Let’s get the obvious out of the way: 200 mph is an absurd number. Jet airliners take off and land at slower speeds. 200 mph is twice as fast as most Americans will ever drive, and it requires twenty-five times the power needed to go 60 mph. The staff of this magazine has driven some of the fastest, most exotic cars in the world, and yet only one of us — European bureau chief Georg Kacher — has driven 200 mph.

Photo Gallery: 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 First Drive – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 First Drive – Automobile Magazine

What to make of the fact that the Mercedes-Benz Galendewagen has seen a nearly fifty percent increase in sales from 2009 to 2011? The fact that this vehicle, which was originally designed for military, not civilian, use, is now more than thirty years old (it dates from 1979) apparently does little to deter its well-heeled buyers. Nor does the ancient SUV’s appalling gas mileage (13 mpg combined city/highway, in the case of the G550). The fact that a GL, or an ML, is far roomier inside also appears to be irrelevant.

Photo Gallery: First Drive: 2013 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: First Drive: 2013 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG – Automobile Magazine

The 500 Abarth has 58 percent more power and 73 percent more torque than the 500 on which it’s based, but halfway through my evening with the Abarth, I was not thinking that the car was 58 percent better than the base model. I was wondering if Fiat had made the car better at all.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth – Editors’ Notebook – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth – Editors’ Notebook – Automobile Magazine

I remember too well my first winter driving disaster, sliding the nearly new parental Saab 99LE sideways through a stop sign at the bottom of our hill and across a major truck thoroughfare. My life flashed before my eyes as I prepared to meet the fate of the Cassidy kid up the street, who died at this intersection when he failed to stop his wooden sled in time. Years later, his name was still being reverently invoked for the benefit of the youthful sledding community.

Photo Gallery: Noise, Vibration & Harshness: Snow And Ice: Teach Your Children – Automobile Magazine

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t pay nearly enough attention to Class 6 medium-duty electric trucks. And I think my colleagues around here would have to shamefully concur that we’ve had a coverage deficiency regarding that particular segment. But your thirst for news about Class 6 medium-duty electric trucks is about to be slaked in a major way. Prepare to have your mind exploded by this, the world-exclusive first test-drive of the Balqon Mule M150.

Photo Gallery: Dyer Consequences: Large and in Charge – Automobile Magazine

The outgoing Chevy Malibu — not quite gone, really, as 2012 models are still available — was one of Bob Lutz’s notable achievements at GM. It pulled Chevy’s midsize nameplate out of the rental-car ooze and became a handsome, competent entry in the very tough mid-size sedan segment. The 2013 model builds on some of those achievements, but it might have made a better first impression with its full range of powertrain offerings.

Photo Gallery: Driven: 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: Driven: 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco – Automobile Magazine

This summer, the women of the auto industry will strut their stuff and show off their skills to raise money for the SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund with the first-ever SEMA Mustang Build Powered by Women.