Manic Expression

The original Bentley Mulsanne was produced from 1980 to 1992. The name comes from the Mulsanne Straight, a stretch of the 24 Hours of LeMans course where cars reach their highest speeds. Between 1924 and 1930, Bentley had five victories at the 24 Hours of LeMans. While the Mulsanne was based on the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit/Silver Spur, all Bentley models at ...

The original Dodge Viper was revealed as a concept car at the 1989 North American International Auto Show. The concept car received positive reaction to the point that Chrysler decided to turn the Viper concept into a production car. Chrysler's chief engineer selected 85 engineers to be part of Team Viper, which became SRT, or Street and ...

The original Austin Mini Countryman was a two-door estate car with double "barn"-style rear doors. Luxury models came with decorative, non-structural wood inserts on the rear exterior of the car. From 1961 to 1969, approximately 108,000 Austin Mini Countrymen were built. In 1994, BMW gained ownership of the Mini marque. In 2010, Mini announced that the brand would...

 Mini was originally a brand of small cars owned by the British Leyland Motor Corporation. The Mini brand was created in 1969 and was owned by British Leyland from 1969 until 1986, when British Leyland was broken up. Mini was a part of Rover Group from 1986 until 1988, when Rover Group, including the Mini brand, was acquired by British Aerospace. In 1994, BWM acquire...

The Cadillac CTS has been around since 2002, serving as the brand's mid-size luxury car. In 2004, Cadillac released a high-performance version of the CTS, called the CTS-V. Cadillac started production of the second generation CTS in 2007. In 2009, Cadillac released the second generation CTS-V. I have seen several versions of the Cadillac CTS-V on streets of H...

At the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Cadillac presented a sports wagon version of the CTS. The CTS Sports Wagon first went on sale in late 2009. At the 2010 New York International Auto Show, Cadillac introduced the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon. Production of the CTS-V Wagon started in late 2010. I have seen several Cadillac CTS-V wagons at the various car ev...

Cadillac has been producing the CTS since 2002. In 2004, Cadillac started making a high performance version of the CTS, the CTS-V, in 2004. Production of the first generation CTS-V occurred between 2004 and 2007. The first generation CTS-V was a front engine, rear-wheel drive sedan. Cadillac did not produce the CTS-V in 2008 since the second generation CTS ca...

The Nissan Versa has been sold in the United States since 2007. The Versa has been on sale in Japan since 2004. In Japan, the Versa is known as the Tida. At the 2011 New York Auto Show, the second-generation Versa was revealed and went on sale in late 2011. The hatchback version of the Versa will be based on the Nissan Note while the sedan version of the Versa w...

Three wheel cars, or tricars, have been around since the late 1800s. They came with either two wheels in the front or two wheels in the rear. Because tricars did not have a fourth wheel and were light weight, they were cheap to insure. Insurance prices for tricars were the same for motorcycles. One tricar with two wheels in the rear is the Reliant Robin. It was produced from 1973 to 1981...

The Cadillac CTS has been around since 2002, serving as the brand's mid-size luxury car. The CTS is a front-engine, rear-wheel drive car. All-wheel drive is available as an option. The CTS comes with either a six-speed manual, a five-speed automatic (first generation only), or a six-speed automatic transmission. The first generation, which was produced from 200...

The Honda Accord has been around since 1976. On September 19, 2012, Honda released the ninth-generation Accord Sedan, with the Accord Coupe being released on October 15, 2012. At the 2013 Houston Auto Show, Honda had only one model available for test drive, the Accord Sedan. To keep the line going, there were five Accords available for test drive. On day 5 of the Hou...

The Toyota Prius came out in 1997 and is the face of hybrid vehicles. The Prius is so popular that Toyota has created a Prius Family. There is the standard Prius, a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius, the Prius C, and the Prius V. The Prius V is a front-engine, front-wheel drive, compact MPV with a hybrid drivetrain. I first saw a Prius V in a movie theater parking garage in e...

The Toyota Prius has been around since 1997. The Prius is a front engine, front-wheel drive, four door sedan that comes only with a gas-electric hybrid drivetrain. The thrid-generation Prius came out in 2010. In 2011, Toyota came out with an extended hatchback wagon version of the Prius, called the Prius V. In 2012, Toyota released the Prius C, a subcompact ve...

The Ford Mustang was first released in 1964 and it started the pony car wars. It beat out its rivals, the Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro. Starting in 1969 until 1973, the Mustang was available with a 302 cubic inch (4.95L) V8. The 302 engine was available in the second generation Mustang starting in 1975. 1975 marked the year when Ford first used the "5.0" moniker for ...

Chevrolet discontinued production of the Camaro in 2002. In March of 2009, Chevrolet started production on a new Camaro. The new Camaro is a very popular pony car/muscle car. I see Camaros everyday on Houston roads and highways. Both old and new Camaros are on display at the various car shows in Houston. At the Houston Auto Show, General Motors/Chevrolet bring...

The first time Dodge used the Challenger was in 1959 with the Dodge Silver Challenger, a two door coupe that only came in silver and was available with either a six-cylinder or eight-cylinder engine. The first generation was produced from 1970 to 1974, serving as Dodge's entry in the pony car market, competing with the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. The Challenger shared ...

The Toyota iQ was revealed in March 2008 at the Geneva Auto Show. In October 2011, iQ was released to the United States and Canada, but wearing a Scion badge instead of Toyota badge. The Scion iQ is a front engine, front-wheel drive, three door hatchback with seating for four. The iQ is classified as a supermini and a city car. The iQ is the world's smallest four seater. I first saw ...

The Chrysler 300 has been around since 2005, serving as Chrysler's full-size luxury sedan. So far, there have been two generations of the 300. Chrysler has its own in house tuning company Street and Racing Technology, or SRT for short. SRT took a Chrysler 300 C and turned into the Chrysler 300C SRT-8, replacing the 5.7L Hemi V8 engine found in the standard 300C with a 6.1L ...

The Chrysler 300 has been around since the spring of 2004, serving as the full-size luxury sedan for Chrysler. It replaced the Chrysler Concorde. In 2011, the second generation Chrysler 300 was released. At the 2011 New York International Auto Show, Chrysler revealed an "S" level trim for the 300. At the 2013 Houston Auto Show, I was able to take the 300S out for a test drive. ...