In addition to the corporate grin, the face-lifted MX-5 receives new taillights and side skirts, intended to give the roadster a more mature, appealing look. The 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine also gets upgraded, with a forged steel crank and connecting rods, stronger wrist pins and firmer valve springs combine with a new oil-cooler to make possible a 500 RPM higher redline; now 7,200 RPM. That doesn't deliver anything in the way of improved top-end power — still 167 HP — but it does allow you to hang on to a lower gear in corners for longer, something that will return a real, on-the-road, performance increase. Fuel economy also is nudged up slightly — now 21 city, 28 highway — but enthusiasts will care more about the intake noise, which, thanks to revised ducting, now sounds more like the roar of the 1990 original's than the stifled meow of the 2006 model's.

There's also a new, optional $500 sports suspension with firmer springs, Bilstein dampers and a limited-slip differential. This Grand Touring package, Power Retractable Hard Top version was equipped with that and every other option aside from the slushbox, bringing the price up to $31,010, but you can still get a soft top with a stick for just $22,420.

So, while face-lifts and tummy tucks are now well within the acceptable bounds of manhood, why did I get scared shitless in a cute little roadster that takes 6.9 seconds to reach 60 MPH? Two reasons. One; the MX-5 offers an unrivaled sense of occasion at legal speeds and two; I'm a terrible passenger.

I've spent years trying to become a good driver and the result of on-track training, learning from lots of mistakes and racking up hundreds of thousands of miles in fast cars is that I drive by-the-book and very smoothly. Ride with me, even when I'm going fast, and you could fall asleep. The problem is, if I'm riding with you, I can't. I'll be busy spotting every little mistake, silently critiquing each and every one of your turn-in points and cringing every time you step outside the bounds of what I consider appropriate. In short, I'm anal.

Riding along a mountain road with another journalist, my lack of confidence combined with his lack of discipline — in-corner downshifts, unintentional trail braking, changing lines in corners — had even my consistently high fear level hitting unprecedented heights. Even with the newly recalibrated stability control on, the tail was moving around on entry and exit. Well, I was scared until I looked at the speedometer, which was sitting squarely within legal limits.

You see, weighing just 2,511 LBS with a folding hard top and equipped with skinny 205/45-17 tires the MX-5 offers an experience wholly absent from other modern cars — even the more capable Lotus Elise — it's involving and exciting at relatively low speeds, just like a British sports car from the ‘50s or ‘60s. The relatively low power and rev-happy nature of the engine also helps, you never find yourself with more power than you can use, meaning you can use it all.

Of course, all the things that make the MX-5 bad for a nervous passenger also make it great for the enthusiast driver. Start out down a mountain road with every intention of behaving and by the time you've reached the third corner you'll be pushing the communicative front on the way in and, depending on how tight the corner is, either lifting or flooring the throttle to play with the rear on the way out. It's really only first or second gear hairpins in which you can do the former, but even the latter is extremely safe and easy; lower limits equal a broader range of slide with little chance of a spin.

The MX-5 is now fitted with a newly recalibrated stability control system that allows a couple of degrees of slide before kicking in, but the chassis is so friendly and so willing to tell you what it's doing that there's really no need. Don't be afraid to switch it all the way off.

If you're tough enough to live with the bouncy ride and buzzy engine in everyday driving and comfortable enough to deal with the questionable looks and aggressive behavior from overcompensating SUV drivers, the MX-5 can still deliver the thrill of real driving. For the enthusiastic driver that's a hugely welcome change from overly-competent and underly-involved modern performance cars. Just tell nervous passengers to man up.

Photography credit: Grant Ray

Full Disclosure: Ford wanted me to drive the new Ford Fusion so badly they flew me out and put me up in a nice hotel to make sure I wrote about it. Also, they fed me candy. Sweet, sweet candy.

Like the 2010 Ford Mustang, this new Fusion isn’t an all-new model, but rather a comprehensive update of the old one. Retaining the same basic platform, nearly every mechanical component has been upgraded to function better. The new Fusion is a much quieter, more luxurious place to spend time; it’s more involving to drive; it rides more smoothly; it’s faster and it’s more economical. They’ve even done a good job giving the outside enough curb appeal to set it apart from its main rivals: the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

It’s those two models, particularly the Camry, which are the benchmarks for the mid-size sedan segment; the most popular and the most boring segment in the country. Compared trim level to trim level, engine to engine to those two vehicles the Fusion is faster, more economical, nicer inside and, dare we say, not all that boring. That’s because it drives better than its rivals.

That’s not to say that the Fusion is a sports car. For some bizarre reason Ford insisted that we drive slushbox-equipped, four-cylinder Fusions around an autocross course. Even with the traction control off, the vehicle resisted any attempts to push its performance envelope, literally putting the brakes on things the second it transitioned into inevitable understeer. More frustrating was the gearbox, which spent the majority of the time hunting for gears than it did providing acceleration. The same was true of the 3.5-liter V6-equipped whiz-bang Fusion Sport.

In fact, the only thing more boring than driving the Fusion around the course was driving the Camry. We really fail to see what appeal the Camry holds to anyone, but it’s particularly bad at being driven quickly. In fact, it’s hard to believe that a vehicle that drives so poorly manages to find favor with anyone, let alone its millions of loyal buyers.

Also like the Mustang, the Fusion proves to be all about spec. But in this case it’s not about the stuff you add, but the stuff you leave off. The best Fusion is also the cheapest one. At $19,270, the basic, manual transmission 2.5-liter four-cylinder is the clear leader in terms of driving enjoyment. Not only is it the only model available with the manual transmission (a 6-speed), but it’s noticeably lighter on its feet than the faster V6-equipped versions, delivering more involvement and better steering.

Despite having a much slower 0-to-60 time (9.5 seconds vs. 7.9 for the 3.0-liter and 7.0 for the 3.5), the manual tranny 4-cylinder is more responsive, more rewarding and just plain more fun to drive fast. And you can drive the Fusion fast.

While it is no good on the autocross course, the Fusion is good on the road. Higher speed corners remove its tendency to throw on the stability control at the faintest sign of slip, while the manual transmission allows you to pick the gears yourself instead of relying on a semi-retarded computer to attempt to do so for you.

Through the canyons north of Los Angeles the four-cylinder Fusion proved to be a willing companion to some serious law breaking. It steers quickly, holds its line and isn’t at all reluctant to rotate the rear with a bit of braking or lift-off should that line need to tighten. While the 175 HP engine’s a bit gutless, we like the challenge of passing other auto hacks in supposedly faster models using every last one of the available revs.

All this from a car that competes in the most mundane of segments. The Fusion’s not likely to be the most economical, most luxurious or most fun car you’ll ever drive, but it is likely to satisfy most of those requirements more of the time than any other mid-size sedan on sale in America has before it. It’s product like this that’s going to give the American car industry a future. No matter how much we wish this segment of America's car "needs" would just disappear.

Well, I have to say that it was kind of extraordinary afternoon. A week after picking up my new '68 Coronet in the port of Bremerhaven, Germany, I finally got to the old part of airport, where I have the car stored, to fix a few things up and see how it drives. That alone, coupled with the fact that the beast drove much better than I expected from such a piece of junk, would be enough to make it one of the better days in my life. But there was more to come.
As if the first-drive-ever in my Mopar wasn't enough, I ran into a friend in a bar the night before. Nothing unusual, I have some friends and live in a small city with only a few bars. But, unfortunately, not all of my friends have such a great taste in automobiles and even less of them have means to transform it into reality. But Marek is one of them and he and his father have a really nice collection of old European cars. Including a beautifully restored Tatra 603. So, with the latest Tatra-craze on Jalopnik in mind, I saw an opportunity and asked him to come see me and my new toy on the airport next day. And as you see from pictures, he agreed.
I think that for me, as a driver, it was even more interesting experience than a first drive in my Coronet. However it may seem strange, even though I am a Czech, I have driven a few Mopar B-bodies before, but to that day, I have never driven, nor sat in, a 603. I have driven one of the last 613s with 4.36 engine, but never tried anything older. So this was a big day for me, twice.
The car that was going to take me on my maiden voyage to the world of weird and eerie ass-engined limousines, was a 1965 Tatra 603, in typical commie big shot/secret police black paint job, but with the red interior and kind of hot-rod-esque red wheels. If there are some Tatra cognoscenti among you, you may point out that the car on the pictures does not look like a 603-2, which would be appropriate to the model year, but is more similar to the later 603-3. The reason is in the way they were maintained and rebuilt. Unlike the usual working-man's Skodas, constantly patched by their owners to keep them alive as long as possible, these big black beasts that served „the more equal ones" and their dogs were just sent to factory for an overhaul after some time. So when this car went through it's reincarnation in the beginning of the 70s, it became something more akin to then-modern 603-3 than the 603-2 that it was born as.
I'm not going to waste space by talking about outlandish appearance of this car - that's what pictures are for, and besides I can't quite grasp how strange this car must look for someone not used to seeing that (though rarely) for entire life. And parked besides the Coronet it even doesn't look as big as it does on average Czech street.
But we are here not just to stare at the peculiar shape of the car and discuss whether it looks more like a Tucker or a V8 VW. You can do that in museum. We are here to drive. First, Marek takes us for a quick ride around the place (a old, unused part of military airbase, with hangars turned into warehouses), and then I'll get a chance to drive it myself. When you get in, you feel much like in average American car of the era. High, upright bench seat for three in front (not many European cars seated six people), the overall style of the thing... even the V8 rumble resembles American cars, but with some influence of its air-cooled cousins from Wolfsburg and Stuttgart. But when it comes to driving experience, it's very different - and I think it's very different from anything but other Tatras. What strikes you first is how different the ways of technical development were. In US car of same era (I consider 603 a fifties car, even though it was produced also in next two decades) you get everything to make you more comfortable - power windows, power steering and several other toys, but it was common to have non-power brakes and hardly any car had more than three speed gearbox. But this thing is more like an oversized Porsche. The steering is manual and the wheel is a bit heavy, but thanks to light front it's not that big issue and it's weight and feel maybe even helps to protect you from the effect of oversteer. In fact, it didn't feel vicious at all, even when taking turns a bit harder (but I didn't have a chance to drive it on public road - and I was trying not to scare the owner) and for such an old car it handled really nicely. But the real surprise was braking. Granted, this car got power disc brakes in all four corners when it was overhauled, so I don't know how the original model behaved, but the experience of driving an old car with manual steering, but braking performance as good as average new car is still strange.
And when we're speaking about comparison with new car, this beast can surprise even with it's speed. One would say that 2.5 liter, 100hp V8 in such a big car would make for some lazy driving, but that's when you don't take weight and aerodynamics into consideration. Though 603 is roughly the size of an S-klasse Merc, it's only a bit heavier than current model VW Jetta. And when you add some slippery shape and four-speed manual, you'll get some pretty funny looks of drivers overtaken by this black whale, doing nearly 100mph. And, according to its master, this car is even quite good for (European) highway cruising and is able to do more than 110mph.
Only real downside is the gearbox with column mounted shifter. It's beautifully light and delicate, but it lacks accuracy and when you're not careful enough, you can easily break it. And as Marek says, adjusting the mechanism behind it is really a royal pain.
Which is where we come to the greatest nightmare of everyone who thinks about getting a Tatra. The maintenance. As I learned from Marek, my fears from unobtainium-made parts were unnecessary. He told me that you can still get just about everything for these cars, although it probably means knowing where to go and what to ask for. And being in Czech Republic and able to speak our language is certainly a bit of advantage...
Either way, this close encounter further cemented my decision that one day, I must get one of these fantastic creatures. The sound, the driving experience, the history of the car, all its charisma makes the urge to get one real, real hard. And the best of them all would be the orange, racing spec Marathon version. Or at least clone...
Hell, I think I should take a look at the one from the PCH a few weeks ago...

Many thanks, BobAsh! You can check out the complete collection of photos in his Picasa album, in case the gallery below isn't enough Tatra for you. And anyone willing to give him a deal on late-60s Chrysler B-body parts, let us know- they're a bit hard to come by in the Czech Republic!