an s2000 in the 2000s?

there is another factor at work here, though.

my pal, fat paulie, has a 2001 honda s2000 that, due to his inattention and bank account balance, has less than 2000 miles on it. "it's never been washed" is a common chirp of his.

i've had my eyes on this car for a long time for a few reasons.

one is the care the car has received -- and the miles logged as a result. paulie takes good care of this stuff and still cringes over the fact that the acura nsx he sold to a pal has been used to cart a dog around of all things.

another is the color combination is both unusual and good. silver paint, red leather seats. nothing in the automotive world says, "i am so much better than you," than red leather seats.

and a good one is that it's the car that replaced my del sol in the honda line. it's more than twice as expensive, and probably four times as powerful, but it's the right genetic predecessor.

an s2000 of this vintage has a price tag of less than $20k, which would put it in the same general neighborhood as a pt cruiser convertible.

paulie has hinted (more than once) that he might sell it, but has never actually followed through. he will, though. he owns several cars and we all know the old axiom A Car Never Driven Is Eventually Sold.

although technically i could afford it, i'm not buying two cars. it's one or the other.

i should see him at the (f)red dinner next monday. i need to tap him.

which should be really interesting because paulie is a big-time high performance guy and goes through cars faster than bad silicon valley engineers change underwear. a pt cruiser convertible, to the fat man, is going to be roughly akin to talking about joining the elks club. something so inconceivable that it's unpalatable. just talking about this might kill him.

and i don't want him to die.

not without his car, at least.