By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Interstate 95 is among the busiest north-south arteries in the country.

Spend a day on I-95 and you will discover many things about your vehicle such as how it performs in emergency handling situations, how fast it brakes from 75 miles per hour and how quickly it accelerates out of the danger of onrushing traffic.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Not since the once-vaunted Taurus left the building about a decade ago has Ford produced a car capable of going head-to-head in sales with the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

Ford once had bragging rights to the best-selling car in America. The Taurus was a ground-breaking aerodynamic sedan when it was introduced in 1986, perhaps the most important vehicle of that decade next to the Chrysler minivans. It soon gained status as the best selling car in America.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Once upon a time the homemaker wife needed a car to visit her sister. The husband, an auto dealer, was on a business trip and the only vehicle in the driveway was a 2006 Dodge Charger SRT8.

The wife’s choice boiled down to taking the Charger or staying home. Not likely.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Some vehicles simply defy soaring gas prices. No matter how insanely high pump prices go, these vehicles are still a “must have.”

Perhaps you will have to keep the old computer for another 12 months or put off the new riding lawn mower purchase for a year or two to keep your new motorized toy fueled and ready without throwing the household budget completely out of whack.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Chevrolet has put a bit of performance back into its model mix.

Improved performance is designated by the reemergence of the SS trim level, and there are nine Chevy models with the SS badge for 2006.

The SS or Super Sport performance package was first unveiled in 1961 and earned a place in automobile lore through the ’60s culminating with such beasts as the 1971 Malibu SS with 425 horsepower.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

We seldom get a car to evaluate in base trim level and with no options. Manufacturers usually send us an example of their top-level vehicle or at least a loaded-up version of a mid-level car.

They like to show off the top of the line — put their best foot forward — for all the obvious reasons. They always want to please the person evaluating and then writing about the car.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

It was like Christmas or Hanukkah all over again, but this gift was wrapped in black.

It made the festivities of just a few months ago seem more complete. The ultimate gift landed in our driveway late for the holidays but in time for joy never-the-less. And it didn’t get here intermixed in a sack full of toys, but a toy it is.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

General Motors Vice Chairman Robert Lutz was not happy during the Los Angeles Auto Show last January because some writers had called the Chevrolet HHR a Chrysler PT Cruiser clone.

That’s akin to waving a red cape in front of a raging bull.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

The 2006 Cadillac DTS is a modern technology-laden version of the big American luxury liner, a boat by any other name, DeVille.

With a hint of Cadillac’s current edgy styling, including a vertical headlamp theme and some sharply creased sheetmetal, the big Cadillac sedan is still the DeVille that a majority of Cadillac buyers have known and loved for more than half a century. Gone is the storied DeVille name, but the essence of the DeVille is there in the DTS from its softer ride to its spacious interior.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

People have joked for several years that the Toyota Avalon is the best Buick sold in America.

We’ve got an update. Stop the press for a bulletin - the all-new 2006 Buick Lucerne is now the best Buick sold between the Atlantic and the Pacific. It could be argued with conviction that it’s the best Buick ever built by Buick — or anyone else.