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As soon as Joachim Winkelhock burst out of the pits and toward Hatzenbach, it was clear that this was not going to be one of those tame exercises where a racing driver leads a procession of journalists at a funereal pace around the track, trying to familiarize them with every corner and desired racing line in a boring game of follow-the-leader. There was no time for such formalities, since the Nordschleife was booked and we were squeezing our drives into someone's lunch hour. Not to mention the fact that the 'Ring has some seventy-three turns and is thirteen miles around. Winkelhock's voice came crackling over the two-way radio with these simple instructions: "Try to stay close to me and follow my line as best you can." And with that, I followed Winkelhock's Opel Insignia OPC performance sedan out onto the track in a four-cylinder Buick.

Proof that the car market is overloaded with excess brands and a confusing of miasma models, the Ford Motor Company has terminated Mercury's long run. Production will end later this year for the four remaining models-Grand Marquis, Mariner, Milan, and Mountaineer. Approximately 1700 dealers currently offering the brand will move on to other endeavors such as Lincoln sales. The hop, skip, and jump through Mercury's history that follows is our fond farewell to the car named after the messenger to the gods.

1937: Against his near-senile father's intuitions, Edsel Ford identified an opportunity for a new brand positioned between mainstream Fords and upscale Lincolns. The hope was to raise the competitive game against GM's thriving Buick, LaSalle, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac nameplates.

The headline number for April new-cars sales is +20%. That figure represents the increase over last April, which you'll remember was a disaster of historic proportions. Still, the increase is another hopeful sign that, for the auto industry, the worst is now behind us. The pace of the recovery, however, is plodding. Volumes actually slipped a bit versus March, but the 11.5-million-unit annual sales rate still looks pretty decent compared to a year ago, when we were staring at a 9.5-million-unit year. No one is expecting a sudden downturn in the months ahead, so cautious optimism rules the day. - Joe Lorio

The headline number for April new-cars sales is +20%. That figure represents the increase over last April, which you'll remember was a disaster of historic proportions. Still, the increase is another hopeful sign that, for the auto industry, the worst is now behind us. The pace of the recovery, however, is plodding. Volumes actually slipped a bit versus March, but the 11.5-million-unit annual sales rate still looks pretty decent compared to a year ago, when we were staring at a 9.5-million-unit year. No one is expecting a sudden downturn in the months ahead, so cautious optimism rules the day. - Joe Lorioinline_mediumwraptextright0032728653/features/news/1005_2010_april_auto_sales1003_02_z+2010_buick_laCrosse_i-4+front_three_quarter_view.jpgtrue

Today was the fourth time I've driven on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the famously challenging, 13-mile racetrack in the Eifel Mountains of Germany. I had only two laps, but they were among the best I've had there, and they were in the unlikeliest of cars: the new 2011 Buick Regal. Yep, a Buick at the 'Ring. Who woulda thunk?inline_mediumwraptextright0027609932/reviews/driven/1004_2011_buick_regal2011-buick-regal-on-nurburgring-front.jpgtrue