I checked out the
Adelaide Motor Show last Saturday afternoon, which is a bit of a yearly tradition.
Lots of shiny new cars, (the majority of which I can't afford) were, by the end of the show, covered in grotty finger marks from the teenagers who had just scoffed down some hot chips & a hotdog out in the food court.
The weekend is probably the worst time to go to the motor show, because everyone else is there. For the first three days of the show, only those who can realistically afford to not be working go along. Ironically, they're also those who can afford the grandiose price tags attached to some of the machines on display.
I'm still a massive fan of the
VW Golf GTI. It's good looking, goes like a skun cat, but it drinks the really top notch petroleum. I also have a soft spot for the Mini Cooper S, but it's only two doors, so the Golf is the better option.
In the age where fuel removes a fifty from my wallet every fortnight, justifying a car which chews the hardcore octane variety is difficult. My little Daihatsu Charade has nearly 120,000 on the dial & has returned 6.7litres per 100km since the day I bought it. As an everyday, drive to work & back at 40kph, anything more palatial would be a waste.
It was interesting to see the number of diesel vehicles being advertised. Australian manufacturers are starting to see sense in alternative fuels, especially with the prices of petrol hitting stupid levels this Easter weekend. Another car I've been looking at is the Golf diesel, but when you actually work out the increased cost of buying a diesel car against the savings of using diesel, it takes quite a few years to realise any benefit!
I left the show with my bank account intact, but my legacy of my appearance at the show remains, captured in dozens of digital photos by people taking photos of everything & anything. Who the hell wants to have their photo taken while they're draped over the hood of a crappy little $10k Hyundai? Yes, I witnessed it, but I'm still to determine who you would show such a photo to!
