I used to ride motorcycles. When I met Robin back in Tennessee, I owned a Kawasaki Ninja 250, dubbed “Happy Fun Bike” because it was, well, happy and fun. Alas, when we started having kids (and I almost got cleaned off the bike twice in the span of a week by inattentive drivers), I decided to hang up the helmet and sell the bike. Kids are better off with a live daddy than one turned into road pizza by some derpy grand-aunt in a Mercury Medicare. I did keep my motorcycle license current, and in fact paid extra to transfer the endorsement to my NH license when we moved, thinking that I may want to start riding again some day.
Fast forward to the present. Lucky circumstances and some good wind in my writing sails finally put me in a position where I could think about acquiring another Happy Fun Mobile. I’ve been driving minivans for the last decade, which are eminently comfortable and practical vehicles, but while they are many things, “fun” is not really a word you use when talking about driving a two-ton box on wheels. So I voiced the idea of maybe, possibly getting another motorcycle for the sole purpose of fun transportation.
Robin wasn’t too enamored with the idea on account of preferring her husband alive and undamaged (see: road pizza; derpy grand-aunt in mercury Medicare &etc.), and cautioned against this course of action. I sympathized with her concern, but proposed a compromise solution: I would look for a four-wheeled conveyance that’s fast, fun, and equipped with a manual gearbox, and spend about as much on it as I would for a nice new motorcycle. This was an acceptable compromise solution for both of us.
Long story short, this is the new Happy Fun Mobile:
It’s a 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX. It has a 265HP turbocharged boxer engine bolted to a permanent symmetrical AWD drivetrain and a 5-speed manual transmission. Goes fast in the summer, isn’t scared of snow in the winter, and won’t be hauling anything but ass. It’s not quite a new Corvette or Porsche, but it was within my budget and at just the price/mileage/performance intersection I wanted. Considering it’s purely a plaything for one person, it’s probably a tad excessive as a third car, but the ability to actually get up my fucking driveway in the winter was a huge selling point for the WRX over other options.
Oh, and it does 0-60 in under five seconds. OR SO I’VE HEARD.
Nice ride – enjoy your Happy Fun mobile year round!
murgatr
Pharm. Tech RDC’06
And there are all kinds of ‘mods’ to make it even more fun! 🙂 Enjoy!!!
“the ability to actually get up my fucking driveway in the winter”
*rubs hands and cackles a little*
Congrats! The WRX always looked like a blast, in all the seasons we northerner’s get to play in.
Excellent choice! Are the seats suitable, or should you look at some Recaros?
Smart way to buy a car, by the way.
Looks like a fun ride.
And yeah, I miss my bikes, too. Not withstanding the fact that I *did* once get cleaned off one of them by a driver with her head up and locked.
A happy fun car as a plaything is never excessive. I long for the day when I can indulge in one too. One can only dream!