Recently somebody told me that the Toyota Prius was being bought by poeple that don't like cars. I argued the point. "Everybody likes cars," I said. "Everybody."
And last week I was proven right. I was driving our long term 2008 Audi R8 to work, which essentially means inching along in traffic, while drinking coffee and talking on my cell phone. Normal morning. But imagine my delight when I looked over and saw this guy in the pictured slate gray Prius taking a picture of my car. He photographed it from several angles before lowering his camera and giving me the thumbs up, all while smiling like Theo Epstein the day the Dodgers took Manny.
Now, when you're in the R8 people take your picture. Happens 100 times a day. But the fact that this guy got it, despite being signed up for years of payments on that Prius should tell you something.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief
crowb says:
11:27 AM, 08/11/08
Somewhere a guy who owns a Prius is blogging something like this: "There is hope for this world folks. Today I saw a guy driving an Audi R8, and he was taking pictures of MY prius with his camera. It just goes to show you that all people envy the Prius I have and my incredible gas mileage. Even someone driving an R8 wishes he could be where I'm sitting when its time to commute."
lightning73 says:
11:37 AM, 08/11/08
ROFL. there should be no more comments after that one. :)
sgude says:
11:48 AM, 08/11/08
LOL! Perfect.
zoomzoom22 says:
02:09 PM, 08/11/08
Most.Epic.Comment.Ever.
srlracing says:
03:18 PM, 08/11/08
Best comment ever!
banhugh says:
05:32 AM, 08/12/08
Best indeed!
bal169 says:
06:13 AM, 08/12/08
Great post!
And here’s the funny thing, as an LA outsider I actually thought with all the money in and around the city that seeing an exotic car on your morning commute would be blasé to the locals.
Not that I vision LA as being nothing but high-end exotics, but that I figured there were enough of them around to not cause much gawking when seeing one on the freeway.
However, here in bfe Missouri, the two Vipers in town get much attention when they are actually spotted on the road stretching their legs... which doesn't happen very often.
karjunkie says:
07:52 AM, 08/12/08
Maybe the guy thought you were driving a Chevy Volt?
felonious says:
08:44 AM, 08/12/08
It all depends on what part of town you're in, Bal169. Certain parts (Beverly Hills, Hollywood) are definitely that way. There are also tons of parts of LA that are very not rich, where a car like this would draw attention.
The same applies to San Diego, my home. However, in Santa Barbara or basically anywhere in Orange County, everywhere is "the nice part of town", so an exotic doesn't turn many heads.
I think the R8's design and rarity would turn heads anywhere, though.
wtliao321 says:
10:28 AM, 08/12/08
I don't think R8 is a beautiful car. I feel it's from the movie "Alien". Honestly, I don't really care about R8 and exactly how many readers are really going to get this car? Why don't people at Edmunds gets some practical cars that more people drive like Acura TL, Lexus ES350 or IS350?