Auto News 5

Thanks to sporadic Facebook teasers and a limited-edition Neiman Marcus edition model, we've already seen the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible in almost its entirety. That didn't, however, stop Chevrolet from dropping a host of details on its new drop-top muscle car before its official debut at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The U.S.-spec Mitsubishi i-MiEV is considerably bigger than its Japanese counterpart, growing by nearly a foot in length (bringing overall length to 12 feet) and four inches in width to better fit the tastes of American consumers.

After six years with nary an update, the Volkswagen has finally revised the slow-selling Eos hardtop convertible, bringing its design in line with the new corporate face.

The design formerly known as the LRX was unveiled in coupe form at Paris, but the five-door Range Rover Evoque is a natural step for the purveyor of large, luxurious SUVs. To clear extra interior space for its people-carry intentions, the five-door version is 1.2 inches taller inside the cabin (thanks to a higher roofline) and over 2 inches wider to gain more shoulder room. Like the crossover-coupe design, this Land Rover is intended for four total occupants.

A Ferrari from miles away-miles. People told us as much: faces contorted through childish excitement at having seen, heard, and almost felt the sheer physicality of a 599GTO running fast. Sitting inside, torso pinched by carbon Sabelt buckets that shave nineteen pounds from a 599GTB's seat shell, you're aware of the noise, but it no longer registers as something especially notable, because there comes a point at which concentration overrules sensory faculties, and it wouldn't matter if the Concorde were taking off ten feet away.

I've driven every generation and iteration of Mazda Miata for the past twenty years, and I remain an enthusiastic fan. It's definitely a car I would like to have in my own garage. I hadn't driven one in a while and even though my drive this time was in rain, I still came away with a renewed appreciation for the Miata's purity of purpose, its simplicity, its smallness, and with the way it continues to prove the worth of its original premise: oneness of horse and rider. If you've never driven a Miata, you owe it to yourself to do so. There is no other car on the road today like it, especially now that the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky, admirable though lacking competitors that they were, are extinct.