Mid life Crisis?
It’s funny how you start paying attention to things when you become one of the “group.” For instance, I recently bought new car. Well, not a new car, but new to me. It is a ’01 BMW Z3 Roadster. Yeah, I know, I’ve spent countless years making fun of “Chas and Buffy in the Beamer.” And now I’m driving one. What is this world coming too? When Barbara told my daughter that I bought a BMW she didn’t even believe it. She said, “A Hummer I could believe, but not a BMW!”
Actually, I was looking for a Honda S2000. I wanted something different than the very practical and conservative 4 door sedans I have been driving for the past 7 or 8 years. I have had two Honda Accords in a row. Hondas are great cars. Very reliable, good gas mileage, and they hardly every need much more than an oil change and some brake pads once in a while, they seemingly will run forever. But, I wanted something different, something not at all practical, something that is fast and handles well, but you can afford to drive to work every day. The roadster fit the bill! So anyway, I was looking at the S2000 when a dealer convinced me in to test driving the Z3. I hadn’t even considered a BMW because I thought they were too much money. I heard they weren’t very powerful, in fact, I thought they were all underpowered 4 bangers. Well, I drove the Z3. It has a very smooth and torquey inline six cylinder engine, an exhaust system that sounds just sweet, and had more room and was more comfortable than the Honda. So, I bought it.
Barbara calls the car my “mid life crisis.” But, after driving the roadster for a few months I have noticed something, apparently I’m not the only one having a mid life crisis. Most of the guys I see driving the smaller two seat cars are old farts! Mazdas, Corvettes, Honda S2000s, any of the small “sports cars” are frequently driven by older men. Is the mid life crisis really the issue, or is there something else.
First, when you get into your 50’s you can finally afford a sports car. I guess that is the big boys toy scenario. When you are younger you are more concerned with making the mortgage, a new lawnmower, remodeling the kitchen, a new fence around the back yard, all of those day to day things that tax the finances. But we’ve done all that. I’ve got a good lawnmower, the fence is in good shape, the projects are at a minimum now.
Second, when you get into your 50’s you really don’t need that back seat. Most of my driving is two and from work, just me, no passengers. When I do carry a passenger it is usually Barbara, or occasionally someone from work goes to lunch with me. There is a side benefit here, when the “Gang” from work wants to go to lunch, you don’t have to drive when you have a two seat car! Driving a 4 door sedan isn’t really a requirement anymore. I don’t have a family, no diaper bags, kids, just a couple of small dogs, and they usually stay at home anyway. Besides, if we need a back seat I’ve still got the truck, it has four doors, Barbara’s car has a back seat. How many back seats do you need?
Third, I mentioned that the guys you see driving the sports cars are old, but the women you see driving sports cars, that’s another story…..and I’ll just leave it at that for now!
What do you think?