The evening of 4/13/11, as photographed by BBC

Last evening, BBC went to his local Ford dealer, which is the one that has been mentioned in previous posts that leaves the doors unlocked on their cars. That might not be such a good idea for some of their cars *cough, 300C SRT8, yo, cough*. But before I get to that, I'll recap something nice that happened on my way to church on Saturday.

Our church is smack-dab in the middle of Fratboy Party Zone, which can result in woes around All Souls Day. The streets in that area are brick, and quite rough for certain vehicles that have very sharply tuned suspension that may or may not have the letters "S  H  E  L  B  Y" across the back. But that's a tangent.

Anyway, we were traveling along one of these streets in the Mustang when I spotted a glorious form along the street. This is very unusual because aside from the occasional Mustang-that's-been-sitting-there-for-all-of-recorded-history and a Mini Cooper, the street parking consists of Corollae and Civics. I couldn't get a picture of said glorious form on our way to church, but on our way home...

Despite my radical Ford fan-ism, I just LOVE these Chargers. The local Chrysler dealership (which still has its 1970s-era Plymouth signage up) sold their 2011 R/T a little while back. From the outside, it looked just like this one, except it was Toxic Orange.

But enough of that. Let's get to the main event!

I had read about this GT on the dealer's website, so I was eager to see it in person.

Your humble author really ought to remember to keep himself out of pictures of reflective surfaces. The extra "California Special" lettering struck me as a nice touch, as standard Mustang GTs don't have that lettering. (not a regular GT, but it has the standard emblem)

Nice custom wheels on this example.

RED INTERIOR! AAAAAAHH! So awesome, the car can hardly contain it.

Even on the doors!

And the back seats too!

This was a very nice shifter to play with. The aftermarket knob helped, although the shifting action is generally good in these cars. I was also pleased to see that the brake was up, as this is the same dealer that the episode with the Cobalt occurred.

This pile of candy-cane colored glory is a 2012 GT500. Notice the evil smile.

The slightly darker portions of the steering wheel, parking brake handle and shifter boot are suede. It adds a wonderful effect to the interior, conjuring up images of racing wheels like this one. The nav screen is a nice touch, but of debatable value. I don't think I would shell out the $2,340 to get it if I was to buy my own GT500.

I would, however, pay extra for these. So awesome!

The dealer has had this one in the showroom for a while. It's a 2011, black with no stripes (that I can see).

The engine hardly fits between the shock towers, due to either a small engine bay, a very wide 5.4, or both.

The massive intake feeds cold air into the blower, which is that gray ridged thingermajig on top of the engine. It's a huge device.

Back outside the showroom, I encountered this V6. Clean lines, largely due to the lack of ornamentation.

This 2010 GT was hit by a passing car when it was on the curb, and has been repaired. The dealer marked it down $10,000.

I'll take it. I love red interiors, especially when they have glass roofs above them like this one. It's even an auto, so anybody could be comfortable with it.

This 2010 GT is fairly unremarkable for a GT, until you get inside...

Premium interior... the brake's up... shiny pedals... no nav... very nice.... wait, what's that?

CUE BALL SHIFTER! OH MY GOODNESS, I LOVE IT, I MUST HAVE IT! *hyperventilating*

It has shiny ponies on the doors, too!

And stripes on the seats, along with louvers in the windows!

I crammed my (relatively) large (for the back seats) frame into the back seats for this picture, during which time I noted that although my head was against the window glass ("What's that burning smell? I have a headache. Are we there yet?"), the leather was quite soft, and very comfortable.

Ah. That's pretty nice too.

Wait... THAT'S not a Mustang!

Gotta love a shifter that disputes the old myth that P R N D L stands for "Prindal". The paddle shifters may look small, but in real life they hardly fit behind the steering wheel. It gives the wheel a nice meaty feel.

Nice gauges. It says "TAURUS" in the speedometer, just in case you ever forget what car you're driving. I liked the light color, but was disappointed because when I shut the door, the gauges didn't go back and forth like they're supposed to.

I knew that some Fusions will send their dials back and forth, and I wanted to capture it on film and post it, so I went to a Fusion sitting behind the Taurus. (BTW, the only videos I got that day were of some shifters and myself happily messing with the crank windows in the back of a certain vehicle.)

No pictures for the inside of this one. It wasn't too remarkable. The MKZ right next to it was about this distance from the Fusion:              I                                                              I

That's not very far.

Just a random Sport Trac interior. Nothing to see here, move along.

Now THAT is an interesting gauge cluster. I like it. Very... Klingon.

"Engage." *zoom*

I love this interior, but... what is it? Can't be a Fiesta (I've been in those)... it's not a Fusion... not a Taurus...

It reminds me of a flight deck... or a shuttle from Star Trek: The Next Generation (ugh)... what is it?

IT'S A EURO FOCUS! YAY!!!

Hang on... that doesn't look right...

Argh. Never mind. It had crank windows in the back, which amused me very much, as yours truly had never worked a crank window before. Hopefully I can return and OOH SHELBY!

*ahem* Never mind that, our Shelby just got home. Now, I hope I can return and get more pictures, because I may actually get to ride in one of these, as a family member may test drive one. That should be fun, as the only vehicles I've ever test-ridden are a 2010 Mustang V6, a 2010 Mustang GT, a Honda Pilot, and said Shelby. That's it.

I climbed out from the back of the Focus, having had lots of fun with the crank window, and noticed everybody else looking about a Chrysler 300C SRT8. Most of them had disgusted looks on their faces.

Not too hideous, right?

Never mind. The steering wheel reminds me of an old leather belt I happen to have worn a few times. It does not exactly feel very nice. The gauges are trying to look like classic watch dials, which they're not doing so well.

I think 180 MPH is a little optimistic, don't you? So is 6,250 RPM, especially for a 6.1L V8. Maybe the hemi-heads help with attaining higher revs. Typically, fuel shutoff is a couple hundred RPM after the visual redline so a late shift won't hurt the engine or transmission, but with such a large engine, I'm skeptical of the practicality of revving that high in everyday driving.

The seats look nice, at least. They don't feel nearly as nice as you would think, though.

I try this shot with a lot of cars, and always if I have time. Usually it looks good, but not so much in this case. The new 300 really tries to attain the class of its predecessor from the 1950's, but ended up a rapper's dream car instead. Hopefully the 2011 refresh can help with that. Here's an idea, Chrysler: raise the price. Rappers can't afford high-priced cars. If they could, they'd just buy real Bentleys instead of buying 300s and putting Bentley grilles on them. Just a thought.

That's all for this post; I hope that you've enjoyed reading it!