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Afternoon, Part 2 (Dream Car)
October 31st, 2008 | Dean Arrindell
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After having a good time at a very cool Internet cafe (AKA, The Apple Store) and abandoning my experiment, I decided to stop by a car dealership.
I'm not in the market to buy a car, but I've had my eye on one in particular since "Top Gear" reviewed a Maserati Gran Sport. I began poking around the Maserati website and found this: The Maserati GranTurismo.
It's a beautiful car. I love it. Why? Because it's elegant and fast. Period. It gets you from 0-60mph in 5.2 seconds, and tops out at 178mph (other technical info is here). It says, "I'm a luxury sports car," but it doesn't make its owner look like he's going through a mid-life crisis.
A Dreamy GranTurismo (from Maserati.com)
To state the obvious, I can't afford this car. Maserati = Expensive. The showroom listed the price for the GranTurismo as $114,650. I can't buy a Maserati.. At least not today. I went there to dream.
I walked into a nearby Maserati dealership trying to look like a buyer, not a dreamer. Unfortunately, I probably looked like a dreamer. I approached one of the salespeople and told her I wanted to take a closer look at the GranTurismo. It's bigger and more unassuming than I thought. I sat in those comfortable leather seats, looked over the steering wheel, past the gauges and out onto the street, and thought, "I could get used to this." Then, reality hit me. This is just a car. It's a fast, beautiful car. And while I still love it, the GranTurismo is just like every other car on the road. It has a pretty face and fast engine, but it also has a steering wheel, doors, wheels, lights, etc. I guess I had to see it up close to realize that.
I would still love to take it out for a test drive, but I'd be scared shitless I'd dent, scratch or otherwise damage the car. Because I'm a dreamer and not a buyer, I thought a test drive would be impossible. The salesperson insisted on taking my contact information, though, so someone could call and schedule a test drive. No word from them yet.
After leaving my info, I headed home. Some of the car's dreaminess went away, but I don't regret seeing the GranTurismo. It's good to dream. And if I get a call for a test drive (I'm not holding my breath), I'll probably go. An invitation to drive a high performance sports car doesn't arrive everyday. Life is about dreaming and pursuing the opportunities to make those dreams come true. And if a dream drive in a GranTurismo can come true, even if it's only for a few minutes, that's fine with me.
Related Topics: Buying, Cars
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Dean Arrindell | 2 Comments »
Afternoon, Part 2 (Dream Car)
(via Facebook, MySpace, Digg, email and more)
February 13th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
When we were living outside of Philly, I got a postcard from the local Maserati dealership (gotta love Amex — they're notorious for selling your name to anyone under the sun) offering a free $100 gift card to Morton's Steakhouse if I went for a test drive. My wife said they'd never take me for a legitimate buyer, so I didn't take them up on the offer. If I ever get the chance again, I'm not letting it pass!
February 18th, 2009 at 12:29 am
Next time, you should definitely take that test drive.