DRIVEN: Mazda 3 5-door, Grand Touring

I generally love Mazdas.  Mazdas are generally more sporty and more expressive cars than the models by other carmakers with which they compete.  And the Zoom-zoom brand has also given us great sports cars such as th RX-7, RX-8, and the best compact British sports car...

LIMITED EDITION SHELBY TERLINGUA MUSTANG RETURNS

News from my friends at Shelby American that I thought you might enjoy knowing about…MS Only 75 total (50 for the USA and 25 international) Shelby Terlingua Mustangs will be built 750+ supercharged V8 offered for the first time in a Shelby Terlingua Mustang Each...

FOR SALE: 1979 Chevrolet El Camino V-8

For reasons I won’t bore you with, I ended up with this ’79 El Camino and don’t need it in my fleet. So its for sale. I’d call it a good driver quality piece, better than a beater or a parts car but nobody’s show car. Runs and drives...

DRIVEN: 2015 RAM Promaster City Wagon SLT

I love vans. Always have, both in the custom, surf wagon, shag carpet and 8-track sense, and because of their inherent practicality. I owned an old Econoline back in the day, and would own another van if I had need (or room) for one. My general preference is for...

2015 San Marino Motor Classic

This show took place nearly six months ago, so I’m almost embarrassed to finally be putting up these photos now. But its such a great show, and I didn’t want to waste Kirk Gerbracht’s great photos, and this can also serve as a calendar alert for the...

SPEED READING: James Dean, On the road to Salinas

Last September 30 marked the 60th Anniversary (September 30, 1955) of the death of actor James Dean, as he and his mechanic were involved in a tragic, fatal accident as they were driving from Los Angeles to Monterey for an SCCA sports car race.  Along with the...

DRIVEN: 2016 Nissan Titan XD pickup trucks

I love big, sturdy pickup trucks. Of course pickups are built in many parts of the world, and serve many global markets.  My favorites are what I’ll call, for lack of a better term, American style pickups.  Large, capable, sturdy, long lived, powerful.  And up...

DRIVEN: 2016 Nissan Altima

I’ve liked the Nissan Altima ever since, in 2002, Nissan threw away the old Stanza based Altima, and restyled and really grew the car up to the segment.  In 2002 came new styling, new underpinnings, finally a V-6 engine option, all in a segment appropriate size...

Visit Nostalgia Street Rods in Las Vegas

Let me clue you in to the coolest little hot rod collection / museum that you’ve probably never heard of, and I’ll bet you’ve never seen. It’s called Nostalgia Street Rods. It’s all been assembled by The Goldstrom family, husband Art,...

Book signing this weekend at Blackhawk

Hope I’ll see you in Danville on Saturday morning. Even if you have no interest in my or any books, I promise you’ll love this museum.  Details just...

November 7, Book signing calender alert

  Just a quick reminder that if you live or are going to be near the San Francisco Bay area next weekend, I’d love to meet you at the justifiably famous Black Collection museum in Danville. I’ll be giving a brief talk and slide show entitled Legends,...

Guest Blog: Serpents in the Garden

Commentary and photos by Kirk Gerbracht Ultimately, it’s great cars that make a great car show.  But sometimes the venue can add a little something extra to create the perfect event.  Such was the case with Serpents in the Garden.  A little more than a year after the...

Driven: 2015 Chevrolet Camaro SS

As you know, a much revised Camaro is on its way for 2016; the car moves from its previous Australian Holden based chassis architecture to another global GM platform which will make it easier to produce and offer more flexibility in terms of options and technology,...

Montrose Village Classic car show

Every year, my local area merchant’s village in Montrose, California puts on a summer car show.  Montrose is often referred to as “Mayberry RFD” due to its clean, homespun personna.  The village has become a kind of trendy happening place as of late,...

Driven: 2015 Chevrolet Trax LT FWD

As an automotive writer, road tester, and studier of the business, I’ve always found cost effective, economical transportation as important a subject as all the fast and dangerous stuff.  As much as I love Porsches, Ferraris, AMG Mercedes, and all that fast and...

Welcome to the revised MattStoneCars.com

  Thank you for continuing to visit my site. I hope you’ve noticed that we’ve freshened things up here a bit lately. The site functions much as it did before, but has been mildly redesigned in order to be more attractive, a little easier to use, and...

Blackhawk Museum Book Signing: Saturday, November 7, 2015

  If you plan on being in Northern California on Saturday, November 7, 2015, please come visit me at my book signing at the world class Blackhawk Automotive Museum and Collection.  I’ll be signing four books that day, McQueen’s Machines, Winning: The...

Reviewed: EVO SUPERCARS

  England’s EVO magazine is in my opinion, one of the world’s best enthusiast car magazines. The writing is generally good, the stories well conceived, they dig up good news and dirt, and the photography and graphics are compelling. Every so often,...

JAMES GARNER’S MOTORING LIFE book wins IAMA silver medal

I’m honored to tell you that my latest book, James Garner’s Motoring Life, has earned an International Automotive Media Award silver medal, meaning it placed second in its category. Certainly this honors me personally and professionally, but more...