Dan Jedlicka

Articles by Dan Jedlicka

Volvo P1800, 1961-1973 car review

The Volvo P1800 sports coupe seemed to come out of nowhere. It took everyone by surprise when it arrived in 1961 because Volvo was considered a sober Swedish automaker known to most Americans for plain-looking, rugged family cars. Volvo actually had made a few fiberglass-body sports cars called the Sport in the 1950s, but they came and went so fast you missed them if you blinked. Volvo actually was far more adventuresome than most Americans thought. Assar Gabrielsson, Volvo’s founder, had come to the United States in 1953 to study the market here and to examine the then-new fiberglass-body Chevrolet Corvette at its Flint, Mich., assembly line. He felt money could be made with a fiberglass body sports car. Volvo’s

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1955 Ford Thunderbird (two-seater), 1955-57 Car Review

The 1955 Ford Thunderbird two seater (1955-1957) is among the most iconic American cars. It’s been in television shows, movies and print advertisements and pictured on a U.S. postage stamp. The mass media often has mistakenly called any sporty looking car, like the Ford Mustang, a “sports car.” It’s given the 1955-57 Thunderbird the same description, although Ford stressed from the get-go its “new baby” was a “personal car.” Ford knew the sports cars market was very limited and calling the Thunderbird a “personal car” would give it broader appeal. The 1955-57 “T-Bird” was America’s second mass-produced sports car from a large domestic automaker, behind the Chevrolet Corvette. Smaller U.S. car producers, such as Nash and Kaiser, built a limited

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Hyundai Elantra, 2011 review

Why not get sub-compact car fuel economy with a slick compact auto that’s so roomy the EPA classifies it as a mid-size car and that even offers heated rear seats? Why not, indeed? That’s the question Hyundai asked itself and came up with its new sleekly styled 2011 Elantra sedan, which does all that . . . and then some. Hyundai is especially proud the EPA says all versions of the Elantra get an estimated 40 miles per gallon on the highway, with either a new six-speed manual gearbox or new six-speed automatic transmission. Estimated city economy for all versions is 29 mpg. “We don’t charge extra for any Elantra version with a 40-mpg rating,” quipped a Hyundai executive at

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Audi A8, 2011 review

The 2011 Audi A8 all-wheel-drive sedan has imposing styling, a fabulous interior and high-tech features that can be easily utilized if you spend some time studying them. This fourth-generation A8 — Audi’s flagship car — has a revised front end but looks basically unchanged. It continues to have the automaker’s nearly all-aluminum body/chassis structure that few Americans ever understood or fully appreciated. It makes this four-door very rigid and lighter than most rivals. The A8 is still a big guy at approximately 4,400 pounds, due partly to its all-wheel-drive hardware, and it has a longer wheelbase and overall length. It’s also wider. The new A8 4.2 comes in standard ($78,050) or extended-wheelbase ($84,000) forms and is powered by a sophisticated

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Chevrolet Volt, 2011: General Motors’ radical new green machine

The new compact Chevrolet Volt hatchback sedan is the world’s first mass-produced electric vehicle with extended range. It’s the most radical  General Motors high-volume car since the 1960s Chevy rear-engine Corvair, which was virtually buried  by the then-new conventional Ford Mustang. The front-wheel-drive Volt is the most mass-produced aerodynamic car Chevrolet has made to get maximum fuel efficiency. One aerodynamic trick is giving the car a phony grille. Air is fed to the engine compartment via an “under-grille” scoop below the bumper. The futuristic aerodynamic 1960s Studebaker Avanti used the same type of air induction. Still, the Volt  drew few extra glances despite clever design features, such as unusually aerodynamic rear styling. That’s the way Chevy wants it. “It’s more

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