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Wednesday, July 2, 2008 12:00 AM

Test drive: The Smart car is revolutionary

A car small enough to alter your relationship with the city.

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  • Wednesday, July 2, 2008 08:00 AM

    Auto Journalists

    Wolverine

    For the most part I no longer read reviews by professional auto journalists for several reasons. They are loaned cars by the auto companies that are invariably finely tuned by company mechanics before delivery to the journalist. In almost all cases the model they test drive is the most expensive and fully loaded one, not the one most car buyers would choose and not the one that accounts for the bulk the manufacturer's sales. Auto journalists as group prize acceleration and large size over any other characteristic of the cars they review. Sports writers and financial journalists are often criticized for being too close or beholden to the folks they write about but auto journalists make them look like pikers when it comes to shilling for the manufacturers. In short, I find auto journalists to be seldom believable and hopelessly compromised by the car manufacturers.

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