(excerpt)
"If the Z4 Coupe remains a concept car, then I’ll attend the next Frankfurt show naked. Whereas the original and short-lived Z3 coupe won a cult-like following despite its hunchback proportions, the Z4 Coupe will win over the public because of its crisp swept-back style, accentuated by the show car’s exclusive matte finish, “Glacier Silver” paint and contrasting, dark-colored, 19-inch alloy wheels. Powered by a new 265-hp, 3.0-liter inline six, BMW says that the Z4 Coupe is capable of 0-60 mph times of 5.7 seconds....."

(excerpt)
"It is amazing what empty Italian country roads and a 420-horsepower roadster can do to a person. Two hours earlier, and seemingly ages before my first behind-the-wheel encounter of the 2005 Studio Torino RK Spyder, I sat slumped in my airplane seat, head spinning and stomach churning from a bout of insomnia coupled to a red-eye flight into Turin, Italy..."

(excerpt)
"If the press preview days of this year's Frankfurt International Motor Show proved anything, it is that auto companies need to search high and low to meet car buyers' conflicting demands for more power, luxury and miles per gallon...."

(excerpt)
"Asking an American to convert kilometers to miles per hour on the fly is like asking a dairy cow to do trigonometry. Thus, it was not until late in the evening that yours truly calculated that I had hit 145 mph in the Brabus-tuned 2005 Smart ... "

(excerpt)
"The 61^st Frankfurt International Motor Show featured a disparate mix of Teutonic sport cars, hybrid sport utilities and a head-spinning array of global partnerships. The only thing hotter than the stifling temperatures inside the show halls were rampant corporate rumors and maneuvers. ..."

(excerpt)
"The 9-3 compact sedan, which debuted in 1999 and was last redesigned in model-year 2003, has rescued Saab from the brink of extinction. But it's a bittersweet success story, as the car is definitely more conformist than past Saabs...."

(excerpt)
"As the Detroit auto show caters to America's "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford, Chrysler), Frankfurt is usually dominated by Germany's "Big Drei": BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen/ Audi. German brands take center stage, dominating the largest acreage of floor space, but there's always an international mix of vehicles..."

European First Drive: 2005 Citroën C4 VTS Coupe
Edmunds.com Inside Line, August 22, 2005

(excerpt)
"Adored by automotive eccentrics and feared by backyard mechanics, Citroën is loved and loathed for many of the same reasons. Since its founding in 1919, the unconventional French auto company has built cars featuring avant-garde styling and technology to match. Citroën has long been the wacky alternative to more mundane machinery, with aerodynamic designs, oddball interiors and notoriously complex hydraulic suspensions. ..."

(excerpt)
"The Reno impresses most on the highway. Despite its modest horsepower, it is a fairly quiet and
comfortable cruiser, made all the better by its well-isolated ride. A four-hour New England road trip -
accompanied by nothing but my favorite Guster CD and an IV drip of Starbucks coffee - went
smoothly..."

(excerpt)
"If variety is the spice of life, then Tatra was the European habanero pepper of the auto industry prior to World War II....At a time when a spindly Model T was just another used car, Tatra's wind-cheating wonders appeared to be leaping from a 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century' comic."

(excerpt)
"...This is not to imply that the tC is a messy hodgepodge of luxury car cues tacked on to a hatchback body. In fact, its looks elicited a deluge of positive responses while road testing in the New York metro area, especially from the young early adopters that Scion is so eager to lure into showrooms."

(excerpt)
"The Bentley Continental GT will turn its driver into a de facto spokesmodel, with junkets lurking at every parking lot, gas station and red light. Passers-by insist on sitting in the driver's seat — bouncing with glee once inside, exclaiming, "I'm in a Bentley, I'm in a Bentley!" Fellow motorists shouting questions and compliments ensure that the windows stay down, even in a light drizzle."

(excerpt)
"The Land Rover LR3 combines go-anywhere capability of past Land Rovers with a level of sophistication usually reserved for the brand's ultra-luxury Range Rover models. A new 216-horsepower, 4.0-liter, six-cylinder engine has been added to the lineup. But considering that the portly LR3 weighs well over three tons, drivers looking for brisk acceleration might favor the 300-hp, V8-equipped SE and
HSE models."

(excerpts)
-"Giving new meaning to the term "high resale value," a Louisiana family discovers that its mechanically troubled 1996 Toyota Camry is worth more than $40,000."

- "The diesel-powered Jeep Liberty may have a certain funky charm, but don't take that fuel economy rating on the window sticker too seriously."

Scion t2B concept
Mercedes Benz R350 and R500
Hyundai Azera
Bentley Continental
Flying Spur

Nick came home to New York to cover the 2005 New York Auto Show in April for The New York Times Online. As he did in Detroit, Nick produced several rapid fire 'first glance' reviews and went in front of the camera once again for a video review of the new Scion concept car.

Video review: Scion t2B

(excerpt)
"The 75th Geneva International Motor Show opened last week amid thumping club music, a fog of cigarette smoke and the blast of hot air that accompanies introductions of the latest dream machines from the world's auto manufacturers.

The Geneva show is consistently one of the most esoteric gatherings of the global auto industry..."

(excerpt)
"Many vintage racecars spend decades hidden from the world, condemned to exist as four-wheel paperweights because of their immense value - historical as well as monetary - and raucous road manners. Some collectors, thoughm view their pedigree racecars as living histories..."

First Glance Reviews:
Chrysler Firepower
Lexus LF-A
Lincoln Mark LT
Mercury Meta One
Toyota FT-SX
Infiniti M

Nick attended the 2005 Detroit Auto Show in January on behalf of the New York Times, for whom he contributed 'first glance' reviews as well as a video review of the Lexus LF-A. The video was a first for Nick, who had never previously appeared on camera for an auto review!

Video review: Lexus LF-A

(excerpt)
" - Ferrari's Formula One dominance continues, but Kimi Raikkonen, driver for the resurgent McLaren Mercedes-Benz team, made sure it was no Sunday drive for Michael Schumacher. ....

-It was a wild race in Toronto for everyone except Sebastian Bourdais. The young Frenchman stayed out of trouble while other drivers slid into walls, each other, or sometimes both."

(excerpt)
"Time is everything in the world of exotic automobiles, whether measured in tenths of a second in lap times, or in years of survival in an industry that has seen innumerable great marques come and go....Automobili Lamborghini is one of the finest examples of a company that has survived this test of time and has routinely matched the high performance of the vehicles it produces with a tenacious ability to endure the most difficult of circumstances."