2/25/19 Finally Test Drove A Tiny Two Seater?

    Wife got the car bug in me on Saturday with her idea of us getting a cheap car in the $200 a month payment for a "just in case" situation.  After being mildly disappointed with the dealership advertising the low prices on TV, which got us all excited in the first place, we discussed what the price range would be and what kind of car.  This got me spending a couple hours Sunday morning looking at Autotrader.com and a couple other sites.  Since the car would be mostly for me and taking care of Javalina getting to school.  This got me thinking of the two-seaters I have always liked and before long, I found myself first looking at the BMW Z4 which I put as my total dream car if I wasn't a big ole fat ass.  The Z4 reminds me of an MG Midget which my Dad's friend kept in his gas station so I would always glance at it and thought it was the coolest thing as it was small enough for me to drive when I first started thinking of driving.  I never did see that car move around and I have no idea what happened to it, but it left me with a taste for those miniature sized 2 seaters.
    The reality is I tried to seat in one, it was actually the Pontiac Solstice, and after getting a leg in and my butt touching the seat, it was checkmate to the car.  I would have had to bend my neck down another 4-5 inches to get in and I was not that limber.  After giving up on the truly small cars, for now, I thought of my other options and after looking at the Jaguar convertibles (too expensive), the Chevy Corvette (too Chevy), and I do like the Ford Mustangs, but Wife has never.  They are type of cars Bros drive to look cool.  I then remembered the Ford Thunderbird which has not been made in a couple of years, but many exist.
    I even found two at the same dealership on Research at Covert Ford.  We went out there and I was 80% sure I was going to bring one of them home.  Shoot, at $9500, why not?  Then problems.  First of all, the 2004, which I liked more with the white leather seats would not start.  I figured the 2002 could work if the test drive went well.  But I still haven't figured out how to get in and not look like you're making fun of yourself.  The car seat is about a foot off the ground, so the first thing is to almost squat and throw your butt to hopefully catch part of the seat.  With the door open completely, pretzel the right leg in towards you until the shoe passes the door frame and then stretch the leg once inside.  at this point I slid almost onto my lower back and bent my neck back and to the left as far as it would go, it felt like putting on a helmet where your ear gets almost rubbed off, but only on the right side.  Once my head was in, it did get kind of comfortable, although the top of my head was touching the ceiling.  I folded my other leg in and closed the door.  The feeling was what I think it'll feel like when Wife gets her way and we are both buried in the same coffin.  It was a little claustrophobic and the thud (good seals) made it feel like we were alone.
    At this point, I might as well turn it on and when I did it felt like we were sitting on top of that V8, with a very manly roar and a dum dum dum dum dum of a car that is more confidant than me.  The one thing I did not like/trust was how it got into gear, like it fell into reverse with a loud clunk, but other wise it was like the car dared me to take my foot off the brake so it could take me for a ride.  We gently got up to the entrance and once it was clear, it took off like the car had been waiting to make its getaway.  It drove very nice and confidently, but the whole procedure of getting in and out was just too much.  Before we took off for the test drive, for example, I drove to the front to get my license, the salesman took it to make a copy, I told Wife to run in and get it.  I had just climbed in, I was not going to get out and risk further neck trauma before I even experience the car on the open road.  Wife complained that her back hurt when she squeezed her head in and she is like 8 inches shorter than me.  I was trying to save face and told her not to be a weenie while I was scared to get off for fear of not being able to duplicate the procedure to get in.
    The car drove very well, but we did not feel good inside of it.  I think we will need a bigger 2-seater before I ever decide to get a toy of this variety.  For now, let's just hope the Excursion keeps running like a champ.

2002 Ford Thunderbird Convertible: (example of what we test drove, at $9500)



What I really need though
Jaguar F-Type S Convertible: (a tad too expensive, at $66,000, for a 2017)