I'm not really a car person - 4 wheels and an engine will about cover my requirements - but occasionally I can get seduced by a car. I bought one of the first new beetles in Calfornia - it was fun to drive, surprisingly roomy and you could fit a large pizza on the dash. When I first drove it I got hundreds of people asking me what it was like to drive and quite a few gave me more details than I really wanted to know about their teenage experiences in the OLD beetles of the 1960s.

I still miss my beetle, but I have no desire to buy another. "Been there done that" about covers it. Stil we see a lot of cool cars on the Riviera and there's one that I really want. When the fairy god mother blesses me with massive wealth I will purchase the new Aston Martin. And if I still have money left over I'll buy one of the old Jaguar E-types as well. In the pacticality stakes these are only slightly better than a Ferrari (better ground clearence and probably more reliable), but something about their looks makes me want one. My wife still pines for the Mazda MX6 she had in California - but I THINK I could convince her to drive an Aston Martin :)

Meanwhile I'll go on driving a Honda Civic and/or a VW Golf (i.e. a square beetle)

DD