First, the agony: average temperature during my stay in Detroit was 18 degrees. My face is chapped from the cold, and my legs ache from walking/standing for 4-5 hours straight two days in a row. Boo hoo. Now, the ecstasy: Detroit Auto Show, baby! I just spent Monday and Tuesday treating the Detroit Auto Show (or, […]
Category Archives: Reviews
April
18
La Bella Macchina, Jr. – Alfa Romeo 4C
posted by Motorista
A welcome oasis in the recent Motorista drought – a playdate with the new Alfa Romeo 4C this afternoon! This mid-engined beastie, the little sister of the magnifcent and mellifluous Alfa Romeo 8C, is fairly new to our shores and designed to stir the passions and lead feet of enthusiasts in preparation for Alfa’s USA […]
September
13
La Bella Macchina: Alfa Romeo 8C
posted by Motorista
Every now and then, you see something – a sunset, a building, a painting – that just takes your breath away, that makes you feel like you are in the presence of, not some thing, but something. It doesn’t happen to me that often, not even with cars, but it did the other day. Ladies and […]
July
22
Cadillac Becomes Electric
posted by Motorista
The Cadillac ELR. The coupe the Cadillac CTS coupe should have been. The packaging the Chevrolet Volt should have had. It was my favorite debut at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, and I paid special attention to the production version displayed at the show this year. The ELR is beautiful, and I have been excited […]
May
26
CTS Vsport – Not Your Grandmother’s Cadillac
posted by Motorista
To borrow slightly from a common saying, what floats like an aircraft carrier and stings like the world’s largest wasp’s nest? Answer: the new Cadillac CTS Vsport. Here’s the background: beginning with its renaissance in the early 2000s (remember the splash the all-new CTS made in The Matrix Reloaded?), Cadillac has increasingly focused its efforts on […]
May
09
The High Up Life
posted by Motorista
Having driven a Mini almost every day for the past ten years, I take for granted that I’m low to the ground and darty like a mosquito. Isn’t that simply how driving is? No, actually. The other day, I drove a Mercedes-Benz GL450 SUV on an out-of-town work trip. To give you some context, Mercedes […]
April
26
Lexus LX 570: When Only An 8-Passenger, $80K SUV Will Do
posted by Motorista
It’s good to have auto journalist friends who get media cars. It’s even better when those auto journalist friends are cool people who offer to show their media car to you. I am lucky enough to have such a friend (hi, Derek!), who kindly let me take a peek at the Lexus LX 570 he […]
April
05
That Little Cadillac Commercial
posted by Motorista
You know which one I’m talking about, right? The one that stirred up all the controversy and set people atwitter. The one that’s been dominating the water cooler (do those still exist?). This one, titled “Poolside”: Honestly, I don’t really see what the big deal is. If I had watched this before I read about […]
March
09
Seen in Detroit: BMW M4
posted by Motorista
M3. For BMW fans – or, indeed, car fans in general – that name connotes everything we love about cars: power, speed, handling, balance, the perfect companion for the road ahead. At least, it used to. As the high-performance version of BMW’s venerable 3-series, the M3 has appeared variously as a sedan, coupe or convertible […]
January
30
Configuration Nation!
posted by Motorista
I love online car configurators. Back in the day when I had free time on my hands (I can barely remember it), I used to spend hours building all my dream cars. From what I hear, the Next Generation is now carrying on that tradition. This evening, after a long workday, I decided to wind […]
January
25
Seen in Detroit – SRT Viper
posted by Motorista
THIS was a favorite, hands down: the beautiful SRT Viper, shown below in Stryker Green and the new Anodized Carbon Special Edition Package. You may remember that Viper used to belong to the Dodge brand, where it was a rough-and-tough sports car hooligan. Gone for a few years, it returned in 2013 as part of […]
December
31
Party Like It’s Formula 1
posted by Motorista
Speaking of parties – since it IS New Year’s Eve – I still need to tell you guys about the party I went to during the Formula 1 weekend. My Yacht Club, part of the My Yacht Group, hosts a “pop-up” European-style nightclub at Ballet Austin during the three nights of Formula 1. The event […]
December
20
Gift Guide for the Gearhead
posted by Motorista
This may be a bit late…but if you’re a procrastinator like me, it’s just in time! Allow me to present Motorista’s First Annual Gift Guide for the Gearhead. In case you know any… Branded Swag Does your favorite gearhead love a particular make or model above all others? Your choices are endless for branded hats, […]
November
11
The Sunday of Difficult Living
posted by Motorista
This car blogging is a rough gig. There are just so many things you have to DO and GO to and PUT UP with. And there is NO rest for the weary. For instance, this past Saturday I drove two-and-a-half hours to Houston to tame some wild cats. I intended to spend the weekend down […]
November
10
Meow: Jaguar Driving Event
posted by Motorista
Yesterday I trekked down to Houston to attend a driving event sponsored by Jaguar USA. Having not had the opportunity to spend any time with the new Jags (which are becoming increasingly more desirable each model year), I was excited to see the cats up close and personal. Jaguar XFR My only complaint about the […]
November
07
Dumb and Dumber
posted by Motorista
We now temporarily interrupt our more mature offerings to bring you something that is good ol’ snarky Motorista: AOL Autos’ list of the Top 20 Dumbest Cars of All Time. First of all, what the hell is AOL Autos, and why do I care? Answer: I don’t know, and I don’t care. However, I just […]
October
25
Keeping an Eye on the i3
posted by Motorista
Full disclosure: today was my opportunity to drive the forthcoming BMW i3, the electric vehicle for the well-to-do urban hipster. And I blew it. I went, I saw, but I did not drive. The truth of the matter is, I have a cold, my head felt like a bowling ball, the line was long, so […]
October
14
Lotus and Me: a Love Story
posted by Motorista
I am in love, and she is British. Wait. That didn’t come out quite right. In these instances, it is unfortunate that cars are referred to in the feminine… You may recall last month’s visitor to my driveway – a beautiful red Lotus Evora. (In case you forgot, I wrote about it here, here, here […]
October
12
M-Pressive
posted by Motorista
I am not a morning person. I hold very dear the weekend mornings in which I can sleep as late as I want (usually 11-ish; back in the college years, it was mid-afternoon and occasionally evening!). However, some things are worth getting up early for. A BMW track day is one of them. Through the […]
October
10
The Bow Tie in My Driveway
posted by Motorista
The Red MINI took one to the chin in the office parking lot the other day. While she gets stitches, I have a visitor in my driveway. This one isn’t quite as hot as my last visitor. Nevertheless, it sports a dapper bow tie, and I welcome it gladly. Meet the Chevy Equinox. Given how […]
September
28
Cars in the Movies: “Rush”
posted by Motorista
Here beginneth a feature I have been meaning to start for a long time: posts dedicated to cars in movies. First up: Rush, the new Ron Howard movie about the famous rivalry between Formula 1 drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt during the 1976 season. It’s a true story, so I can’t exactly spoil it […]
August
21
Porsche Gets Cheeky
posted by Motorista
In all my excitement over the gender politics and sociological implications of the Porsche 911, I forgot the single best thing about Porsche EVER. That particular Ruby Red, leather-swathed specimen featured in my post has the most useful, thoughtful, amazing option to ever emerge from Zuffenhausen: cooled seats. COOLED SEATS. For my fellow Texans, let […]
August
17
“Is That Your Car?” – A Woman in a Porsche 911
posted by Motorista
I recently had the good fortune to drive and photograph a beautiful 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S cabriolet. The occasion? It belongs to my employer, and she knew I wanted to drive it. One small reason among a plethora of others that I have a fantastic job. I was out photographing the 911 on the […]
August
05
Ferrari 458 Challenge: the Photo Essay
posted by Motorista
I made a special acquaintance at racing school. Unlike me, she was beautiful, had an amazing voice and attracted EVERYONE’s attention. Normally, this might make me a little jealous. But in this case, I got it. I was as smitten as everyone else. Meet the Ferrari 458 Challenge. The track-bred, non-street-legal sibling of the Ferrari […]
July
27
Aston Martin 1, MOTORista 0
posted by Motorista
In honor of Aston Martin’s centenary, I drove an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. I know, I know – it was the least I could do. “It’s fast as stink, and graceful all the way.” This summation of the V8 Vantage’s most winning qualities comes straight from this particular car’s owner, my friend Steve Orrell. Steve […]
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