Ok, you can start up with the "Chris changes cars more often than he changes his underwear" jokes (not true, by the way, but close).
Yeah, I have yet another new car. This time a shiny new Subaru Impreza WRX STI. That's a long ass name for a hatchback with 305 hp, all-wheel-drive and big ass fender flares.
My loyal readers will remember the last time I tried going from a 2 door sports car to a practical 4 door, I ended up with what the wife disaffectionately called "The Big Blue Mistake", which I owned for all of seven months.
I think this will last longer. It's less powerful than my outgoing vehicle, but it's fun to drive, and very practical. Hell, I've already strapped ladders on the roof of it. Last time I had to do that, I had to rent a truck from Home Depot.
Now, for your amusement, the progression of my madness since 1999:
Detroit Auto Show Report 4: Tang Hua
They always keep the special stuff in the basement at Cobo Hall. This trio of electric vehicles from Chinese manufacturer Tang Hua are pure happiness dressed up in screaming yellow fiberglass. The one on top is called "Detroit Fish"... and it's amphibious. What else do you need to know?
...
Just call me Huggy Bear
It's a mid-eighties Rolls Royce. It's got a massive gold grille that probably weighs as much as a Honda Fit. It's got white seats with red piping (my God! They probably slaughered an entire herd of Naugabeasts for that!) It's covered in red and orange flames, fer christsakes!
All that, for less than the cost of a used Accord. What more can you ask for?
335d Touring
38 mpg diesel. 0-60 in under 6 seconds. Room for five and a couple corpses lots of luggage in the back, and kayaks on the roof. 6-speed manual. But BMW won't bring it here, because Americans won't buy enough of 'em.
I guess too many wouldn't be caught dead in a station wagon, and all the cool kids have them SUVs.
Note to Fat Cats in Munich: bring it across the pond, and I'll take mine in white, please.
From the lovely wife on our way to dinner on Friday:
"Honey, do you have a car problem?"
Yes, I probably do. I took a perfectly good Porsche and traded it for a ridiculous 500hp BMW M5, filled with enough gadgets to occupy even Morgan for hours. Three months later, I've traded that perfectly good M5 on another BMW - a Z4 M Coupe. This car casts off any pretense of practicality by eschewing any rear doors, or seats for that matter. And it's bright red, so my next post may be dictated from my cell in the BCDC or the Chatham County Jail. Not that I speed, mind you.
Well, I finally went and done it. Gave up those unreliable little sports cars for a sensible, sedate sedan, with four doors and a warranty...
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...and 500 horsepower V10. Oh well. Did I mention it has four doors? I guess I'll be driving on lunch junkets more often now.
