I miss Pasteiner’s. The Woodward Avenue store was a mecca for car enthusiasts looking for that one elusive die-cast model or obscure Italian sports car coffee-table book. It also hosted a wonderfully casual Cars & Coffee on Saturday mornings. Even when winter was bitch-slapping us with salt and arctic wind, odds are…

Summer was a time of transition for me. I moved from Metro Detroit back to Chicagoland, and found a (horrifyingly busy) new job to keep me insured while I attempt to strike out as a freelancer. Sadly, this means I’ve had to leave behind Detroit’s amazing Cars & Coffee weekend events. Mostly.

The rush of wind you felt recently was the pent-up sigh of a million twenty-somethings finally seeing Incredibles 2. I was slightly too old to fall head-over-heels for the first movie when it came out—but I was still excited to see the sequel with my friends. It was a bit weird, coming back to a bit of childhood as an…

I think I have the automotive version of SAD (seasonal affective disorder): SAD-MC. As in, “Seriously, Another Dang Muscle Car?” Though SAD-MC would be an interesting DJ name.

To this day, the only car with leather seats my parents have ever owned is their 1994 Cadillac DeVille. That car was low (as a kid I often climbed onto the roof from the trunk), softly sprung, and had ashtrays filled with old candy wrappers. That last part wasn’t a standard feature, I was just lazy and no one in my…

That annoying screech in the distance you just heard was my voice cracking in the middle of shouting Hallelujah. For a miracle has occurred.

It didn’t look this steep from the ground. But once you climb the steps and look down...it gives me a new level of respect for NASCAR drivers. Not to mention the racers here tonight, their wakes whistling past me as they fight for first place, lap after lap. They share the same primal drive to win, the need to keep…

These past few weeks, one song’s featured heavily in my YouTube history: the late Japanese producer Nujabes’ “Shiki no Uta”, the beautiful ending theme to the phenomenal anime series Samurai Champloo. Please, before you do or read anything else, just take five minutes and do your ears an enormous favor, and listen:

There’s something satisfyingly solid about metal, especially steel. When you pick up an old wrench, you feel the cold handle slowly warm. It feels reassuringly heavy, dependable, when you heft it. The Man of Steel. Steel is real. It’s why it’s used in bike frames, and pickup truck beds.

Automakers dabbling in the world of cycling is nothing new. Peugeot was a bike maker way before they switched to cars, and bikes bearing the Peugeot name continue to be made in Europe to this day. Lotus famously designed the Type 108, one of the first carbon-monocoque aero bikes used in competition, and the bike…

I remember getting into the Hummer H2, as a kid at the Chicago Auto Show. I remember how unbelievably huge it felt. I remember climbing into the frankly enormous backseat, feeling like I was back at recess on the jungle gym. I remember walking around with my dad, joined off-and-on throughout the years by my uncle.

The Toyota Supra is, at this point, the Kingdom Hearts III of cars—or maybe the Final Fantasy VII remake. Teased endlessly, paraded in tiny, camouflaged doses every so often. We were always told a release date would be nigh, and yet four years after the show-stopping FT-1 concept debuted...nothing. I earned a master’s…

Venerated, replicated, but never quite duplicated, the Lancia Stratos rightly deserves its legendary status. Over the years, modern versions have attempted to recapture the spark of the original. One was even featured on Top Gear.

Commenters on Oppositelock and Jalopnik love taking pot-shots at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Though FCA has blessed the world with the likes of the Hellcat family pride, the hellishly-quick and over-the-top Demon, the 500 Abarth pocket-rocket, and stylish Pacifica, it’s arguably just as well known for its CEO’s…

Winter is often dreary: heavy iron skies, biting cold, salt and slush coating everything. But not every day is cruel. And even on miserable-looking days, one of the best ways to conquer the season’s doldrums is to get outside and move. It’s why I keep biking throughout the winter: it lets me get places without using…

I love going to Cars & Coffee events. It’s a chance to admire IRL what I’ve usually only seen on a computer screen or in a book. Reading about a Caterham Seven isn’t the same as squeezing into one. Seeing the grinning face of an Austin-Healey Sprite in person puts an effervescent smile on your face in a way a photo…

There’s practically nothing that hasn’t been shoved into a Miata’s engine bay. K24's, V6's, K20's, rotary engines, turbos, superchargers, and of course, the LS V8. Like the original Mini, the Miata is a blank canvas that anyone and everyone can turn into their own piece of art. Supplying a lot of the paint is Flyin’…

I’m liking The Grand Tour’s second season. Female tame racing driver, great locales, and some truly fun times (especially the latest episode, which has an amazing Lancia 037 vs. Audi Quattro segment). It’s also a great source of mystery, and I’m not just talking about how weird it is that they haven’t mentioned Abbie…

Most days, you just want a cup of good coffee. Nothing fancy, but something better than the office Mr. Coffee. You can’t walk down most city streets today without seeing a cafe styled in exposed metal and brick, maybe with a fixie or cafe racer in the window. It can be intimidating, though, stepping in there: all…

Motoring enthusiasm is something that has to be lived. You can read all the reviews you like, but until you climb behind the wheel of a Miata and hustle down a beautiful road, you will never truly understand it. Watching an IndyCar race on TV or on a smartphone may be convenient, but until the Wall of Sound throbs…