last month's car, chevrolet HHR:
this "car" was one of the most confusing machines i've ever interfaced with. from a distance, it looks like some old timey ice cream truck kind of thing so it was a little weird to walk up and discover i'm about a foot taller than it. upon closer inspection, it looks like the hideous result of a PT cruiser copulating with a scion XB... ex pee tee bee.
once inside this blocky little minivan, you are confronted with a full-size truck steering wheel and console and pickup-truck seats. seriously, the wheel was bigger than the one in my old ford ranger, it took 45 minutes to turn the wheel enough to pull into a parking place. my mom's old '76 coupe deville had a giant steering wheel but it was to scale... i miss that big, beautiful boat.
also, the windshield was about six inches tall. honestly, who's designing these things? sacrificing visibility for a hideous "look," sounds like a great plan! one out of five stars.
this month's car, honda civic:
japan wins. this car doesn't look so stupid that i'm embarrassed to step out of it, it drives just fine and the interior didn't cause confusion and discomfort. if i had a kid in high school and they graduated with a 4.0 and saved up money to put as a down payment, i would totally buy them a civic. the only real negative: road noise was loud enough that i couldn't hear my phone on speakerphone. i'd actually request this car again, four out of five stars.
