As I watched The Colorado drive off into the distance, I sat in my new car and it was kinda sad. But only for a minute. You must understand, I overly-dramatized the demise of The Colorado yesterday for dramatic effect. And I'd just seen, for the 40th time, the original Miami Vice 2-hour pilot, which has that great scene where Sonny pulls the car over on the way to chase Calderone just to call his ex-wife from a pay-phone and ask, "What we had...it was real, wasn't it?" Great dialogue. So I applied some creative license and co-opted it into my story about the end of The Colorado. I assumed people would pick up on the obvious Miami Vice reference. I assumed wrong. People just thought I was weird and talking to my truck.
Disappointing. But we move on nonetheless.
***
I glanced down from my rear-view mirror, which was showing The Colorado driving off, and turned up the radio in my new car. The volume was the only button I could figure out; the radio is a touch-screen LCD that robotically moves out to allow access to the CD player (and flash memory card slots, etc). It had no readily apparent "real" buttons to change channels, just graphical buttons that I had no idea how to use. This was a problem because playing on the XM was "Ready to Take a Chance" by Barry Manilow. That song was great in "Foul Play", don't get me wrong, but on my 350-watt AmplifiedSuperSubwooferSoundSystem, not so much.
Push the OPEN button, and the LCD screen motorizes and slides open, revealing surprises...a PC card slot!
It was funny, that song playing in a sports coupe like mine. It had an iPod input connector -- very sweet by the way, and well designed, as the connector is not on the radio itself but inside of a dashboard cubby so you can plug it in, set the iPod in the cubby out of the way, and no unseemly wires hanging all over the place -- but I had no iPod with me. I eventually figured out how to work the radio, and off I went.
When I first climbed behind the wheel for a test-drive, 89.7 The River was tuned on the radio. Funny that, as most cars on the lot are always tuned to a lite rock station so as not to offend any potential customer who might climb behind the wheel. Because Michael Bolton and Kenny G never offend anyone, but Taking Back Sunday and AFI might. You bet.
But this car had the college FM tuned. This car was different. No middle-age woman was ever going to test drive this super intense sports coupe. Nope. Only guys with the money to afford it and the young enough attitude to enjoy it. So 89.7 was a fantastic market researched choice.
As I test-drove this thing, the awful, AWFUL new Killers song was on. Seriously, if that's their new album, no one will buy it. Its terrible. But with the moonroof down, the engine purring and the digital speedometer rolling up, it was surprisingly listenable.
About that digital speedometer: I saw it and immediately wanted to floor it all the way to 88 miles per hour just to pretend the flux-capacitor was sending me back to 1955. I'm weird, I know.
Beverage holders. Important to keep your Coke Zero from spilling all over your new car.
The dashboard is two-tiered. The tachometer (You bet!) is front and center, and is the only gauge in the traditional behind-the-steering-wheel position. The speedometer, flanked by the temp gauge and the gas gauge, is six inches back, above the tachometer, so that when you are behind the wheel, the perspective makes them appear on top of one-another. This design is truly revolutionary; I've never seen a car do that. In market research, most people over 35 ask "why? I like the speedometer right behind the wheel!". Most people my age say "Sweet!"
Because of this design, the dashboard is huge -- the biggest I've ever seen in a car. But the roof is short, so the windshield has to slope at an extreme angle, and its nearly as big as the windshield in a mini-van. The front end is short and stubby, and also breaks at an extreme angle, making for terrific aerodynamics and wind-resistance.
After our test drive, where I sadly was not allowed to get up to 88 miles per hour, I went inside to see what sort of numbers the dealer would float at me to take this unique macho machine home.
Unique? You bet. When the company threw out their old boxy boring design and greenlighted this revolutionary new concept, they created the best-looking sub-$40K car I've seen in 20 years. The result was the Motor Trend Car of the Year for 2006. So dealers have a hard time keeping them on the lot. And the completely loaded version with the navigation system is impossible to find.
So you have a well-designed car from a company with a rock-solid reputation for building cars that last forever, a car that looks stunning, a car that goes fast enough to satisfy my wanton lust for speed, and a car that gets 40 MPG on the highway, 32 in the city. Yeah, I can see why no one can keep them in stock.
I had considered going to Williamson in Lincoln to buy, as my buddy Continental bought his car there and recommended them highly. But they didn't have a navigation model -- and hadn't for months, according to the sales rep I spoke with. Superior in Omaha had one, and it had just come in on the new shipment that day.
I knew what the invoice price was, meaning I knew what they'd paid for the car. Unlike some people who want to squeeze every last penny out of the dealer, I understand that they need to make a profit to stay in business. So a happy medium between sticker price and invoice price is the goal. I really wanted a black one, but an almond interior is the only option on the black model. Um, no. Silver or gray, then. And the model I test drove, Galaxy Gray, was a charcoal metallic color with just the slightest, slightest hint of bronze in it. It had the navigation system, it had the automatic tranny, so the color would grow on me.
And when they made me a suitable offer -- much lower than they would have had to go, honestly -- I took it. They barely made any profit on me. Oh well, not my problem.
At 6:34 P.M. Friday, July 21, I drove a brand-new 2006 Honda Civic EX NAVI off the Superior Honda lot at 144th and West Center. Galaxy Gray. Light gray interior, power moonroof, touchscreen GPS-guided navigation system, built-in XM Satellite Radio, built-in iPod connector, race-inspired steering wheel with radio controls on it, and more. The engine is a compromize, to be honest: it has a 1.8L 4-Cyl, which is a tad smallish. But I wanted a marriage of great gas mileage and performance, so the Civic is the way to go. The VW Jetta has a 2.5, but it only gets 22MPG. And with the size of the car and its well-designed aerodynamics, its still scoots very well. And the beauty is, it gets such great gas mileage I barely even have to look at gas prices anymore.
You bet.
My new ride, with its ridiculous 1989 Hot Pink plates. Yeah, those are dealer plates, and they're totally coming off as soon as I pay the $2300 Sales Tax bill to Douglas County. Ouch.
Leave a comment