By Vern Parker

Long before Guy Hahs became a Sergeant Major in the U. S. Army he was bitten by the Corvette bug.

He recalls seeing his first Corvette as a pre-teenager in Stuttgart, Ark., as he cut through an alleyway on his way home from school. The car he saw was a second generation Corvette that had seen better days but it captured the attention of the 12 year old.

By 1990 Hahs took action and began searching for a vintage Corvette. After a couple of years he found a sad-looking 1975 Corvette coupe in Little Rock, Ark., in the spring of 1992. “It was next to a basket case,” Hahs says, “and it had been bubbasized.” Even so, Hahs bought the derelict because the price was right.

As the Army is wont to do Hahs was transferred to Maryland in 1993. He left his Corvette in Arkansas and sure enough he was reassigned to Arkansas in 1994.

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By Nick Yost

If an automaker wants to build a successful sports car or sporty coupe, there are three important targets to hit – price, performance and presence.

The Genesis Coupe, latest entry in the upwardly mobile product portfolio of South Korean manufacturer Hyundai, pretty much scores a bull’s eye in each category.

The pricing starts at $22,750 for a generously equipped coupe powered by a turbocharged 210-horsepower, four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

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By Nick Yost

Oh, how often it is that we enthusiasts rue the passing of so many simple driving pleasures.

Unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that there is no reset button on the calendar that lets us erase our travel through time as if it were nothing more than miles accumulated on our car’s trip odometer

There is, however, a way for those of us hard-wired to the automotive adventure to slip back through the years and recapture, at least briefly, the simple joy of hopping into the car and taking a spin just for the fun of it.

Our time-travel ticket is the Miata. A light and lively two-seat roadster that Japanese manufacturer Mazda has been building for the last 20 years. It combines superb driving dynamics with the tactile pleasure of top-down motoring.

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By Ted Orme

There’s a little “bad boy” in most car nuts, even those of us drawing Social Security. And in this era of economic recession and environmental correctness, what could be badder than spending a surf-fishing vacation in a monster SUV that costs more than my first house, tips the scales just shy of three tons, and is powered by a 317 horsepower V-8 that leaves a heavy carbon footprint? That’s the top-of-the-line Nissan Armada Platinum Edition 4, and like most sinful extravagances, it was wonderful.

No, I wouldn’t recommend this beast as a single driver commuter vehicle that you can’t stuff into many underground urban parking lots. But as a versatile, ultra-luxurious, feature laden people and cargo hauler, top rated tow vehicle and adventure ready off-roader, the aptly named Armada is tough to beat..

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By Vern Parker

Jerry Laski hasn't always owned his 1973 Mercury Cougar XR7 convertible . His first new car was a 1971 Ford Torino GT but after that car was totaled in November 1983 he began looking for a replacement.

After months of searching for a suitable replacement Laski saw a newspaper ad offering the Mercury for sale. “I drove to Great Falls, Va., to inspect the Cougar,” Laski says. His attention was captured by the Gold Glamour Poly-colored stylish convertible with white leather interior.

Original documents with the well-equipped car indicate that it was ordered with options including a 351 Cobra Jet engine, a C6 automatic transmission, Traction-lok differential, power steering, power seat, air conditioner, AM/FM radio, body side molding, intermittent windshield wipers, appearance protection group, color keyed racing mirrors, tinted glass and power side windows.

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