A rainy night in the heart of Beverly Hills. I park our long-term 2009 Audi A4 just west of Rodeo Drive, the world's richest street and pop into my favorite pizza joint for a slice.
This is where money comes to breed. In this neighborhood millionaire doesn't mean much. In this neighborhood the maids drive BMW 3 Series convertibles, high school kids cruise around in M5s and a Bentley Continental GT ain't nothing if it ain't a Speed. In this neighborhood a stock Ferrari is no big deal.
In this neighborhood our A4 Avant is a hit, proving once again that this is one of the world's best looking wagons.
On this night our little German wagon gets a thumbs up from a guy driving a Rolls Royce Phantom and an "I like your car" from a women driving a Aston Martin V8 Vantage convertible. Then, just when I thought it can't get any weider, I'm pretty sure I spot Gene Simmons from KISS driving by in a black Escalade on very large chrome wheels. He doesn't acknowledge our A4 Avant, but it's a cool celebrity sighting anyway. Kinda. Sorta. Maybe.
Merry KISSmas Gene. Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 20,402 miles
dougtheeng says:
05:40 AM, 12/14/09
Its a good sighting...though maybe not that special if you live where celebs constantly are.
mini2009 says:
07:37 AM, 12/14/09
Be careful, he may sue you for royalties b/c you used his name and the band name in this blog.
He is definitely one to squeeze the last dollar out of something.
jeepsrt says:
08:08 AM, 12/14/09
This past April, my Wife and I rented a tiny house on Benedict Cyn in Beverly Hills for a week and took my nephew to Disney Land. We were coming back to the house at about 10pm and pulled up next to a Bentley Arnage with I swear Russell Simmons driving. I looked over admiring the car and he looked at the car and then me at it seemed gave a nod of respect for our rental Cadillac CTS, I gave him a wave and drove off.
cruiserhead1 says:
08:14 AM, 12/14/09
does it have the LED's? I bet that's what they were looking at. My wife thinks they look really cool too.
wobbly_ears says:
08:17 AM, 12/14/09
Gene Simmons is sellout. No 'spect from me. (Yeah, go ahead & sell that Dr Pepper to boomers....)
cr_driver says:
08:23 AM, 12/14/09
Just because they have the big bucks doesnt mean they have good taste.
But it was a weird night definitely, no matter how good looking the avant might be.
zoomzoom22 says:
10:39 AM, 12/14/09
So I guess the owner of the Kia Sephia across the street must be from out of town (as well as the guy with the hubcaps behind you). :)
I guarantee they weren't giving you at thumbs up at the overall look of the A4, which really isn't anything special, but rather at the LED treatment up front. Audi has made an excellent decision to use these as something to distinguish their cars from others.....they are eye catching, unique to the Audi brand (not for long, though) and very arresting to look at. Plus, they are shared with the stunning R8 which is probably a pretty common sight in this area.
_carrera says:
03:01 PM, 12/14/09
Now this is an interesting story. I agree with the rest of the commenters, it must be some small styling feature garnering all this aristocratic praise, i.e. the LED DRLs. Do any of the other LT vehicles elicit similar reactions?
Also, Scott, it was probably just one womAN driving that Vantage 'vert. :D