Live

Isaac Bouchard The Corvette, America’s longest-serving production sports car has reached its seventh generation and—at last—true parity with the best from the rest of the world. The C7, which Chevrolet dubs Stingray, is an astonishing, amazing machine, and puts every other performance car near its price point to shame in the value stakes. Outside it … Read more

Isaac Bouchard Despite building some incredibly compelling cars and SUVs over the years, Infiniti has always struggled to set the sales numbers of other luxury marques. In 2014 they moved 117,330 vehicles, representing a 1 percent increase in a market that did substantially better than that overall. A wave of new products, including the entry-level … Read more

Isaac Bouchard Managing a precocious child’s maturation into adulthood can be a fraught endeavor. As Hyundai was designing the 2015 Sonata, the corporate version of such a parenting conundrum was certainly at play. The swoopy last generation model had made the company a real player in the midsize sedan market. Where should they take the … Read more

Isaac Bouchard BENTLEY The question is as predictable as a Bill O’Reilly commentary on Obamacare. Within seconds of finding out I write automotive reviews, people ask, “So which car’s your favorite?” Leaving aside the idea of a LaFerrari, Porsche 918 or McLaren P1, I have a stock answer: The Bentley Continental Convertible. So it was … Read more

Isaac Bouchard Toyota has successfully driven the Highlander upmarket, with a much greater number of buyers choosing the top levels of trim, included the Platinum, and the Hybrid (if they can get one), tested here. A week in the Limited model helps explain why. To start with, the Highlander’s looks are a home run. An … Read more

Isaac Bouchard Normally I am a sports wagon guy, and the recently reviewed Audi Allroad or Volvo’s own V60 should have really hit my sweet spot. But surprisingly I ended up liking the updated XC60 crossover better. A midcycle refresh has given this already great looking crossover a face more in line with where Volvo … Read more

Isaac Bouchard hooligan |ˈho͞oləgin| noun. a violent young troublemaker, typically one of a gang. DERIVATIVES hooliganism |-ˌnizəm| noun. ORIGIN late 19th cent.: perhaps from Hooligan, the surname of a fictional rowdy Irish family in a music-hall song of the 1890s, also of a character in a cartoon. To most Americans, the above word means little; … Read more

Isaac Bouchard Subaru used to be a bit player in the US car market, with sales generally restricted to New Englanders, Left Coast kayakers and Rocky Mountain residents. But starting about eight years ago, Subaru began mainlining Americana, and the results can be seen in consecutive sales records year upon year, with the company now … Read more

Isaac Bouchard How far can you stretch a platform? That is one of the questions underlying car manufacturing these days. Companies like the VW Group have become masters at sharing unseen components to create a myriad of different cars for the different companies under the corporate umbrella; others are just learning this craft. That Fiat … Read more

Isaac Bouchard When the best selling car in the country gets a thorough makeover it is important to sit up and take notice. The Camry has long gotten by on Toyota’s reputation and its all around usefulness to a large number of people—not to mention some big fleet sale numbers. As the competition has become … Read more