’18 MUSTANG GT TEST: PREMIUM W/PERFORMANCE!

Posted on July 21, 2018July 21, 2018 by MartynL

Read this carefully – here’s a modern muscle car with a 5-liter V-8 pumping out 460 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque, you can shift for yourself, blogs Dan Scanlan. Yes, a 6-speed manual transmission. In an all-black '18 Mustang GT with the Performance Package that gives it an extra 25 ponies. Oh yeah, there’s active exhaust that tunes the sound from mild to deep-throated, echoed-off-the-walls wild, that’s great to hear from its red leather Recaro bucket seats. It’s been a long time s...

‘14 JAGUAR F-TYPE S: SOUND & THE FURY!

Posted on June 14, 2014May 15, 2017 by MartynL

‘Jaguar was once known for brilliant two-seat roadsters like the epic E-Type. They are again thanks to the F-TYPE S, a leaper for all seasons,’ blogs Dan Scanlan. Called one of the 100 most beautiful cars in the world, the E-Type’s grace was matched by the pace of its 3.8-liter inline six with 265 horsepower. Later it received a V-12. But when the last version of the bullet-shaped roadster once called “the greatest crumpet-catcher known to man” was laid to rest in 1975 that was the last gre...

‘14 LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR LP 700: BADASS SUPERCAR!

Posted on May 27, 2014May 15, 2017 by MartynL

Dan Scanlan checks out Lambo’s 700-horsepower raging bull…and he wants one! It was this simple. I was pointed to a Rosso Lamborghini Aventador LP 700 and asked, “Would you like a drive?” The coastal Florida roads outside the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance were thick with traffic, and worse, Highway Patrol and local deputies. They were hungry, looking for fools dumb enough to nail a 700-horsepower Lamborghini on their home turf after a day of snacking on new Porsches, AMG Mercedes-B...

’14 BMW M5: AGGRESSIVE LUXURY SEDAN!

Posted on May 4, 2014May 15, 2017 by MartynL

Dan Scanlan test drives BMW’s uber-sedan boasting muscles and grace. He really likes it! Thirty years ago, BMW came up with a plan – embed a sports car in the skin of a family sedan. The result: a 3,500-pound M5 with a then-amazing 256-horsepower inline six where about 180-horsepower normally lived. It delivered a still-fast, impressive 0-60 mph sprint in way under seven seconds. Fast forward to 2012, when the fifth generation M5 was introduced with 560-horsepower twin-turbo V-8 rep...

2014 BMW 428I COUPE: ALMOST ‘M’!

Posted on February 28, 2014May 15, 2017 by MartynL

‘BMW’s new coupe is shapely and gorgeous with a dose of attitude, thanks to the M Sport body kit,’ says Dan Scanlan. It all began in 1968 with the 2002 – a streamlined bathtub-shaped BMW sports coupe with a 2-liter 100-horsepower Four. Then the first of the most popular BMW was born – the 3-Series - with the 100.9-inch wheelbase, 110-horsepower 320i coupe. Four more generations would follow with the same formula – sleek body, precision handling and powerful motors that expanded to turbochar...

PORSCHE 911 CARRERA 4S CAB: ICONIC!

Posted on October 12, 2013May 15, 2017 by MartynL

‘I want one,’ blogs Dan Scanlan, after a week of fun & sun in Porsche’s Gen Six 9114S droptop! Happy birthday 911! Porsche’s iconic rear-engine sports car, born off the first VW Bug and its Porsche 356 kin, hits the big FIVE-O this year. And to celebrate, I got a beautiful ‘13 911 Carrera 4S Cab with – wait for it – a remote key fob shaped like it, and painted the same Aqua Blue Metallic. The seventh-generation 911 shares DNA with the first one, code-named 901, until Peugeot h...

LEXUS IS350 SPORT SEDAN: IN YOUR FACE!

Posted on September 15, 2013May 15, 2017 by MartynL

The new IS350 has an aggressive new face and is a helluva lot of fun, blogs road tester, Dan Scanlan. My Lexus IS350 stares at me with its Predator-style grille and LED swoosh headlights ablaze, daring me to consider it a threat to BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class rear-wheel-drive sedans. Sure, the redesigned ‘14 Lexus IS sport sedan has been one of Japan’s answers to the razor-sharp compact sports sedans made in Germany, with a touch of origami thrown in. And yes, the IS ...

DODGE HEMI CHARGER R/T: PLANE JANE!

Posted on June 14, 2013May 15, 2017 by MartynL

Looking more like a plain-wrapped undercover cop car than a muscle car, this '13 R/T Hemi takes it to the Max, blogs Dan Scanlan “It's got a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant; it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks.” So sayeth Elwood to Jake Blues as they drove a 375-horsepower 440 Magnum-powered ‘74 Dodge Monaco police car. Well, we weren’t on any mission from God when our plain white ‘13 Dodge Charger R/T Max rolled up for a test, looking just like an undercover cop car rea...

2013 SUBARU WRX STI: STILL A POCKET ROCKET!  

Posted on May 31, 2013May 15, 2017 by MartynL

‘The squirrel survived to chase another nut thanks to the Subaru WRX STI’, blogs Dan Scanlan. Darting in front as I accelerated down a narrow road, then zigzagging as he freaked at the sight of my turbocharged wide-body sedan coming at him, I nudged the steering to swerve as I tapped the Brembo brakes. Result: No gray fur in its wide lower air intake as the all-wheel-drive sedan responded quickly to driver input and swerved easily! That’s just some of the fun I had with the WRX STI Lim...

‘13 FIAT 500C ABARTH: DOLCE VITA!

Posted on May 20, 2013May 15, 2017 by MartynL

Slick scorpion lets the fun shine in, blogs Dan Scanlan. To fully appreciate the Abarth-edition Fiat 500, you have to drive it. Between its snarling exhaust note, turbo whistle and go-kart acceleration and handling, this pug-nosed compact has magnetic appeal. Its fold-back cloth top and integrated roof spoiler make it even more appealing. At a touch of a button, al fresco motoring can brighten up any day! Fiat’s scorpion gets its sting from a l.4-liter turbocharged and intercooled 16-valve ...