My girlfriend wants a prius

[Wisha Haddan H3]

... so we took one for a test drive Saturday. And I have to say, it was nice. Seriously. I couldn't believe how fast and agile it was in traffic and on the highway. And there was a lot more room inside than I thought. It actually felt like something out of the future, like some Jetsons-mobile that flies you to work and then folds into a suitcase.

But it wasn't all rainbows and smiley faces. The prius is ... well ... bland. It comes in one flavor, does one thing and makes one statement. It looks like a bug, zips you from A to B on a thimbleful of gas, and does so with irritating smugness. It's the ultimate in automotive sour grapes. "Well, I didn't want to go offroad anyway (or tow boats, haul kayaks, carry bikes, go camping, take dirt roads or drive in the snow), and anyone who wants to is stupid. Who's up for a zip from A to B? B to A? Anyone? Bueller? I have a touchscreen..."

Maybe I'm old-school, but I still think of cars as mechanical things with gears, wheels and grease. The prius was all touchscreens, levers and digital displays. Open the hood? Not without a PhD. And that irritating whine as the engine surged through traffic!

Hummers want you to open the hood and listen to the engine. Ok, not so much the 5-cylinder. But even the H3 begs you to tinker with something, add something or make it your own. You can bling a hummer, lift it, chrome it, dub it, armor it, rack it, outfit it for safari, build it up any way you like and change your own oil. It's a tow truck, an RV-towed truck, a plaything and a hobby. You can work, play, haul or just plain drive in it. It's good for family trips, road trips, offroad trips, grocery trips or mall trips.

Come rain, sleet, snow or ice ... in blizzard, mud, sand or flood ... over the river, up the mountain and through the woods ... the hummer gets you from A to B and all points in between. In short, it's versatile, it's fun, it's useful and you can make it your own.

So yeah, she wants a prius, and that's fine. But for fun, you can bet we'll be taking the hummer. Cause if it's not downtown, the prius doesn't cut it.