Diesel without the Sacrifice Story and photos by Budd Stanley, additional photos courtesy of BMW Late November 2007, I found myself lapping BMW’s Performance Driving Centre in the driving rain behind the wheel of the all-new BMW X5. With one of the head engineers guiding me around the track, he claimed to me that this new “SAV” or Sports Activity Vehicle as BMW insisted on calling it, could handle a corner as well as its 3-Series sibling.

Lamborghini Insecta Concept By Shaun Keenan If you’re one of the over 28-million Internet users in this country and frequent a lot of automotive blog sites, you may have stumbled across this exotic-looking concept car when it began appearing online in February. It’s called the Lamborghini Insecta Concept and if you’re a fan of the Italian super car brand like myself, it most likely got your attention for a few reasons. First, its buggish name flies in the

City Commuter Special Review and Photos by Gerry Frechette Electric cars have been around as long as the car itself, over 100 years. The issues with electrics have always been major ones. Things like cost, range, cold-weather performance, speed, weight, and charging time all go to the heart of the ownership experience. But, as in most fields, modern technology has a way of making large concerns into smaller ones. The lithium-ion battery is the game-changer for the auto

Keeping Up Appearances Review and Photos by Gerry Frechette One of the hottest market segments these days is the premium-branded mid-size crossover vehicle, which give you the cachet of the sedans on which most of them are based, with the added room, utility and commanding driving position of a small SUV. Hard on the heels of its new A4 sedan, Audi now offers the Q5, and the parameters listed above pretty much describe this latest effort from Ingolstadt.

Interview by Gerry Frechette George Barris needs little introduction, as the King of the Kustomizers has seen and done it all in the custom car field, for going on 70 years now. He shows few signs of slowing down, with many projects on the go, and when he was in Abbotsford at the B.C. Classic and Custom Car Show, he took some time to chat with us. RPM - What was the first break that was the

Recalls are nothing new in the auto business. When you build hundreds of thousands of cars a year, little problems are bound to pop up from time to time. In the most important recall since the infamous Ford/Firestone fiasco, Toyota’s “unintended acceleration” recall is a serious affair with dire consequences. Late in 2009, in the early days of the controversy, the problem of throttle pedals getting stuck under floor mats in full-throttle positions was addressed

Mark Jennings-Bates is a man with a sense of adventure. Someone who loves a good challenge. Next January, Mark will be taking on the challenge of a lifetime - actually two. Mark has just recently been named to the first ever Bowler factory team to contest the 2011 Dakar rally. As if trying to survive the world’s toughest motorsport event wasn’t enough, he also hopes to save 200,000 people in South America and Africa. By

The annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance that showcases the most elegant automobiles on the planet, is inviting motorcycles to appear on its show field for the first time. A select group of motorcycles among the classic Bentleys, Bugattis and Ferraris, including Vincents, Brough Superiors, Nortons, BSAs, Velocettes, Triumphs, and Ariels, will debut on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links. This year’s class of motorcycles will focus on British bikes built through 1959, and collectors

By Ian Harwood, You enjoy bike riding with your family, or maybe the thrill of racing down a mountain on some bike trail. This type of activity takes away the daily stress everybody seems to encounter in tough economic times, but what about the stress of getting the bikes to where you want to ride without any damage? Swagman Industries has a complete line of bike racks with hitch, trunk, towing, tire or roof rack mounting

Story by Budd Stanley, photos courtesy of BMW MINI The year was 1956. The Suez Crisis meant that fuel rationing was once again put into place in the UK, and German Bubble Cars (the Messerschmidt KR175, KR200, and FMR Tg500, as well as the BMW Isetta 300) were beginning to be a popular choice of affordable transportation. Furious that the British did not have a car to combat this swing to miniature cars, BMC (British Motor