I was recently reminded why we shouldn't be afraid of surprises, and we should in fact embrace them.
During the tail end of a recent business trip, I had to arrange a hire car for my last leg in California, so I could go drive to visit my customer, stay overnight, and then drive back to LAX and leave to return to Australia. Rather than book before I left, I decided to keep an eye out for web specials and book a few days before. While I was in Europe, I visited the Hertz website, and they were promoting their convertibles, so I thought, "why not." I went ahead and placed my reservation, and was under the impression I would be getting a Chrysler Sebring or something along those lines. In Australia we drive on the other side of the road compared to the US, but I figured that I had driven in the US enough times now to be confident to drive a slightly larger car than a small hatch back. When I arrived, and went to collect my car, they apologised, because they had no Sebrings left. They instead offered me the choice of a Ford Mustang, or a Corvette at the same cost. To be honest, I was very anxious at first, as driving such a high powered car on the wrong side of the road was certainly outside of my comfort zone. I really didn't want to give up on the convertible though, so I picked the Corvette after confirming it was at least an automatic. There was no way I was going to be able to use a stick shift yet... I nearly chickened out when I saw the car for the first time. Apart from the hot yellow paint job, the boot barely held my suitcase and when I sat behind the wheel, I found it very unnerving to have to rely on my mirrors to see behind me. The rear view over either shoulder was virtually non existent due to the small rear window and lack of a back seat. I then after some stuffing around worked out how to start the engine, and that large US V8 roared into life and set there burbling in a slow, lazy idle. After a few minutes though, I set up my GPS and slowly crawled out to the gate, and into LA traffic. The accelerator was quite light, and the smallest touch was enough to make the Corvette want to pick up her skirts and take off. The brakes and steering wheel were quite heavy, but responded when needed, and the brakes were more than able to pull up the car quickly. The steering was also responsive once you became used to the mild power assistance. Last but not least, on either the Racing or Touring suspension modes, the ride was quite stiff and very sports car like, so you felt every bump. Geez it was beautiful though, and once I got used to it, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face. With the roof down and the loud tuned V8 exhaust burbling away, there was no need to turn on the radio. That large chunk of US V8 was all the sound track I needed. There was only one real bummer. I had the entire next day free before flying out so I went for a lengthy drive down the coast to San Diego and back, but then I had to give it back. It was great fun parking the car somewhere and getting out for a walk, only to return finding people crowding around the car taking photos. The moral of the story is that while the initial surprise took me out of my comfort zone and I wanted to almost give it up, I went with the surprise and had the time of my life. My confidence in driving on the wrong side of the road has also increased immensely now. Hmmm, maybe I'll try the Mustang next time. Later.Den.
