We tried a Ford Crown Victoria for a weekend, a V8, rear-wheel drive beast of a car that made me feel like my Opa (he loved driving his 1967 Chrysler Imperial). Each time I looked over at Beth in the passenger seat, I'd bust out in laughter at the picture of the two of us in this boat of a vehicle. Though the kick of putting the accelerator to the floor and sensation of being thrust back into the seat was a thrill ride, I didn't want the liability of rear-wheel drive in poor weather. After looking at some Buick's and an Impala, on a whim I thought I'd look at a used Cadillac, naive as to whether it was even remotely in our price range.
We tried a 2004 Cadillac Deville for a day, never anticipating how much I'd enjoy it. My brother and I derogatorily referred to Cadillacs in our younger years as Fladilcats, but recent friends have touted their benefits and started to win me over; the test drive sealed the deal. Though less than a foot shorter than the Crown Vic, the Deville drove like a much smaller car. I was infatuated by the luxury and blinded by the emotions not only of driving such a car, but of looking at it parked in the parking lot. In the end, I pried the keys out of my grip and returned it to the dealer. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in recent memory. Returning to the blue van was never such a let down and that thing felt like such a huge pile of sheet metal.
It's rare that I allow myself such indulgences and frankly, the Deville experience freaked me out. It was clearly beyond our needs, exceeded our price range, though it was a good deal for a used one. The feelings it generated in me were deceptive. For once I felt like I was driving a car with status, not just a four wheel transportation device. As a speaker I heard this week affirmed, our vehicles are not status symbols, there just cars to help us get from here to there. I had lost that mentality.
We ended up with a base model 2004 Impala. It runs and hopefully will take us 174,000 miles like the van did though I'd love to take a pickup 1,000,000 miles.
NEXT TIME: Putting Super-Size Sunday in context
