, Rolls says the Dawn is the “sexiest” car it’s ever built. If you’re deep into...
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2017 Jaguar F-Pace previewWhen you think of British SUVs, you think of Land Rover. Rightly so. But now, you’re going to have to add another off-roader to the U.K.'s column, because this year, Jaguar is introducing the 2017 F-Pace, its first crossover SUV, ever. The F-Pace won’t be confused at all for its Land...
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Pure luxury SUVs are relatively rare today, but a real battle of the net-worth stars is shaping up over the next few years. Leading the charge is this machine.
At the 2015 Frankfurt Auto Show,...
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2016 Jaguar XF first drive reviewE-Class, 5-Series—some of the best luxury cars in the world are mid-size sedans. But the battle for hearts and minds, and roads, isn't just between those epic four-doors. We'd put the vaunted Audi A6 and the excellent Cadillac CTS on the list, too. Is there room for one more truly great...
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2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R first drive reviewBlame it all on notorious badass Carroll Shelby. The man was a goddamn prophet. Back in 1965 he knew what was wrong with the Mustang—it needed more power. It doesn't take a genius to think that, but it took one to make it happen, and to make history. Shelby gave the pony car more power in the...
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2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata Video Road TestWe've driven them--every generation of them. We've owned them. We've raced them. We've loved them. There's nothing quite like the Mazda Miata. Since it was new in 1990, it's set a benchmark for sportscars in handling--and it's stayed a benchmark for 25 years. It's new this year, and it's been...
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2016 Bentley Continental GT Speed first drive reviewBefore the Internet became the refuge of the world's trolls, Norway was their spiritual home. We contend they're mythical creatures, but lots of Norwegians to this day believe trolls really exist. Spooky, Blair Witch-style trolls, if you take YouTube at face value. And why wouldn't you? Rich in...
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2015 Porsche Macan Turbo Video Road TestSo, you think Porsche only makes sports cars? What, did you stop reading in 2003? That's when Porsche came out with its first SUV, the Cayenne. And without the Cayenne, we might not have today's 911s and Caymans and Boxsters. At all. Porsche's sold so many Cayennes, it's building a follow-up act, a...
Martin Padgett -
Swimming pools, movie stars, things that end in the number 5. California means a lot of things to a lot of people but to Ferrari, it means grand touring.
In the latest installment of the Italian...
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2016 Lamborghini Aventador SuperVeloce first drive reviewMedical science tells us that neck strain is something to be avoided. It can compress nerves, bulge discs, and can lead to numbness and tingling. Okay, science. We hear you. But we're calling you on your bullshit. Some kinds of neck strain are acceptable. Gratifying. Mind-altering. The Lamborghini...
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2016 Chevrolet Camaro Preview And Prototype First DriveHappy, muscle-car fans? Just this past year you've been gifted a 707-horsepower Challenger Hellcat and a brand-new Mustang, with a 500-plus-horsepower Shelby GT350 waiting in the chute. It's been a Super Bowl of a year, with no deflation to spoil the fun. In fact, it's the opposite. A new version...
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2015 BMW X6 M first drive reviewBMW's X6 M is a venomous cane toad of an SUV, one with some obvious warts. Even so, it's made friends and set trends, spawning imitators in the Acura ZDX (extinct: mercy killing) and the upcoming Mercedes GLE Coupe (viability TBD). It's also an honest-to-God, track-capable car. Mmmmm, crossover...
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2016 Jaguar XF Video PreviewThe Jaguar XF started the styling revolution at the British brand, the one that started after it split from Ford. But now the XF is the oldest vehicle in the lineup—and the only one with a body still made mostly of steel. No more. Say hello to the 2016 Jaguar XF, a new mid-size luxury sedan...
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Audi Prologue Avant Concept Live Photos And Video: 2015 Geneva Motor ShowAudi’s imposing Prologue coupe concept (shown below) unveiled at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show was a preview of new styling themes devised under the guidance of recently appointed design chief Marc Lichte for the automaker’s future product, starting with the next-generation A8 flagship...
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We're doing final drives of new and updated vehicles from the 2015 model year, and one we've been keen on revisiting is the Infiniti Q50.
Our first drives were in pre-production cars, and with...
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2015 BMW 228i Convertible first drive reviewFifty shades of grey may be a box-office phenomenon this weekend, but at BMW, it's business as usual. Ever see a Bavarian brochure without some halftone hue? Or five of them? If grey could be anthropomorphized, it'd be the brand mascot. Somehow BMW manages to conjure grey outside of showrooms, too...
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2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600 first drive reviewDATELINE--Santa Barbara. I may be drifting off to sleep on a sueded pillow of dreams, but it doesn't stop me from thinking of all the vehicles I've been driven in. It's mostly not illustrious. Prom limos. Airport shuttles. White Ford Crown Victorias with pretty red and blue lights. ALSO SEE...
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2015 BMW M3 / M4 first drive reviewCoupe-like crossovers, carbon-bodied sportscars, urban-mode city hatchbacks--BMW can build them all, but when it gets placed in the balances and judged by its hardcore enthusiast audience, the only BMW that matters is the M3. It's the critical nuclear core of the brand and a bellwether for...
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2015 Ford Mustang first drive reviewIt took all day--a scramble out of L.A. morning rush hour toward the canyons, a thread-the-need operation through a few thousand degrees of hairpin turns and ambient degrees F, a drive-by through a Malibu hotel porte-cochere, a half-hour of stop-and-go traffic. It came down to the last mile of bad...
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2015 Lexus RC F first drive reviewAt some point in the early 2000s, Lexus approached peak grandma. Cars like the SC convertible and the ES sedan were arguably its best efforts, just when Cadillac was brewing up a revival and BMW putting out some of its best machinery before electronic controls became a generation's voodoo curse. A...
Martin Padgett