Hippie-crite On Pico Blvd
"No War For Oil." Yes, that is, indeed, what the bumper sticker on this nice new Ford Explorer says. Good morning, genius! What do you think your vehicle runs on, purple Kool Aid?
Regarding the bumper sticker on the other side, "Let Peace Begin With Me"...yeah...let it begin with you getting an Insight or a Prius, or at least a Jetta diesel station wagon or Ford Focus gas-powered station wagon. For those who are interested in doing as much as possible to drive something that doesn't ruin children's lungs, endanger everyone else on the road, and lead to needless deaths of American boys and girls, locate your hybrid here, at Dealernet.com. (Use "Advanced Search" so you can select your specific car.)
I can already tell you there isn't an Insight in all of California, but there are a whole bunch in New Jersey, and I know a great car salesman, Gil Tutone (I call him Gil Two-Tone, which he puts up with in pretty good humor), at Power Honda, Valencia, who can make the deal for you. Regarding any bright ideas you might have about buying an Insight out of state and driving it to California, there's an enormous cost to re-registering it in California. Best to find one as close as possible, so your shipping charges are lower, then make a deal to have a dealer here buy it from the other dealership so you can buy it from them as a California car.
Oh yeah, and on a small penis note, this this 7mpg monstrosity makes the Hummer look like a Tonka. (How long, do you think, before they're in the garage at CAA?)
You get credit for being talky-talky, walky-walky.
But your new car has A/C, right? And a radio?
That bumbersticker is precious.
Crid at September 17, 2004 7:52 AM
Why, thank you, Crid. And regarding AC, glad you asked. Here's info on the Insight's Climate Control system.
http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=456
A lot of Insight owners, apparently only use the AC when going downhill so they can keep their mileage numbers up! Some people are getting AMAZING mileage -- 105mpg! is what the guy claims at one point:
http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/details.php?cid=54
And I'm getting an automatic xmission with a radio CD-player. (It's standard in that model.)
Amy Alkon at September 17, 2004 8:13 AM
There sure *are* a lot of Insights here in NJ, and Priuses -- or whatever the plural is -- as well. My wife and I are taking delivery of a MiniCooper next week. 45 mpg and under $20K.
There are plenty of alternatives to the SUV that are still fun.
The Prop at September 17, 2004 12:12 PM
Amy, that photo is a California classic. Did you take it? You should put in competition, or send it to a popular journal such as The Nation or The National Review.
Crid at September 17, 2004 7:29 PM
Why, thank you. If you can pass me the address, if somebody has a photo contest, I'd really appreciate it. Better still if they PAY for photos.
Amy Alkon at September 17, 2004 7:42 PM
Very much on target!
Amy Alkon at September 17, 2004 9:21 PM
Amy,
What an effing brilliant photo, Amy. I laughed my head off. I'm working on the theory that George W Bush is in fact the SUV president, which is to say we have a human SUV in the Oval Office -- unreliable, dangerous, wasteful, prone to catastrophic failure, but who nevertheless plugs into the insecuries of supporters/consumers/voters and makes them feel safer irrespective of objective reality.
modestproposal at September 18, 2004 7:16 AM
Could those be some of the reasons the Kerry family, but not actually Kerry personally he avows, owns about 5 or 6 of them? I suppose he's pretty chagrined each time he slides into one of them. Damn family keeps buying them. SUV gluttony runs rampant throughout this nation. Fodder for Kerry krushing or Bush bashing. It ain't politics, it's people who buy them just because they can and the hell with the rest of the world. And by the way, it's Republicans who have the more positive outlook on the economy and just about everything else, whatever the reality may be, according to surveys I read daily. And I'm not either repub or dem, just an observing reader.
allan at September 18, 2004 1:50 PM
I was making a point about the mentality that Bush both projects and represents, not trying to score partisan points off him, Allan. (And, yes, I realise Democrats drive SUVs too, I'm not that reductive.) If Kerry was a car, he'd be one of those big, lumbering old-fashioned station-wagons -- everyone's idea of a safe choice until you actually climb aboard and try to drive the damn thing, at which point you realise it's all over the road, inefficient and very poorly supported by bevvies of professional engine-tuners.
Happy now?
modestproposal at September 18, 2004 5:14 PM
Check out this. This makes the Hummer look like a small penis. Navistar's Commercial Extreme Truck. What will they come up with next, armored personnel carriers for surburbanites?
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/09/18/commercial_extreme_t.html
warped9 at September 19, 2004 10:38 AM
I've seen this guy cruising around Culver City. Very funny.
Rob McMillin at September 26, 2004 9:23 AM