Nadia and I found ourselves at Mike Shaw Pontiac this morning for her Grand Am’s 123K mile checkup. I brought several things to entertain myself with, like a fantasy novel, my Nintendo DS, my Zune, etc. I ended up ignoring all of those; instead reading a Good Housekeeping article about how dangerous roller coasters are and how there is no federal regulation of these rides.

Eventually we left the waiting area to look at some of the cars in the lot. When I stopped to ogle a Pontiac G8, a saleswoman asked if I would like to test drive it. I was torn; yes, I wanted to tear ass down the road in this car, but deep down I thought it would be best to pass on the offer. The Vibe is two months away from being paid off, and I really didn’t want fall for another car. I knew that if I got behind the wheel and liked it, I would end up getting that car. I was beginning to like the idea of a car note-free existence.

Before I knew it, we were on I-25 riding in a red G8 GT. After the saleswoman showed me how powerful the car is and how fast it wants to drive, I got my turn behind the wheel. I took it easy at first, since it is the dealership’s car and all. But when the opportunity to pass someone at a totally illegal speed came up, I took it, and I loved it.

Before going on the test drive, both of us were clear that we wanted a manual transmission, which is only available on the upcoming GXP trim. That did not dissuade her or two of her associates from trying to subtly change my mind. We left without the car, but now we are on the waiting list for that GXP.

Nadia and I had been eying the GMC Acadia for some time, but I think today’s drive has totally removed it from the running.

Since I’m already talking about cars, I had a few others in mind. While the Nissan Altima Coupe, Cadillac CTS Coupe, and Nissan GT-R (pictured below) are cars that I have lusted after and are attainable, they are ultimately unrealistic because they don’t comfortably support more than two people (there will be more than two of us one day, you know).

The car of my dreams though, is unrealistic not only because of its lack of space for other people, but the price is mighty high.

All of the car images are all from Autoblog, my favorite car-related blog.

After taking Hotaru for her 51,000 mile service, I went to the Gunn Buick-Pontiac-GMC to check out the G8, Vibe and Acadia.  As soon as I stepped in the door, there were 2 beautiful G8’s staring back at me. One was a collector’s vehicle being one of the first 888 off the line. I sat in the car and all I could think was ‘this is Will’s car’.

I did not intend on test driving one, but I did and enjoyed the hell out of it! I was in a Black G8 GT with 18’s.  With Will on the phone and the salesman Dante in the front seat egging me on to ‘drive it like I stole it’, I hit speeds in excess of 80 mph in a 60 mph. The car didn’t even burp as I floored it - in fact, it seemed like it wanted to go faster! I felt it drop down as it ate pavement and all I could say was ‘if only…’. Everything was really nice inside and out. The only thing that got me was the current “automatic only’ transmission and the lack of a nav system in the large, well laid out dash. The G8 GXP will hopefully address both of those issues.

I was bummed that we did not make it to the NY International Auto Show to see it on display, but  I was thrilled to drive one.

Another car to add to the want list…I need to win the lottery!