July 10, 2009

Confession #2: I want a pony car

This is insane.

In all of my roughly two decades of existence I have never had the urge for a Camaro or Mustang. If I bought a V6 version of either people would think I was a tourist if I drove around Santa Barbara. Or assume it was my girlfriend's car.

If I had a Camaro Z28 or Mustang GT I'd look like an idiot because I arms like pipe cleaners. And I wouldn't be able to afford to insure or fill it with gas. My grandmother had a '69 Firebird. Not a Trans Am, but it had a V8. She later swaped it for a new Toyota Corona, and then had a Volvo after. That's how ill-suited that matchup was. With me it would be even weirder.

A few months ago I saw a new Camaro parked in a parking garage. It had manufacturer plates so I assumed it was a press demonstrator. But I couldn't stop looking at it. I walked around it half a dozen times, looking at every detail. It was amazing.

And then a few days later I saw a new Dodge Challenger stopped at the lights. That looked great from every angle too. I nearly rolled into the car in front of me because I was so distracted.

But my new condition only got worse when I was behind a Mustang, stuck in traffic in tourist-infested Santa Barbara. I only knew it was the 2010 Mustang because it's slightly more slanted at each end than last year's. But when it signaled to turn I saw easily the best lighting design feature on a car: the sequential turn signal. I was in love.

The fact I would buy a car just because of its turn signals sounds absurd because it is. Think about it: if you're driving the car you're never going to see this amazing piece of design. And frankly if you drive the Mustang or the Camaro or the Challenger you're not going to see anything while you're driving because the visibility in all three is so bad.

But I can't stop thinking about owning a new Camaro 2LT with the RS pack. Yes I know it's the V6. But that V6 has just as much power as a BMW 135i and it costs about as much as a 128i. With none of the snobbery that comes with a BMW badge.

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