Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG 4MATIC Coupe
Mention the letters AMG to any car enthusiast and vivid images of high-powered sporty Mercedes-Benz automobiles immediately come to mind. Thus when I received the weekly call as to what I would be driving for the week, I immediately had an ear-to-ear grin on my face when I heard the sweet words “AMG S63 Coupe” ….Wow! Read more
Welcome back Ferrari Challenge to the Homestead-Miami Speedway. After Skipping Miami altogether in 2014 and changing to a hot and typically rainy late summer schedule in 2013, the event is back in the right date, glorious cool-weather March. Although some unseasonably windy and rainy weather hovered around South Florida the entire March 7-8 weekend. Ferrari does a great job mixing racing and lifestyle by getting its dealers and their clients actively involved. On the morning of Saturday, there was a swanky breakfast Hosted at The Collection in Coral Gables, followed by a caravan of over 50 cars driving directly to the track. The North America schedule consists of the season opener in January in Daytona followed by Homestead/Miami, Sonoma, Montreal, Mosport, Mont Tremblant, and the season finale, in late October in Laguna Seca, California.
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Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4 (2015)
Like most teens in the 80’s, I had a poster of the Lamborghini Countach super-car on my bedroom wall and spent countless hours dreaming about how it would be to drive one of these exotics. This opportunity came years later, but not with a Countach. It was in the all-new Huracán, which, hands down, is one of the most beautiful cars designed so far in the 21st century. Read more
BMW M4 Convertible (2015)
Iconic cars can be tricky in their evolution for manufacturers. Take for example Porsche with their 1st non-air cooled 911 back in 1999 or Mercedes-Benz with their current generation SL, which turned out to be nice to drive, but not so good to look at. Read more
Subaru WRX STi Limited (2015)
Say the words Subaru WRX STi to most males under 40 and they simply smile, knowing full well that it’s a special car. Thankfully Subaru knows this and the newest generation of this famous moniker is now available at dealerships. With every generation of the STi, there is greater sophistication, capability and power. It is now more grown up yet able to get away with an outrageous and I’ll admit, cool rear wing spoiler and multiple body flares, which seem to work perfectly with the newest generation of this boy-racer sport sedan. Read more
Hyundai Genesis 5.0 (2015)
In 2009 Hyundai introduced their first upscale model, the Genesis. This full sized budget-luxury sedan was met with equal parts fanfare and pundits. As it turned out, Hyundai was right and this first generation luxury sedan brought credible success to this new sub-brand for the Korean manufacturer. We had the opportunity to drive several versions of the original Genesis sedan and we liked it, yet it lacked aplomb in its driving behavior. Six model years went by and Hyundai worked hard to redesign the Genesis which is now available as a 2015 model with two engine sizes, the 311 V6 or the high power buttery-smooth 420 HP V8. We drove the larger engine version for one week and came away quite impressed with the latest Genesis. Read more
Cadillac XTS (2014)
Growing up, my father had a perpetual string of Cadillac Fleetwoods which he loved. These where large, comfortable luxo-barges of the 1970’s and 80’s that coddled six occupants and isolated them from the road. The world has moved on and today the largest Cadillac sedan available is the XTS. Even though it’s no Fleetwood, it does a great job as the brand’s full-sized sedan flagship (for the time being). Read more
BMW M6 Gran Coupé (2014)
BMW has hit it out of the park with their newest M series. The lines are sumptuous and the look, regardless of which angle you view it from, is superb. Based off the 5 Series platform, this is a four-door coupe that truly offers agility, luxury, performance and comfort. Read more
VW Beetle (2013)
Built in Puebla Mexico, the redesigned 2013 Beetle is significantly improved over the previous generation model. We had the opportunity of driving a turbo cabriolet Beetle for a week and found it to be a pleasant surprise all around. The look of the new model is all Beetle, yet seems less polarizing than before. Yes, I will come out and say it, the previous generation Beetle was a girls car! Read more
Text and photos by: Juan G. Robbin
Art Basel Miami has become the place to be the 1st week in December for avant-garde art collectors as well as car manufacturers. This year, BMW presented two special cars in two gorgeous venues. The U.S. introduction of BMW’s 17th Art Car. This particular car being a BMW M3 GT2 race-car done by artist Jeff Koons. Read more
