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6 days ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
What is an ADX? Honda’s luxury arm has created a smaller crossover to lure consumers seeking a lower starting price point. The ADX is based on the compact Integra sedan, (which is based on the Civic sedan), while sharing components with Honda’s HRV crossover. Specifically, the ADX is 186 inches long on a 105-inch wheelbase, making this crossover fractionally smaller than the RDX. A three-row MDX crossover tops the Acura lineup.
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1 week ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
Nissan, the embattled Asian automaker, is struggling to find the marketing mojo that propelled it up the American sales charts in the previous two decades.
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3 weeks ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
Since January of this year, there has been a swift reset in the world’s posture on its energy generation as facts, not emotions, dictate more responsible philosophies. Shell, Exxon, BP and Chevron have all backpedaled on their alternative energy projects as investors have rebelled against lower returns while energy demands continue to increase for fossil fuels across the globe.
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3 weeks ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
In the 1970s, automakers experimented with colorful design themes, unusual paint schemes and landau roofs to excite sales. Admittedly, the products were often dull, uninspiring vehicles with weak performance and questionable reliability, all aggravated by not just one, but two gas crisis events that made driving expensive and a lot less fun while waiting in long lines to get your allocated fuel supply. Kinda like recharging an EV today.
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1 month ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
“Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong, West Virginia.” — John DenverAfter a prolonged winter, it was time to get out of Dodge, visit family, see some new sites and enjoy some much-needed sun and warm weather. Loading up Ford’s largest SUV, the Expedition Max, with bags of gear, food and three adults spread out in comfort, we exited Portland in early April headed for the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia.
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1 month ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
Spring in Maine is a season of awakenings and new beginnings. Folks want to get back outside, play, garden, hike, travel and buy new things. They want warmth — and the color green — to reappear. And gearheads want to use their machines, their toys, once again.
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1 month ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
Over the 10-year run of the existing Volvo XC90, it feels like a sample has visited almost every year. This frequency has led to a love-hate relationship with the stylish XC that is, well, evolving. The Volvo’s chassis has always been better than competent, displaying a nice balance of ride and handling prowess that some rivals still seek. Combined with a relatively roomy cabin with above-average driving chairs, the XC90 checks several boxes.
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2 months ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
Right on the heels of the “unofficial” end of winter, as well as the Genesis GV80 Coupe, came this week’s similar-sized Lincoln Nautilus, the brand’s top-selling SUV last year in a lineup of four luxury class SUVs. During this wet visit, the fire hose of constant changes in the auto industry continued with more announcements about import tariffs, EPA regulation changes, supplier constraints, stubborn interest rates, plateauing auto sales, EV sales drops, EV manufacturers filing for bankruptcy...
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2 months ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
If the goal is to craft premium-appearing luxury cars — eye candy for buyers who relish flash for their hard-earned cash — then Genesis has the styling template down pat. Oozing with panache inside and out, while undercutting the competition on price, is helping Hyundai’s fledgling luxury brand accumulate sales at the expense of more established rivals. The new GV80 Coupe is a sleek, two-row rendering of the brand’s three-row crossover wagon.
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2 months ago | 
ellsworthamerican.com | Tim Plouff
Once typical winter weather arrived — enough snow — we scheduled multiple snowmobile trips to “Northen Maine,” this year visiting the wonderful King family operation at Shin Pond Village, west of Patten. With various lodging options, a wicked friendly staff and an excellent dining hall/bar/nourishment retreat, two separate riding groups got all of the winter fun we needed visiting the Eagle Lake Ghost Trains, dining at remote Libby Camps and racing up and down the Huber Road trail.
