PHOENIX — Since it was first introduced back in 1964 — almost 60 years ago — Mustang has been on the short list of cars most everyone wants to own. For decades Ford has created its own Mustang ecosystem with an interconnected stable of high-performance offerings like the Boss 302 and 429, Mustang Bullitt offered three times — 2001, 2008 and 2019, Mach 1 and the super rare SVT Cobra R, with only 300 copies ever built — all in red, to name just a few of many over the years.

INDIANAPOLIS — One of my favorite cars is the Moderne-style 1936 Stout Scarab  — a rear-engine aluminum forerunner to the minivan that was aimed at Hollywood’s elite as a more fashion-forward limousine.  Drivers worked in an airplane-inspired cockpit while passengers lounged in the rear. Kia harbors the Scarab’s spirit to create a glamorous and obscenely comfortable multi-purpose vehicle for all you carry. Just don’t call the 2022 Carnival a minivan.

PHOENIX — There’s a certain metronomic cadence relative to some of Mercedes’ new product introductions that’s reassuringly Germanic. Having previously driven the staggeringly powerful Mercedes-AMG A 45 sedan, I knew it was only a matter of time before the wizards of Affalterbach performance got their hands on Mercedes’s baby GLA SUV (built on the same platform) by fitting it with the hand-built searingly powerful and ridiculously quick 382-horsepower 2.0-liter twin-scroll turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

MIAMI — Ford put the Bronco on what would become a 25-year production hiatus after the 1996 model year even though just two years earlier it had been the most widely viewed SUV in the country. That was, of course, on June 17, 1994, when television cameras focused on Los Angeles freeways as A.J. Cowlings led LAPD and California Highway Patrol  officers on a slow-speed chase with his former Buffalo Bills teammate, O.J. Simpson, in the back holding a pistol and allegedly threatening suicide rather than face murder charges over the stabbing death of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Brown.

INDIANAPOLIS — Is it a luxury car or an all-capable pickup?  Well, in the case of the 2021 Ford F-250 Platinum Tremor, the answer is “both.”  Interior accommodations rival a Lincoln Navigator while its heavy duty engineering and off-road fortifications make it the ultimate pickup too.  It can take your family to church, then out to the wilderness to pray.  Just don’t ask it to squeeze into small spaces.  That’s not one of its luxuries.

INDIANAPOLIS — I have long been a fan of the Mini, a fun little zipper with classic British looks that can fillet cars way above its weight class.  About ten years ago, my family even bought a first-generation Countryman crossover.  It was underpowered, but drove like a BMW, got good gas mileage and had the best Harman Kardon audio system I’ve ever heard.  It became too small for our growing family, so it had to go.  I wonder if we would have made the same hard choice if we owned the 2021 Mini Countryman SE ALL4 “plug-in.”

MIAMI — A replacement for the aging CTS when it reached showrooms as a 2020 model, Cadillac’s CT5 — previewed at the 2019 New York Auto Show —  made a rather impressive debut by earning the No. 1 ranking for midsize sedans in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study. For 2021, it is offered in five trims, but this review will concentrate on the 2021 Cadillac CT5 V-Series edition that tops the portfolio at a starting MSRP of $48,700 when the $905 destination and delivery charge is tacked on.



PHOENIX — The Acura NSX supercar couldn’t help but turn heads and draw a crowd whenever I parked. The styling is gorgeous with an exterior design that’s enticingly worthy of praise. No crazy swoops, no melodramatic over-the-top spoilers at the rear or sculpted fins, rather styling that’s astonishingly beautiful, mostly. The snout is large and a bit on the fussy side, the rear a bit heavyset, but overall errs on mimicking the likes of the McLaren 570S in my eyes.

INDIANAPOLIS — Stellantis has been installing its Hellcat supercharged V8 engine in anything that can take it from the Dodge Challenger to the Jeep Grand Cherokee.  There’s been one notable omission until now:  The Ram pickup.  Not only is the 2021 Ram TRX the brand’s most off-road capable pickup, but it is also the fastest.  You can think of it as the Devil’s chariot. It looks like somebody thoroughly peeved it off.  Its snarling hood scoop tops a black mesh grille, slit headlamps, and painted panels that all appear to have melted around twin tow hooks. 

MIAMI — Fully redesigned for 2021, the Kia Sorento gets a new look as it enters its fourth generation along with an upgraded, premium-like interior, and a new hybrid drivetrain for the fuel-conscious consumer. My model for the week, the 2021 Kia Sorento Hybrid EX, came packed with all kinds of features included in its $38,205 MSRP (including $1,170 for destination and delivery) while earning fuel mileage ratings of 39 miles-per-gallon city, 35 highway, and 37 combined.