Aaron Robinson

Torrance

Editor-at-Large at Hagerty Classic Cars Magazine

Articles

2025 Cadillac Celestiq: A Reach in Every Way Imaginable

1 week ago | hagerty.com | Aaron Robinson

People often complain that those gorgeous and slippery concept cars that automakers create to tout their brand vision and design prowess get watered down to weak sauce by the time they reach production. Trust us, there is a good reason for this. As well as a good reason for why designers never get promoted to the CEO job at car companies.
The Color of Monotony

1 month ago | hagerty.com | Aaron Robinson

As I sat waiting to turn left at a busy intersection, I noticed the five late-model cars across from me only because all of them were white. I looked around; every car waiting or whizzing through the intersection for a full minute was white, black, gray, or silver. Suddenly, a red Toyota Highlander appeared, and it stood out like Jessica Rabbit in a nunnery. The 1973 Land Rover in which I was trundling to the local cars and coffee is painted a yellowish tan known as Limestone.
Factory vs. Franchise: Scout EV Direct Sales to Skirt VW Dealer Network

1 month ago | hagerty.com | Aaron Robinson

This story first appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Join the club to receive our award-winning magazine and enjoy insider access to automotive events, discounts, roadside assistance, and more. No disrespect to the proud International Scout and its admirers, who must be thrilled that the long-dead nameplate is being excavated from the grave after 45 years, but Volkswagen picking it to be the name of its new electric brand is a head-scratcher.
2025 BMW M5: So Fast You Won’t Have Time to Have Fun

1 month ago | hagerty.com | Aaron Robinson

If you drop almost 150 grand to buy a hot car, you’re entitled to ask what you’re getting for your money. What exactly is the deliverable? Is it speed alone, or can you also demand some emotion, some drama, some spine-tingling va-va-voom? The new 717-hp BMW M5 has us thinking, because while it is surely all ate up with speed, and it can do things no 5350-pound car ought to in a universe governed by Newtonian physics, it is something of an ersatz experience.
Our Two Cents: Why Automakers Kill Their Performance Brands

2 months ago | hagerty.com | Sajeev Mehta |Aaron Robinson |Eric Weiner |Nathan Petroelje

Performance brands create products we love to own, mostly because they are designed to outperform their competition. Who doesn’t want a piece of that winning formula? Some folks do not, and they pull at the purse strings of the companies behind these products. Chevrolet had the Super Sport (SS) for a long time, but applying it to vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu MAXX might not have been the smartest long-term move.
Up from the Ashes: A 1940s One-off Streamliner Is Reborn. Again.

Feb 13, 2025 | hagerty.com | Aaron Robinson

More than 5000 car companies have existed in the United States alone, from Abbott-Detroit to the Zip Cyclecar Company. Yet some folks just can’t seem to find the perfect vehicle to buy, so instead, they build their own. This is the story of one of those people and one of those cars, a very special machine that sprang from the mind not of a shade-tree tinkerer or a reckless dreamer but from a talented engineer.
Lyn's Rescued Porsche 912 Survives the 1000 Miglia Warm Up USA

Jan 31, 2025 | hagerty.com | Aaron Robinson

This story first appeared in the January/February 2025 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Join the club to receive our award-winning magazine and enjoy insider access to automotive events, discounts, roadside assistance, and more. Almost every bit of a car has a workaround in case you can’t fix it or find a replacement, even the engine (there’s always electrification). But you can’t drive anywhere without tires, and you can’t 3D-print a set at home.
Tested: 2010 Toyota 4Runner V-6 Plays It Safe

Jan 25, 2025 | caranddriver.com | Aaron Robinson

Remember the previous Toyota 4Runner? Yeah, neither do we. Toyota's compact, pickup-based, do-it-all four-by-four helped ignite the SUV craze when it launched in 1984. But in the years that followed, the 4Runner became increasingly marginalized as Toyota flooded its dealers with trucks and crossovers intended to plug every conceivable niche.
1983 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer 4x4 Is a Scale Model with Big Aspirations

Jan 8, 2025 | caranddriver.com | Aaron Robinson

From the October 1982 issue of Car and Driver. The Blazer, everyman's pickup truck in station-wagon clothing, has been with us basically unchanged since 1969. The old workhorse is back again for 1983, but the lineup has been trimmed to four-wheel-drive editions in anticipation of the biggest shake-up ever seen in these ranks: an all-new scale model of the big Blazer, built on the 6.0-inch-shorter, 100.5-inch wheelbase of the new-for-1982 S-10 pickup.
Our Two Cents: Memorable Vehicle Names

Nov 15, 2024 | hagerty.com | Sajeev Mehta |Greg Ingold |Aaron Robinson |Joe DeMatio

There are so many things that go into what makes a given car memorable. Sure, performance and looks are front and center, but there’s more to it than that. Sometimes I wonder if all these alphanumeric car names currently pervading the market will be lost to time. How many people will remember a 2009 Lincoln MKS at a car show 30 years from now, relative to the name recognition of the Lincoln Town Car?