2007.01.31 2007 Portland International Auto Show
Last weekend was a roller-coaster. No sooner had I managed to wring out my farewell to Grendel, than I was actually handing him over to his new owner. This was my last glimpse of him:
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Because she is the most wonderful person in the whole world, S drove for an hour through nasty Friday traffic in order to be there with me - for support and to give me a ride. But we didn't go home; instead we went to a pub to meet up with a group of my work buddies. I sat there, with a shamefully-small lump of filthy lucre that was the grotesquely interpreted material value of my good friend, and ate schnitzel. S asked me, "Do any of them realize what you just did? Is this 'engineer sympathy'?".
Why didn't we just go home so that I could finish my sulking in a more typical fashion? Well, I happened to have plans to go with this group later that evening to see the 2007 Portland International Auto Show.
After last year's show, I was of the basic opinion that there wasn't really much specific assistance that the Auto Show could give me in terms of helping me pick my next steed. What I really needed was wheel time with the candidates. And, well, two of the top contenders for my Next Steed were used cars, so they wouldn't be available even for viewing.
But, let's be fair - I love looking at nice cars.
First, we went to the Porsche paddock. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Here's S and I sniffing at the Cayman present for sizing purposes.
Then we noticed the Audi R8. I felt like someone had uttered "SHAZAM!" to appropriate effect, and the other engineers were similarly pleased with it, but there were those among us who did not find the "side blade" all that appealing. It's easy to understand how difficult it can seem to strike a distinctive image in the limiting-physics edge of the engineering envelope occupied by supercars, though. And I think the more supercars there are, the better. So I can easily tolerate one slightly odd-seeming affectation if that's what the car company thinks it might need to stand out, just as long as it doesn't get in the way.
And, just a hop away from the audatious Audi was an example of the sauve and sophisticated BMW M6. This is a car for a particular kind of aesthetic - sort of a Roger Moore era James Bond. The kind of aesthetic where good looks simply must be subtle and refined, even if they're shrouding a cold hard killer. It reminds me of one of those particularly sleek-looking sharks that doesn't seem to have any of its fangs hanging out in an obvious way. However, aside from the fact that I can't possibly afford one, it's just too damn big and heavy for my liking.
And that was about the end of the real cars that were of any interest. There were huge flocks of nearly identical commuter cars and the like, and I won't even pretend that I paid them any heed. So, being the elitist snob I am, let's move on to the even-more-unrealistic vehicles.
Like this Ferrari F40. It's about a 25-year-old design, and it is still utterly fabulous. This may continue to be my favourite car of all time. I think Erin Dalzell and I saw this exact car at the local exotic dealership a few weeks ago, and I spent a long time mesmerized by it then too.
A Saleen S7. I read somewhere that part of the half-megabuck price of one of these things included a plane ticket down to the factory to get your butt molded for your seat.
An Ariel Atom. In an episode of Top Gear, one of these deformed Jeremy Clarkson's face with acceleration and wind until he looked like an alien. Well, more like an alien.
Actually, I don't know what this bike is - but it's cool. It's the kind of design that looks like it was extremely fun to work on.
And, lastly - what the hell - a couple concept cars from the company I work for. Or, at least, from some companies owned by the company that owns the company that I work for.
At around this point, S and I were getting pretty drained. And we had a big day planned for Saturday...
You see, when I was finalizing the betrayal of Grendel, I was also making some arrangements with an exotic car dealership in Bellvue Washington. They happened to have a particular Porsche there that represented the ideal vehicle that I've been searching for all these many months. They also happened to be a Lotus dealership, which was awfully convenient.
The particular Porsche was this car: a 2002 Porsche "911" Carrera 996 C4S.
And, I'm sorry, but I can't seem to think of a single way to maintain any sort of suspense at this point. Mostly because I've already announced the result to most people I know anyway. So I'm not going to bother. I bought this car.
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But you should not think that I'm going to short-change you on details. Oh no.
It's just that the test driving and subsequent adventures deserve posts of their own. So, stay tuned for more of Clayton's Car Odyssey.