By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(April 24, 2014) By the time the New York Auto Show show opened last week, the weather was warmer back home in Michigan, despite an early week snowfall that helped Detroit eclipse the 1880 record of 93.2 inches of snow. And if you could wade through the nonsense, like putting the 2015 Mustang atop the Empire State Building 50 years after the first time this stunt was performed, there were many things to see on the floor of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(April 6, 2014) In the maelstrom swirling around GM’s defective ignition switches is the suggestion that future safety lapses could be prevented if jail time was part of the deal. On its surface, it is a seductive notion that fits with today’s “make the bastards pay” mentality that pits one side eternally against the other.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(March 9, 2014) Unlike Michigan, which is in the midst of the coldest winter in 36 years and the snowiest in 133 years, Geneva, Switzerland had highs in the upper 40s and less snow than expected. Being the neutral country and banking center that it is, the Geneva Auto Salon was home to a number of world premiers, some of which we covered in the run-up to the show. What follows are the most interesting, strangest and most important of the introductions that took place during press days.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(March 2, 2014) Maybe the Polar Vortex is the true manifestation of Hell freezing over. If it is, this could be the vehicle that caused everyone “down there” to order down-filled parkas. The first front-drive BMW production car shares its platform and powertrains with the new Mini Cooper, and is the reason the latest Mini has lost some of the handling sparkle of the 2003-2007 model.

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(February 25, 2014) Mercedes and Renault are partners in the luxury sphere (Infiniti and Mercedes will share technology, powertrains and, possibly, platforms), but the first fruits of this collaboration will combine the talents of Renault and smart to produce a replacement for Renault’s Twingo and smart’s ForFour.