Quick spin: 2005 Mercury Montego sedan; 2005 Chevy Super Sports Roadster
Now we have time!
With temperatures outside dropping lower than A-Rod’s postseason batting average with men on base, about all we have left to comfort us is the knowledge that the Yankees did win one more game this year than the Red Sox - that and the lame auto column you’re about to read. So for your sake, I hope you’re a Yankee fan. I’d hate to know this column is all you have to look forward to.
If you’re a Red Sox fan, all I can say is this season proved what the t-shirt says: There was no curse (front)/The Red Sox just sucked for 85 years (back).
Still, I feel your pain. After all, we’ve got A-Rod. Did you watch his at-bats? A-Rod at the plate looked just like George W. Bush reading My Pet Goat on 9/11. If A-Rod left less of a mark on the postseason, W would nominate him for the Supreme Court. I didn’t think A-Rod could look so scared if Ted Kennedy offered to take him for a drive.
The highlight of the series for me was Tim McCarver’s statement during Game 5 quoting Joe Torre as saying A-Rod was “anxious” at the plate. That is probably the nicest way ever of calling the highest paid player on a team a gutless choke artist.
Alright, enough whining! I’m beginning to sound like a certain Yankee owner. Let’s, as they said in Life of Brian, look at the bright side of life.
Of course, in Life of Brian, they followed that song up with “What bright side, we’re…crucified.” That song was also the unofficial theme of HMS Sheffield, sunk by an French-built Exocet missile fired by the Argentinians during the
Especially not right now for domestic automakers. Early reports are that sales have plunged, cannibalized by the employee discount programs that shifted purchases from the fall to earlier in the year. All that advertising devoted to the program didn’t help in the long run, focusing as it did on price instead of product. Fortunately, the Big Three have me to not only point out the errors of their ways, but to help them correct it. Gosh, with my incredible genius and ability to make right what everyone else did wrong, I’m surprised I’m not president.
Maybe if I just learned to say “nukular.”
But in the meantime, let me do my bit for the domestic auto industry by touching on two very different cars I drove over the past year, but two worth looking at, one from Ford, the other from GM.
2005 Mercury Montego
The Mercury Montego is admittedly too easy to overlook. Ford’s overly conservative styling did not clue in car buyers to just how new and how well-designed the Montego and its Ford Five Hundred stablemate are. I haven’t seen very many of these on the roads, which is a crying shame. Especially now as gas prices shoot up faster than the Yankee payroll, a car like the Montego - which is essentially transportation redesigned for the post-SUV era - really deserves a good look from consumers.
The Montego was Mercury’s first all-new premium sedan in almost 20 years, and it is the start of what Ford hopes will be a brand revival. Truth to tell, the Mercury brand has
suffered from corporate neglect, and not too many carbuyers seem to know what it stands for. Now that Ford is refocusing on it, maybe its identity will be sharpened, and buyers will consider a worthy product like the Montego.
My Montego had the same major failing as the Ford Five Hundred I’d previously driven – the lack of a big V8. The three-liter V6 puts out a maximum of 203 horses with 207 lb. ft. of torque. The front-wheel-drive version comes with a 6-speed automatic, but my all-wheel-drive model came with a smooth continuously variable transmission (CVT) which maximizes power use and helps keep the ride comfortable.
While I would personally want a big V8, I also understand that this is a family sedan, and what a family sedan it is. The power, if not overwhelming, is sufficient, and handling is more than adequate. Outside styling could be called subdued if you like it, bland if you don’t, but the inside shows an awful lot of caring. Fit and finish are good, and the clean lines of the cabin seem more European than American.
Other positives in the Montego include class leading interior size. If you were one of those people who loved big sedans, you’ll find all the space that’s gone missing over the years back in the Montego. The elevated seating position gives you near SUV views of the road ahead while maintaining the best characteristics, including comfort, of a near luxury sedan.
Then there’s the all wheel drive, which in our climate is a definite plus for safety. Mileage is a reasonable 20 city/27 highway. All this is available in a very reasonably priced package. It may not be the most exciting ride there is, but if you’re looking to spend thirty grand or less and have a family to transport, definitely test drive the Mercury Montego. You’ll have a comfortable, safe, roomy ride and enough cash in your pocket to afford the gas.
2005 Chevy Super Sports Roadster
If the Mercury blends into the crowd, the Chevy SSR is its polar opposite. It’s impossible not to get noticed in this thing.
I’ve driven just about every new car that’s come out when they were new, and even now, a year after I first drove the Chevy SSR, just about nothing I can think of has gotten me more positive reaction. What else could you be sitting in at a stoplight when a woman making a left turn into the road stops dead in the middle to say what a gorgeous car the SSR is. In the SSR, compliments like this are routine.
The SSR is a two-door, two-seater roadster with a retractable hard roof, essentially a hardtop convertible with a closed pickup truck bed attached. It’s hard to describe the why of a SSR, but it is so much fun you don’t really care. Practicality is for boring people. With the SSR, you get near-Corvette quality fun and can still slip a stiff like A-Rod in the back, with plenty of space left over for his $252 million.
Styling is simply gorgeous, as I observed when I first wrote about the SSR. The basso profundo grace notes of the engine encourage you to put the power retractable hardtop down – an easy one-button operation – even when it’s raining just so you can listen to it roar. Handling is superb, definitely sports car, not pick-up truck, and acceleration and torque leave no room for disappointment.
This comes despite the fact this is a 5,000 lb. machine. The reason for that is the major improvement GM made in the year since I drove the first SSR. GM added a version of the legendary small block V8 best known for powering the Corvette. This 6-liter V8 engine pushes out 390 horses and 405 lb. ft. of torque, albeit at the price of EPA estimated mileage of 13 city, 20 highway – again, definitely high performance sports car territory. The six-speed manual on my
test car was a most enjoyable option; standard transmission is a 4-speed automatic.
With the new engine, the SSR performs as well as it looks, though you will always be
tempted to drive slowly so you can be looked at. Worth noting is the price you pay at the dealer for the privilege. My SSR started at $42,555 and ended up at $49,890 after all the options were loaded on.
Yes, that is close to Corvette territory, but this holds a lot more cargo and turns even more heads than its low-slung sibling. In the end, it’s a matter of choice, and what a choice it is.
posted by Andy Mais @ 3:44 PM
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