The brake pedal is down. The engine may even be running. Yet the gear lever remains planted in Park with the determination of a fence post. Pulling harder rarely improves the situation. It can, how
There are few sounds more effective at making a driver feel guilty than the crunch of a manual gearbox going into reverse. The clutch is buried in the carpet. The car is standing still. Everything see
Park some cars facing a garage door at night and start the engine. Before the wheels have moved an inch, the headlights perform a small piece of theater. The beams dip toward the ground, rise again
There is something reassuring about keeping an emergency window hammer in the car. It sits in the center console or door pocket, looking wonderfully uncomplicated. If the car ever ends up in water, ca
A slow turn into a parking space should not feel dramatic. The car is barely moving, the steering wheel is wound around and there is little opportunity for anything exciting to happen. Then a front
A car can leave a collision with a crushed bumper, broken lights and a hood folded into an expensive-looking shape, yet every airbag remains neatly hidden. From outside, that makes little sense. Th
Electric cars have developed a sound of their own. Not the familiar chug of an engine or the rising growl of an exhaust, but a smooth, slightly eerie hum that seems better suited to a spacecraft glidi
The emergency jack in a car’s trunk rarely inspires confidence. It is narrow, awkward and usually accompanied by a handle that looks as though it escaped from flat-pack furniture. Then ther
On a cold morning, the rear window begins clearing as expected. Most of the condensation disappears, but one neat horizontal stripe refuses to move. That stripe is useful evidence. The window has p
Few things make a car owner question reality quite like finding every window open in the morning. The doors are still locked. Nothing appears to be missing. There is no broken glass, no damaged wea