Merkur XR4Ti. Now there’s a name that really rolls off the tongue. Nothing says desirable European performance car quite like a badge that looks like something printed on the side of a prescription bottle. The funny thing is, underneath that unfortunate name was actually a pretty interesting car. Maybe even a pretty good one. I saw my share of XR4Tis back when they were simply used cars rather…

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The 1980s were not exactly Chrysler’s finest hour. The company had spent the previous decade being battered by fuel shortages, rising gas prices, tighter emissions rules, Japanese competition and, eventually, its own financial problems. By the time Lee Iacocca arrived and started trying to drag Chrysler back from the edge, Detroit had already learned that the big, thirsty cars Americans once took…

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The 1985 K-20 Silverado is all about old-school simplicity, square-body styling, and rugged truck character. The 2026 Silverado 1500 brings more power, comfort, technology, and everyday refinement—but also a lot more complexity.

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Car enthusiasts have been performing stupid car tricks for generations. The tricks change, the cars change, and apparently our ability to convince ourselves that something looks cool never does. When I was about 17, we used to put air shocks on the back of our cars, pump them up until the rear end was sticking noticeably higher than the front, and then stuff the biggest, fattest tires we could…

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When you think about Subaru, the first vehicle that probably comes to mind is the Outback. Maybe the Forester. These days, the Crosstrek is probably somewhere on that list too. If you’re more of a tuner or rally enthusiast, the first Subaru that comes to mind is probably the WRX. The Impreza? I had almost completely forgotten Subaru still made one until I found myself sitting next to a new Impreza…

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Americans don’t buy station wagons anymore, or at least that’s what automakers keep telling us. Apparently, if you take that same station wagon, raise it a couple of inches, wrap some black plastic around the wheel openings, add roof rails and call it an SUV, we’ll line up around the block for one. Honda may be getting ready to test that theory with the Accord. Recent reports suggest Honda has…

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By the early 2000s, Mercury was not exactly overflowing with excitement. So, in an attempt to breathe some life into the brand, Ford reached back to Chevrolet’s old Impala SS playbook: take a large, sensible sedan, paint it Amish black, add oversized wheels and shove a 300-horsepower V8 under the hood. On paper, the Marauder sounded like a desperate parts-bin exercise. In person…

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Thirty years later, the Chevrolet Beretta Z26 is still a good-looking car. In fact, its low nose, clean profile and unapologetically ’90s styling look far more interesting today than another dime-a-dozen SUV covered in cheap black plastic, wearing a grille the size of a garage door and pretending its molded bumper trim contains actual exhaust outlets. I considered making this another “Great But…

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Somewhere along the way, Americans decided that reaching retirement age meant buying an SUV. Preferably one tall enough to require a running board, a grab handle and the flexibility of a retired gymnast just to climb aboard. The reasoning is understandable. SUVs provide an upright driving position, good visibility and the reassuring feeling that you are sitting above traffic rather than…

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There comes a point in every used-car shopper’s life when Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and the back row of a buy-here-pay-here lot start to feel less like transportation shopping and more like urban archaeology. You are not looking at cars anymore. You are studying remains. A 2009 crossover with three different tires, a check engine light covered by electrical tape, and a seller who says…

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