Every summer, the Northwest Automotive Press Association puts on a journalists-only rally in Oregon or Washington. This year, Run to the Sun was held in the Seattle area. There were 23 cars to drive — including the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, and we were staged at the surprisingly nice Tulalip Resort and Casino.

Last week, I cleared out some time in my schedule to bring my car in for a recall repair at the dealership (no, it’s not a Toyota and it has nothing to do with brakes). I visited the manufacturer’s web site — that’s how I found out about the recall — and made my appointment [...]

About a month ago, I bought myself a little Asus netbook. It’s wee, and blue, and I love it. I will love it more when I have to lug it around an auto show for two days and it doesn’t tear my shoulder apart like my five-and-a-half-pound laptop did, no matter what bag I used.
But [...]

I landed in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon, way earlier than necessary. I figured I’d use my afternoon wisely and work in my room (at the Millennium Biltmore, which is lovely), but they wanted $10 per 24 hours for wi-fi. But, resourceful freelance journalist that I am, I noticed that the Central Public Library was right [...]

I can’t believe I didn’t post this sooner. Last weekend, I had to (had to? please) take the train to Seattle to pick up a 2009 Aston Martin DB9 Volante at King Station and drive it back home to Portland. In case you aren’t hip to the Aston lingo, “Volante” is James-Bond-style code for “convertible.”
It [...]

Yesterday, The Square, local NBC affiliate KGW’s live news magazine, sent out a tweet looking for a Portland-based auto writer. Another journalist I follow on Twitter, who follows The Square, re-tweeted the post, knowing I was out there somewhere. I picked up on it, and emailed the station. A quick phone call confirmed that I [...]

My first post for the “Wheels” blog in the New York Times Autos section went up yesterday. Richard Chang is the guy in charge of the blog, and he even left in my favorite bit, about wide, American … roads.

The chicken mole at Seattle’s Hotel 1000 was lovely, but VW head Stefan Jacoby’s comments were enlightening. For instance, VW wants to triple its vehicle sales in the U.S. in the next decade, including sales of whatever full-sized sedan will be built at the factory under construction in Chattanooga, Tennesee. (Jacoby promised the car would [...]

I paid the whole twelve bucks for two days at the Stumptown Comics Fest this past weekend. I stopped to say hi (and not much more — they were crazy busy) to my comic book purveyors of choice, Bridge City Comics. I learned about the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, and made my own [...]

I went to the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association’s monthly meeting on Thursday (after an absence of many months — for shame) and met a couple of great guys. The first was Wade Patterson, who has a Zero X electric dirt bike that he demos around the Northwest. I’m going to interview him for an upcoming [...]

I was out of the home office yesterday (yay!) for a Ford Fusion event in downtown Portland. I have never been so glad to see a carafe of coffee in my life. Nancy Gioia from Ford gave a great presentation about the Fusion hybrid and Ford’s green plans for the future, but I had spent [...]

I went to the press day for the Portland Auto Show yesterday — lunch courtesy of Ford, dinner courtesy of GM, and a talk in the middle from Chrysler’s rep and all-around good guy Scott Brown.
I didn’t learn anything at the Portland show that wasn’t said at the Detroit show less than a month ago, [...]

I went to my first Detroit Auto Show this year; from what I understand, this was a real downer of a show. I wouldn’t know, have nothing to compare it to and no time to think about it while I was there. I’ve put images of the latest eco-friendly-ish cars on Flickr and created image [...]

After sitting out most of the summer with a mysterious gas leak, my Kymco People 50 scooter finally demanded that I fulfill my promise to fix it. I thought about pushing it up a piece of 2×4 into the bed of the truck and taking it to the shop, but instead went with my original [...]

I headed all the way out to the Washington County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro yesterday to visit the Alternative Energy Show. It was small, but the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association had a presence, with an AC-powered 914, a converted Honda Insight, and a factory electric Chevy pickup. They even had a trailer of pop-up solar panels [...]

I went to a lovely lunch last week with Dan Kapp, who’s been in Ford’s powertrain division for 31 years, ever since he got out of college. He spoke to the group of NWAPA members and local media for over an hour about EcoBoost, hybrids, clean diesels, Ford’s long-term plans … he really covered a [...]

Got another last-minute assignment (actually, two) from Portland Monthly. This one required interviews with Mike Richardson, founder and president of Dark Horse Comics in Milwaukie, and Helen Spalding at the Portland State University library. Both were great interviews, and it reminded me that I needed to pick up my stack of comics in my slot [...]

In case anyone is wondering exactly what the difference is, literary agent Nathan Bransford was kind enough to blog about it last week.

I just got back from driving a Maserati, a Dodge Viper, a C63 Mercedes-Benz tuned by AMG, and the Audi S5, among 15 others, through the mountains of Central Oregon. I drove faster and pushed harder through corners than I probably ever have, and the people on the rally were as nice as the cars.
Fellow [...]

I leave bright and early tomorrow morning to join my fellow Northwest Automotive Press Association members on a two-day jaunt through Central Oregon in a string of fast cars. The organizers lined up everything from a Mazda MX-5 (that’s a Miata) to a Maserati, with the likes of Audi, Volvo, and a Dodge Viper thrown [...]

I went to Pioneer Courthouse Square Saturday morning to check out EV Awareness Day, held by the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association. There were about a dozen cars and trucks there, from a squared-off Citicar from the early 1970s to a Prius converted to plug-in hybrid technology.
I overheard a woman tell her husband, “He’ll let me [...]

Had lunch with GM honcho Bob Lutz on Tuesday in Seattle. It was interesting to talk to Mr. Lutz, as he’s on a kind of PR tour to counteract the negative image people have about the company. Also, the restaurant used fresh local berries in its desserts. Tasty. Read about Mr. Lutz’s comments (and not [...]

I have a new email address: khg[at]kristenhallgeisler[dot]com. Please send all writing- and editing-related correspondence, including that seven-figure book advance for “Lightning in a Throttle,” to this address.

My latest piece for Portland Monthly’s Mudroom section is a short one, on Electrathon America, a race for electric vehicles designed and built by high school and community college teams. I started the first draft of the short article during a visit to Mrs. Peterson’s class at Spring Mountain Elementary School. I talked to the [...]

I spent all day Saturday — the warmest, sunniest day Oregon has seen all month — inside at the Oregon Press Women’s spring seminar. Luckily, the windows in our upstairs ballroom opened to let in fresh air.
The seminar asked four speakers to share their ideas on the future of writing and journalism, which ranged from [...]

Last night, at the invitation of fearless AROO leader Marty Schneiderman, I gave a presentation entitled “Sports and Collector Cars in the Eco Age, or Why You Won’t Have to Give Up Your Alfa Any Time Soon” to the members of the club. Marty warmed up the crowd for me by running the regularly scheduled [...]

I spent two days last week evaluating 28 SUVs for the Northwest Automotive Press Association’s annual award. Also during those two days, fellow NWAPA member Tom Voelk filmed me talking about women and SUVs. Tom produces Driving Northwest for Northwest Cable News. As soon as I know times and channels, I’ll post them on this [...]