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Months in service: Four
Miles to date: 9004

Love the flat-bottom steering wheel and its Alcantara trim. Love the fabulous cream-colored sport seats over a black interior. Love the engine and the sounds it makes. Love the downshift blips from the seven-speed automatic.

Before Fiat bought Chrysler, the Italians were attractive potential partners to suitors from all over the automotive world. This appeal was not only recognized by Opel, who later withdrew from the alliance and fell back into the General Motors fold. Around that time, Mercedes-Benz seriously considered Fiat for a strategic alliance like the one they've since entered with Renault-Nissan. On numerous occasions, Volkswagen Group put out their feelers, too, but Ferdinand Piech's squad was primarily interested in Alfa Romeo.

Almost two years before the first front-wheel-drive BMWs arrive, we've dug up enough information to put together a detailed idea of what the model range will look like. BMW will develop its front-wheel-drive portfolio simultaneously with the next-generation Mini lineup on the UKL1 architecure. The collaboration will result in three BMW-Mini pairings with each set distinguished by a unique door arrangement. The vehicles, which will arrive at the beginning of the 2013 model year, are:

The Nissan Murano skipped a model year back in 2008 but came back to us recharged and revitalized for 2009. It hasn't been long since its refresh, but the contemporary midsize crossover will once again be altered with changed looks and a new SV trim.