A defense of rubber necking, a letter to a driver, and a list of lovable cars

So rubber necking.  Maybe not the worst thing.

I was thinking about this earlier when I was caught in traffic.  Seems to me like if I've waited thirty minutes or an hour because of a wreck, and if everyone else is looking, that I should get my turn too.  While it may seem rude to look at the misfortune of others for your own entertainment, I think that it's actually more rude not to look.  If someone who passes by becomes a safer driver due to having seen that nasty accident (or fender bender) and then ends up having fewer accidents of their own, it's probably worth it for everyone to just wait a little while.  After all, if that driver had an accident of their own at some point, that would be even more waiting than the rubbernecking would have been.

I got up at 6:30am, and this is really poorly reasoned.  Well, relative to all the reasons not to rubberneck, which, due to bias, I am not listing here.

Also, to the car on 751 who was not going three seconds after the light turned green:  I honked.  I'm not sorry.  I am sorry though that you were pawing through something that was important enough to you to inconvenience me and everyone else behind us.  And what was that hand gesture?  It looked like you were trying to flip me off, but somehow your hand contorted into something completely unrecognizable.  It was like you had debilitating arthritis.  But since you were still staring down at whatever had captured your attention, I can only conclude that you were so mesmerized that you forgot how to begin and complete the simple action of flipping the bird.  You're welcome, for me being so charitable.  If you had been in Atlanta, I think you would have made the person behind you so angry that they would have just accelerated full-tilt into your trunk.  As we all know, Atlanta is not a place of reason.

So now I'm going to write down a list (and provide pictures) of vehicles I like that I might realistically ever own.  If I hadn't married a lawyer (those damn lawyers), many of these vehicles would be excluded.  This is in no order, much less order of price, because I'm far too lazy for any of that.  Actually I put all the hatches at the beginning.  Since I'll probably take the photos off of MSN Autos, I'll include their price range just for fun.

Honda CR-Z.  $19,345 to $23,355.  Badass gas mileage, 6-speed manual.  This is by far the cutest car in the world.  Every time I see one (which is actually fairly rarely as they just came out), it's like being a mosquito under the influence of a bright light.  It's awful.  There is nothing beautiful about the car.  Everything is just horribly, disgustingly, soul-possessingly cute.  I hear its exhaust actually expels cotton candy fibers.

It's much more striking in person.  You'll have to trust me on this one.

Volvo C30, the older one.  $22,100 to $23,400.  Very very pretty car.  I don't know why I have such a weakness for hatches.  Also, this one you really never see.  I didn't even know it existed until last winter break when I was stuck in traffic on 95 and then, all of a sudden, it pulled up past me.  It was definitely a WTF moment.

Better in white, and better in person.  Maybe I shouldn't have added pictures.

Mazda Mazdaspeed3.  Not even sure if that's how you reference it.  $23,700.  It's a 5-door with 263hp, which I'm sure is more than I'll ever need.  Only one more hatch after this one, I promise.

Okay.  Whose idea was the hood scoop?

Ford Fiesta.  $13,320 to $17,120.  I don't like Fords and I would never buy this, but it's cute, and when I see it I am not horrified (which is more than I could say for a Taurus of any model year).  Maybe it's not one of my favorites.  But worth a mention.

I keep accidentally calling this a Fusion in my head.  But this one is nice, while the other looks atrocious.

 Now for the slightly better cars in the list.  Ones I could have within five or ten years, depending on what cars my hubby wants and how much we make as a couple.

Chevy Camaro.  $22,680 to $39,650.  Good old American-made (important to us) sports car (important to me).  It does the whole muscle-car shout-out thing, which to me is a little silly, but it does it better than the Challenger, the Mustang, and whatever other ones there are.  This thing takes up a whole parking space.  Also, I just die over the fact that they spelled out "Camaro" on the front side.  So pretty.  Did I mention it comes base with 312hp?  You have to ask for 426.

I think we could safely call this "beast."

Nissan (370?)Z.  Thought this was the 370Z, but MSN Autos is just calling it "Z."  Anyway, $30,610 to $41,100.  So much better-looking than the 350Z.  Gawd.  That thing was awful.  This thing actually looks like it could go fast.  And it has the qualifications.  It has 332 or 350hp, depending on how much you want to spend, the importance you assign to gas mileage, and how pragmatic you are when you're buying a freaking sports car.

Blue is always a good choice with this one.

Chevy Corvette.  $48,950 to $119,800.  Ideally we would be able to go for the Z06 ($74,305; 505hp).  I think the ZR1 is just a mistake ($109,000, 638hp).  If you're in the over a hundred range, you could probably make more interesting choices.  Also, they all only come with 6-speed manuals, which will encourage foot draggers to effing learn to drive stick so they can have a Corvette at all.

Yes, please.

Finally, my favorite favorite favorite car in the whole world.  This is the one I would get even above nicer things like a Ferrari (well maybe not over a 458, but that's unrealistic).  A Lotus Exige.  $65,690 to $74,995.  240hp or 257hp.  But wait.  That doesn't sound like a lot.  Well yes it does, if you count the fact that it weighs 626 pounds less than a Civic.  That's like chopping off a little less than a third of your Civic and then adding 100hp.  Oh and it looks like this:

That'll blend in at the office.

Keep in mind all this is me spewing BS, since I haven't driven (and probably never will drive) most of these cars.  I am going on nothing but looks and stats here.  But this is my blog and I think that's okay.