Plei, you should test-drive a Scion. I hate big cars; I love our Scion because it is high inside and holds a lot of stuff, but is still a compact car.

Datsun B210. That was a sweet car. Looked small, held tons of stuff, took Hubby, me and a friend to Phoenix and back without a quibble.

My dad used to own a 280ZX. I loved that car. VROOM!

Sean, do you object if I use that line in a fic somewhere? Giles drives a Beemer, after all.

Please, feel free connie.

And your hat will go out next week.

That will be fine. It will be like xmas all over again.

One of the best cars I ever owned was the little-known Toyota Carina, which was one of Toyota's early entries into the American market. It came out in the early '70s and bombed. Then the energy crisis hit, Toyota came back with the Corolla, and the rest is, as they say, history. I got the car when it had about 50,000 miles on it and drove it 12 years. It had about 190,000 miles on it when it left my life along with my ex-husband. We did have to replace the engine at about 140,000--a Carina collector at a local dealership helped us find an engine off a junked car because he just liked keeping Carina's on the road--but everything else except the tires was original. Of course, the upholstery never really recovered from the great bean salad disaster of '85.

But I think our definition of "large car" may be different. I consider Broncos to be enormous.

I used to, but the other cars got bigger. It's kind of scary how wee Explorers look now. Still, leggy 6'8" people need something to drive, I suppose. Were it not for them, I'd ban everything larger than a late-model Accord.

No one, however, needs a Hummer for city traffic.

I emain unconvinced that anyone needs a Hummer for anything civilian, period, except maybe as dick compensation.

Betsy, I love you dearly, and I know you love your Scion, but it still blocks out the sun when I'm behind one, and I swear at them as much as a I swear at any SUV with a tall ceiling.

I'm OK with the Accord size - I think it's actually bigger than Ripper by a bit, and the same basic size as the Camry.

Be warned, though - any attempt to remove my brother's late sixties Rolls Royce from his possession will likely result in body parts, and he's not a violent human being, either.

any attempt to remove my brother's late sixties Rolls Royce from his possession will likely result in body parts

I think most pre-oil crisis cars get a certain amount of grandfathering. I'd love an early 60s T-bird and they are not small cars.

My definition of large car changed when I realized how very few station wagons are out there and that, consequently, I needed to size up the smaller SUVs alongside of them.

Damn, erika... Just damn.

I feel like hell and am crawling into a bubble bath and then bed. I suspect the year will end no matter, and I will prefer to start 2005 without being sick.

Happy New Year's!

Of course, the upholstery never really recovered from the great bean salad disaster of '85.

Tell me about it. Following the Great Claret Disaster of '04, I expect my burgundy Scion to have a color-coordinated smell from here forward.