Rhapsody In Grabber Blue: Pt. I

Written 10th August, 2009.

Well, today after meeting with one of my closest friends at Starbucks, I, having a few hours & full use of a car, decided to exercise my 21 year-old privilege of the “walk-in test drive”. My intention was to test drive a Camaro at Marty Feldman Chevrolet on Grand River just east of Novi Road but upon entering the dealership, speaking with a salesman & handing over my license (for whatever they do with it…photocopy, I think) I was asked by the salesman if I could drive a stick. I answered (honestly) with “no” to which the answer was “all we have are sticks…” Crap. From my previous answer, I obviously can’t drive one & the only auto they had on the lot was sold. I left the dealership, disheartened but persistent. I told the salesman I would be back in a few days to check & he responded with a decided “Alright. We might have some in by then.” As I left, I made up my mind to drive to the Tom Holzer Ford dealership, on 10 Mile barely east of Haggardy Road. On the way, I passed a Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge dealership, checked in to test drive a new Challenger, but the only one they had was in the show room & the man I spoke with told me “no way”. I promptly drove to the Ford dealership & made my intentions known. I told them I wanted something with a lot of power, more than stock & it had to be an automatic. I was given a display Mustang GT in ‘Grabber Blue’, a VERY nice, “look at me” colour (see photo). I followed Ron (my salesman) outside so he could carefully drive it off the curb & onto the pavement. When he started her (yes, “her”) the engine growled to life. The stock exhaust on these GTs is pretty “kick ass”. It’s not loud & is more of a rumble than your typical, base Mustang. Few words were exchanged between Ron & I (I have no idea why) in between him getting out of the GT & me getting in. All he said was “It’s the GT, so it has the bigger engine” then he closed the door & while I adjusted everything, he simply walked away. Not even a backwards glance, like he knew I was going to take good care of it or something (which I DID).

This is exactly what it looked like. L.O.V.E. that colour!

Okay, when I drive an auto transmission, I drive in a sort of “odd” way. I shift down to 1st, then 2nd, 3rd (if there is one) & then, of course, “Drive”. Idk, to me that just seems “odd” but I like doing it. I took the GT out of the dealership in ‘D’ just in case he was listening or something but the second I was on Haggardy I floored it. Man, that 281ci 315HP V8 hauled. I drove around surface streets only, simply because I know them better than anything else. I drove up to Fountain Walk, then south down Novi Road (where I was complimented on the colour at a red light by a guy about my age in a black Firebird) & pretty much all around the downtown Novi area.

The handling on this was rather erratic, albeit another word might be “responsive”. The brakes were excellent, but like any new car were quite touchy. The pickup on the accelerator was a bit of a disappointment. Even when I floored it, it took about .5-1 second to respond but once it did…whoa…hang on. I didn’t park it, get out & check out the engine (rest assured that upon my next test drive of an American muscle, I will) like I should have, but the sound in itself was incredible. I still feel my stomach slide up a little & the adrenaline start to pump even when I’m just thinking about it. Like right now. Mmmm…. All in all, I’ll be returning to (a) Ford dealership to test drive a GT (or maybe something even faster?) VERY soon, so as to actually get out & look at the vehicle’s exterior aesthetics. And of course, you will be the first to hear of it. Oh & keep on the lookout for the article about both the Camaro & Challenger. Peace.