Regardless of what you know about its origins, the Cadillac XLR is not just a Cadillac Corvette.  It’s true that this big, two-place sedan shares platforms (and an assembly line) with Chevrolet’s legendary sports car, but the wide-track stance and the woof from the exhaust are the only things that are the same.

This high-tech grand tourer for two is a direct attack on German luxocruisers like the Mercedes SL, and it underscores Cadillac’s intent to remain a powerful force in the luxury market.  Like the SL, the XLR has a …

Georgia car manufacturer Panoz Auto Development has been quietly building sports cars since 1990, but outside of the car world, they’re not exactly a household name.  Will that change with the introduction of the ever-evolving 2003 Esperante?  Well, probably not.  But that’s not a bad thing; the race-bred Esperante isn’t for everyone anyhow.  Driving it in traffic is, in fact, not unlike walking a Rottweiler through a cat show.

For drivers looking for eye-popping performance in a chassis that didn’t come from Europe and wrapped in a body that’s not a …

The Maserati name is so legendary and recognized, even among non-car people, that you wouldn’t know they hadn’t sold any cars in the United States in over a decade.  The Italian sports car maker’s claim to fame is its long history of racing success, dating to the 1930s.  Grand Prix heroes like the A6GCM and the 250F were followed by road-going sports cars like the Mistral and unforgettable Ghibli of 1966.  These quintessentially Italian cars were memorable enough to firmly entrench the name “Maserati” in the ranks of the automotive …

So it’s Saturday night, and my wife isn’t home.  I decide it’s a good night to rent a “guy” movie of the sort she normally doesn’t like to watch, with lots of explosions and bad dialogue.  I go outside, hop into the Mercedes SLK32 AMG I’ve got to test this week, and head for the video store, which is about a mile away.  And then a voice, maybe it’s the car’s, murmurs something about putting the top down.  It’s a nice night, after all, and there’s a full moon…
Seventy-five minutes …

The BMW Z3 is on its way out, so we decided to take one last fling with one of our favorite sporty roadsters.

Introduced in 1996 to compete with Mercedes’ SLK and Porsche’s Boxster in the newly reborn two-seat convertible market, the Z3 boldly took the throwback approach to open-air motoring.  Compared to the austere Miata, refined SLK and track-bred Boxster, the Z3 was an unshaven street brawler, with a dramatic, controversial design and a suspension that bordered on crudeness.  And we loved it.  In 2003 the Z3 is slated to …

Santa Claus was understandably taken by surprise when I showed up at the front of the line, no child in sight, and jumped into his lap.  “Oooof!” he gasped.  Clearly he wasn’t used to accommodating adults during these mall visits.

“Hello, Santa,” I said.  “It’s me, and I have a request.  I believe, that if you consult your list, you’ll see that I have been very good this year.”
He narrowed his eyes, immediately suspicious and possibly nursing a bruised lap.  “Yesss…?”
“And you’ll also note that I haven’t made any particular requests …

If you’ve been anywhere near an elementary school or a shopping mall this year, you’ve seen the Powerpuff Girls–bright-colored, big-eyed preadolescent superhero stars of their own action-packed series on the Cartoon Network.  The car you see here today might well be the number-one candidate for Official Car of the Powerpuff Girls.

The name may be familiar.  Toyota built MR2s from 1985 to 1995.  The MR2 Spyder has come back for one reason and one reason only; to to battle with the current king of the affordable roadsters, the Mazda Miata.  Retaining …

It’s often said that Porsches have dual natures.  They’re equally happy cutting apexes on a race track or getting groceries.  Actually, that’s a slight misstatement.  Porsches are capable of performing mundane car tasks, unlike many other sports cars.  They’re not really happy unless they’re on an honest-to-goodness race track, however.

Case in point; the 2001 Porsche Boxster S.  The Boxster joined the Porsche lineup when demand for a less-expensive junior model collided with the desire to produce a true mid-engined Porsche for the street, and resulted in a popular show car.  …

It’s almost impossible to go wrong when you’re talking about two-seat, top-down motoring, so it boils down to a matter of style.

What the Viper will do is stomp just about any challenger in its price range or higher, and it’ll stomp you, too, if you’re not careful. You have been warned.