#Time for Cuts
December 1, 2012 - Ah, it’s time to start narrowing down my list. I’ve been soliciting dealers from Richmond, VA to Blue Anchor, NJ looking for cars that fit my tastes. My mailbox has filled with plenty of brochures of the various cars. 25 to be exact. However, there’s no way I’m going to be able to have a go with all of these cars. I just don’t have the time or the desire to make myself that available. I suppose it’s time to sit down and make some somewhat arbitrary cuts.
Cuts are never fun. Flashbacks to being picked last in the proverbial recess or gym game can always be disheartening. You never want to be the last person to be picked to the point where the sides debate who actually has to accept you onto their team. Unlike that scenario, you don’t want to be picked right now. Your goal is to stay hiding in the pile of prospective vehicles, subtly pleasing my tastes so that I can thoroughly examine you later. If you stand out now, you’ll be standing on the outside looking in when it’s time for the final round.
##Round 1
Well the first few are easy, even though they are disappointing.
The Bogliq Coyote Sport @HighOctaneLove, ZX-100 @TheUltimateD00M, and Tredate-F @koolkei are all out of consideration for subpar safety. I’m a good driver, but I want to know that if I do catch a case of the stupid and wipe out through my own fault, or if some moron takes me out on I-95, I manage to walk away. The Salem V12 @Fayeding_Spray looked really promising, but it’s from 1976 and it’s just not reliable enough to trust frequently. It’s a shame, because I would have been interested in a classic cruiser, but age takes it’s toll and I’m not going to chance being stranded with a 40 year-old car.
##Round 2
The next thing, I suppose, would just be looking at the cars. I want to be proud to take the car out and drive it around. It has to appeal to my tastes. I don’t think I’m too picky, but I’ll certainly be able to reduce the field to something I can manage actually looking at in person over the course of a weekend. Not to mention, if I don’t like it on the lot, I’m going to hate it in the driveway. Time to purge the field.
@Denta, Pragata Artha Super V8
I don’t know what to say about this car. It was actually the last one I took out of the “considering” pile when I went through the cars this time around. When I first saw it I wasn’t sure what I would do with it. There’s nothing about the design that makes me back away slowly like some of the other cars I’ll be eliminating, but it didn’t do enough for me to keep it in the pile. It just looks a little too much like a standard sedan. Nothing, except the spoiler, really says “I can dust you.” Now I love sleepers, but this just feels like your late 90s, early 2000s Taurus or Impala. The engine is also badged as a 5.8L, but it’s 3 cc shy of 5L. The fact that it was from 2002 didn’t help it much.
@Puffster, ABR Ibex
If I look at your car and immediately think “ricer,” you are not going to get me to make a purchase. Now the car clearly isn’t a ricer. It advertises a 5.2L V8 that probably sounds awesome and has a great torque curve. Problem is that I can get that elsewhere and I just despised everything about the looks of this car. I don’t want to have to explain to people that the motor is actually stock to the car when I pull up in it. You’re not expecting a V8 in this car. But, it’s still not a sleeper. It looks like a tuner from the factory and that’s not what I’m looking for. They could put a 7L V8 in a Honda and I still wouldn’t buy it. The same applies here.
@TR8R, Cruzer Dayglo
This car certainly lived up to it’s name. It jumped off the pamphlet as soon as I took it out of the mailbox. It was neon green. Oh, and it had a 6L V12 that was rated for 682 HP. My mouth watered a little. However, I was really glad that the brochure had a picture of the rear. I don’t know who designed the light array, but they should be banned from the automotive design room forever. The back of the car looked hideous. There were round lights bulging out from every smooth surface. I want people to get a good look at my taillights when I dust them with this potential car. I’d be embarrassed to pull out in front of anyone with this monstrosity. 682 horses wasted because of tail lights. It’s a travesty.
@Darkshine5, ANZhotrods Broadhead
No, just… no. Why would I want the intakes to come through the hood in my line of sight? They make hood scoops for a reason. The only practical excuse to have an intake outside the car is if it’s a snorkel on an offroader. This car does not fit that bill. Everything else on the car flows really well. The engine is a 8.2(5)L, 503ci V8 that makes just shy of 700 HP. This little sportster weighs as much as a sedan, but who cares when I have 700 HP from a huge V8 that could put a Cadillac Eldorado to shame. I just cannot get past the intake and throttle body coming out of the hood of this car. A big hulking power bulge in the hood would have been more appropriate. I don’t need to draw any more attention to myself with an obnoxious intake when the power of this car would have sufficed.
###8 cars off the list with 17 still to be considered.
#More cuts coming soon.
