May 5, 2005: 2002 Ford Thunderbird. Click image to enlargeIn 1998, Volkswagen began selling its New Beetle, the car that revived the spirit of the original people's car. Then Chrysler followed suit in 2001 with its retro-themed PT Cruiser surfer-wagon, and BMW entered the fray in 2002 with its modern interpretation of the Mini Cooper. Ford decided it didn't want to be left out of all the fun and in 2002 it... Read Article

April 28, 2005: 1995 Lumina LS. Click image to enlarge By Chris Chase One of the most contentious issues in the automotive kingdom is that of the quality of modern domestic-built cars versus that of import models. Bring it up among a group of car nuts, and you're almost certain to spark a brawl worthy of an NHL playoff game. Individual opinions aside, the Big Three may not have the best reputations... Read Article

March 23, 2005: 2002 Kia Sportage. Click image to enlarge By Chris Chase Kia was the third of Korea's automakers, after Hyundai and Daewoo, to set up shop in Canada, importing its first vehicles under its own name into this country in 2000 (Ford sold the Kia-built Festiva/Aspire in the 80s and 90s). At that time, the company sold just two models here: the four-door Sephia sedan, and the subject of this ... Read Article

March 3, 2005: 2002 Chevrolet Astro. Click image to enlarge By Chris Chase In 1983, Chrysler Corporation caught the auto industry flat-footed with the introduction of its 1984 "Magic Wagon" minivans, vehicles which combined tremendous cargo space and seating for seven with driving characteristics similar to the front-wheel-drive K-Cars upon which they were based. The success of these innovative vehicle... Read Article

February 20, 2005: 1996 Toyota Avalon XLS By Bob McHugh If you're a baby-boomer like me, "Avalon" may bring to mind the mellow tones of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, however "Avalon" the car is made by Toyota and it's an extremely nice car. The idea was simple and a good one - build a bigger and better version of Toyota's top selling and award-winning import sedan the Camry, specifically for the Nor... Read Article

February 18, 2005: 1995 Nissan Pathfinder By Jeremy Cato It used to be that Jeep was to sport/utility vehicles what Kleenex was to tissue. That was when Jeep meant roughing it on four wheels and Kleenex meant help for a runny nose. But that all started to change back in the late 1980s -- especially when it came to the four-door kind of sport-ute. By then, this once non-existent niche was starting to get... Read Article

February 17, 2005: 1995 Mazda Protege, Click image to enlarge Mazda first introduced its urban commuter sedan, the four-door Protegé, as a 1990 model and by the time the second generation version arrived in the fall of 1994 (as a 1995 model) more than 200,000 Protegés had been sold in Canada. The '95 car was a big step forward for the Protegé. Thus, buyers in the used market should... Read Article

February 14, 2005: 2002 GMC Yukon. Click image to enlarge By Chris Chase Discuss this story in the forum at CarTalkCanada Find this vehicle in Autos’s Classified Ads There's something to be said for big SUVs. Little cars are great on gas and easy to park, for sure, but you can't tow a boat with a Kia Rio. Big trucks don't corner or handle worth beans, but there's something reassuring about the way a big,... Read Article

January 27, 2005: 2004 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT. Click image to enlarge By Chris Chase When Subaru introduced the third generation of its Legacy/Outback models in 2000, the company knew it had big shoes to fill. After all, the original Outback, introduced in 1996, was the car that had suddenly made it cool to drive a Subaru, by combining the foul-weather capabilities of a small SUV with the looks and driving ... Read Article

January 23, 2005: Click image to enlarge By Chris Chase There are many different opinions about what is most important when purchasing a car: some people prefer to buy only new cars to take advantage of the warranty. Others buy used to avoid the financial hit of depreciation. And then there is performance, looks, refinement, reliability and fuel economy and other subjective things. But for some buyers,... Read Article

January 16, 2005: Click image to enlarge As Canadians, we're unique for a lot of reasons: We eat beaver tails, we put images of wild animals on our coins and we all live in igloos (well, according to some Americans, at least). Honda's Acura division gave us another reason in 1997 - one that actually makes some of our neighbours south of the border a little jealous. The Civic-based 1997 Acura 1.6EL (so named... Read Article

December 9, 2004: 2002 Kia Spectra LS. Photos: Kia. Click image to enlarge By Grant Yoxon This week, the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada announced the category winners for 2005 Car of the Year. The winner in the Best New Economy Car class was Kia's redesigned 2005 Spectra. Class leading safety features like standard side curtain airbags and a low base price of just $15,995 were important fa... Read Article

November 25, 2004: 1999 Audi A4, European model shown. Click image to enlarge By Grant Yoxon The Audi A4 debuted in North America in 1996 replacing the Audi 90 and marked a big change for Audi. The A4 was everything the 90 wasn't - attractive, sophisticated and quick. Originally equipped with a 172 horsepower 2.8-litre V6, a 1.8-litre, 150 hp inline turbocharged 4-cylinder was added for the 1997 model ... Read Article