Wheels Archive

Wheels - Two for the Show

The Porsche speedster with German efficiency almost cossets the driver, while the new, open-top Lamborghini Performante offers an uncompromising thrill ride

BY PAT DEVEREUX

Wheels - A Modern Classic

Nothing was wrong with the outgoing Jaguar XJ, other than the fact that no one could tell when you had bought a new one. Enter the 2011 XJ, and all that changes.

BY PAT DEVEREUX

Road Work

While NASCAR executives cringe when they see mangled metal on the racetrack, they’re enjoying the sight of bent, twisted, and ripped-from-the-chassis sheet metal mounted on the walls of their offices

Janice Kleinschmidt

Wheels - Spooky Smooth

You might reasonably expect anything with the name Ghost to have an ethereally light touch, be whisper quiet, and offer supernatural levels of speed and agility. But to expect that of a 5,450-pound, very large, four-door car is probably pushing it a bit.

PAT DEVEREUX

California Screamin’

The 2010 Ferrari California represents many firsts for the company. It’s the marque’s first front-engine V8, first hard-topped convertible, first model to offer seven forward gears, and several other things besides.

BY PAT DEVEREUX

Intelligencer - Driven to Play

The Finnish factory that makes the Porsche Cayman and Boxster now makes a luxury golf car. . The Garia is sold locally by Yamaha Golf Cars of Palm Springs in La Quinta. Prices start at $17,499.

Wheels - Less Punk, More Sinatra

It might look like it has just driven out of someone’s vivid fantasy, but the Spyker Aileron C8 Coupe has a heritage that stretches back almost to the 19th century. It’s more like the forgotten grandfather than a new kid on the block — older than Ferrari and Lamborghini combined.

BY PAT DEVEREUX

PSST - What’s Under the Hood, Al DiMora?

Al DiMora’s lair in an inconspicuous Palm Springs industrial park holds many marvels of innovation. From Batman’s car (from the 1992 film Batman Returns) to an armored and armed spec vehicle for the U.S. Border Patrol, a fantastic story roars in every engine.

Steven Biller

Bugatti Road Test 2.0

Or, why you should stop worrying and revel in the Grand Sport Experience.

By Pat Devereux

Ducati: The Lifestyle

Motorcycles line the curb outside Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on El Paseo in Palm Desert. A la Sgt. Esterhaus, Kevin Gettmann instructs the riders to be safe out there. But these are not cops, and their motorcycles are far from standard issue. They’re mostly red — Ducati red, to be exact.

BY JANICE KLEINSCHMIDT