Articles by Jonathan Spira
Review and Test Drive: 2017 Lincoln Continental
During my formative years in Beechhurst, I didn’t know much about my neighbor Rudolph Creteur, but what I did know is that he had been somehow connected to the automobile industry. The gentleman had the most amazing cars in his garage: a black 1961 Cadillac Sedan DeVille and a dark …
Review and Test Drive: 2017 Mazda Mazda6, Now Featuring G-Vectoring Control
Mazda’s Mazda6 remains one of our favorite cars to drive when it comes for a week-long stay. We last reviewed it a little over a year ago, taking note of the use of the automaker’s Kodo design language – first introduced on the Shinari concept car in 2010. Kodo is …
Review and Test Drive: 2017 Honda HR-V EX-L
The original Honda HR-V dates back to the “Wild and Joyfull J-WJ” concept car that Honda unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1997. Meanwhile, the second generation HR-V, based on the third-generation Honda Fit’s platform, began to be offered in the United States for the 2016 model year. Like …
Review and Test Drive: 2017 Nissan Murano Platinum Edition
The story of the third-generation Nissan Murano, based closely on the Renaissance concept Nissan unveiled at the 2013 North American International Auto Show, is unique for its class. It hews so closely to the look of the concept car that Nissan executives were wont to speak of it as a …
Report from the 2017 New York Auto International Auto Show, Where Bigger Is Better
NEW YORK—Showcasing dozens of new domestic and foreign cars as well as hundreds of updated ones, the New York International Auto Show opens to the public Friday after two press preview days.
The show, currently at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center, dates back more than a century and was previously held …
Let’s Motor: Celebrating 15 Years of Mini in America
As a child, I had seen them in England but hadn’t paid much attention. It was a fixture in spy films of the 1960s and 1970s including the classic 1969 film “The Italian Job,” starring Michael Caine. It was featured in what was one of the most memorable scenes in …
Review and Test Drive: 2017 Volvo S60
Having most recently driven a Volvo in the heat of a desert, it was refreshing to drive the 2017 Volvo S60 in a climate that it was certainly more familiar with, namely winter in New York. While the S60 is one of Volvo’s oldest models, it has aged well and …
Review and First Drive: 2017 Volvo V90 Cross Country T6 AWD
If you worried what Chinese ownership might mean for the venerable Volvo brand, you needn’t fret. Since Geely took control in 2010, the Gothenburg-based automaker has become nothing if not more Swedish than it was, has sold more cars (it set a record in 2015, when it sold over half …
Review and Test Drive: 2017 Cadillac CT6 Platinum AWD
The new Cadillac CT6 – the first car to adopt Cadillac’s new product naming conventions announced in 2014 – is more than just a new name with a pretty face.
Indeed, when Cadillac first announced the new product designations – each will start with the letters “CT” followed by a number …
Review and Test Drive: 2017 Volvo XC60
Now that Volvo has brought the full range of the 90 Series to the market it has turned its attention to the 60 Series, which will be at Volvo dealerships soon. To better appreciate what is to come, we undertook a last hurrah with the current generation XC60, which was …
First Look and Review: 2018 Lexus LC 500h and LC 500
Please Don’t Call It ‘Boring’
When the striking LF-LC Concept was revealed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2012, few if any thought it would make it into production relatively unchanged. Indeed, the LF-LC, which stands for Lexus Future Luxury Coupe – in the guise of the …
Review and Road Test: 2017 Acura MDX AWD Advance
Acura took the wraps off the then new Acura MDX at the annual New York Auto Show back in 2000, explaining that MDX stood for “Multi-Dimensional Luxury.” Fast forward to today, when Acura refreshed the third generation of the MDX, becoming the first production Acura to receive the brand’s new …
