travel_tips

Hello! Allison’s faithful assistant Kimberly strikes again while Allison is otherwise detained in a subtropical locale. This time I’m pulling car duty in Manhattan, which it turns out isn’t such a bad gig. 

Does a high gloss finish turn your head? Do terms like “800 horsepower” and “rear suspension geometry” get you a little hot and bothered?

My answer is YES. Yes, now that I’ve spent a little time around the world’s hottest cars and some serious auto lovers. I was invited me to the very shiny  New York Intentaional Auto Show last week, a rather sexy sort of event, and I quickly fell for the lights, adrenaline, and ooh-la-la of the whole thing. Hard. Ever since, I’ve been having all kinds of fantasies and daydreams about what I’ll be driving on my next road trip or vacation. Make that vacations. Plural. Woman cannot live by convertible alone. Confucius said that, I’m pretty sure.

Car fantasy number one? A late summer cruise down the Pacific Coast Highway. With Robert Downey Jr. my handsome husband beside me in the new Jaguar XKR convertible. Indigo metallic. Gray leather interior with contrast stitching. 500 horsepower (that’s a lot, by the way). Top down.  A fancy basket harboring sparkling drinks and caprese salad for our romantic picnic in Big Sur. I’m channeling Grace Kelly in High Society as coastal breezes send my silk scarf a-fluttering right along with my heart. In the Jaguar. Which is really gorgeous. I saw dozens of beauties, like Shelby Cobras, Bentleys, hybrids, trucks and even a Delorian, but the Jag stole my heart.

Although…the matte finish blue Audi R8 GT is also very tempting, and probably preferred by car experts. I  mean, hello. A sporty-foxy-hot little machine with a V-10 engine. Even I know that equals super fast and powerful. It gives up a smidgen of classiness for muscle, and I can’t say that I mind at all. Plus, that matte finish is just so masculine but so pretty. Now I’m wondering if OPI makes nail polish in this shade. But, seriously, super cool car.

For fantasy number two, meet me at the other end of the spectrum with the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Which is a long way to spell F-U-N. I know this because we went for a ride up, down and sideways at 35 degree angles. Room for 5 with removable hard top and plenty of towing capacity for more outdoor toys, it’s rugged and playful and deserves to be thoroughly mud-splattered.  It’s begging to go on a fantastically bumpy thrill ride in the wilderness and camping in Southern Utah or Glacier National Park, most certainly under the stars. In some places this is called 4-wheeling, in others it’s called Jeepin’ which now makes perfect sense. Good times, folks, good times, and it’s the Wrangler that makes all the difference. You could do it in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but it wouldn’t be quite as good. Trust me, we tried it.

If you want to compare notes on luxury convertibles or SUVs, or are perhaps in the market for a zippy little hyrbrid or a family car, shopautoweek is a great place to start. They know their wheels and love what they know and have oodles of great insight. They even managed to give me an understanding of the term torque. But that’s for another day.

**disclaimer: The NYIAS was fabulous, definitely worth visiting with your family  next year, and I’m so glad I attended with shopautoweek.com.  They invited me, accompanied me at the show, handled my travel expenses under no obligation to say anything nice about them or any of the cars. My opinions are completely honest and my own.

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