The first minute is often the worst. You start the car, turn on the fan and get a brief gust that smells faintly sour or musty. By the time the cabin has cooled, the smell has faded enough to make you
Tire valve caps have a talent for disappearing. One drops beside the air pump, another vanishes during a tire change, and the next set you find online looks far nicer than the little plastic ones the
The old Renault 8 Gordini had four doors, a rear-mounted engine, and a reputation for making winding roads interesting. Renault’s latest interpretation keeps almost none of that formula. The new
Open a car door slowly and you may feel it pause partway, then settle again when opened farther. Those pauses are useful when you are climbing out beside another parked car. They also explain why a fa
There is a point in parallel parking when a space stops looking like a space and starts looking like a judgment of your driving. The front of the car is almost where it belongs. The rear is still out
A stubborn wheel nut invites a familiar response: a longer wrench, a firmer pull and perhaps a few unkind words. On certain older Chryslers, that approach can end with a snapped stud. The nut was neve
Washing a car in winter can feel wonderfully pointless. The bodywork is clean for perhaps half a journey. Then a truck passes in the opposite direction, the windshield receives a cold brown showe
Before tanks had tracks, someone had to imagine that an engine, armor and heavy weapons might belong on the same vehicle. Frederick Richard Simms did more than imagine it. At the end of the 19th ce
In 1974, a shipment of 1,000 boxy Swedish sedans arrived in North Korea. The cars were Volvo 144 GLs, sensible four-door machines known for sturdy construction, generous interior space and all the
Long before carmakers filled dashboards with screens, an important piece of engine information was displayed outside the windshield. Early automobiles often carried their radiator filler caps at