[MR2] An MR2 reference

[Donald Chalfant]

He appears to be a creative writer.  Must have been fooling with the GF's leg when he went off the road.  The rest of the article reads like a chick-flick (no offense ladies).  He is very careful not to slander Toyota.

Fumento is the son of Rocco Fumento, Professor Emeritus in Film and Creative Writing, University of Illinois and author of 4 books. 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jeff Richter 
  Cc: mr2 at mr2.com 
  Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 10:01 AM
  Subject: [MR2] An MR2 reference


  I'm somewhat hesitant to post this, because it's not REALLY about the 
  MR2 [there's a strong religious component], but wanted to see if anyone 
  had thoughts about it, particularly the "half-year model" aspect. Please 
  use normal list-rule discretion in any replies.

  http://article.nationalreview.com/430186/a-good-friday-to-remember/michael-fumento

  Relevant excerpts (with heavy-duty snippage)

  "Good Friday, April 17, 1992: I’d just started a great job at Investor’s 
  Business Daily in Los Angeles, and two weeks earlier I’d purchased the 
  car of my dreams, a beautiful, blue Toyota MR2 Turbo. To me, at least, 
  it looked like a small Ferrari. It was fast and sleek."

  <snip>

  "Just after buying the car, we’d taken it for a spin on a very deserted 
  road. The car’s back end flew out and we almost did a 180. I thought I 
  must have hit a patch of oil or sand. Or something. We didn’t give it 
  any further thought. We should have.

  Two weeks later, just south of Big Sur on our way to San Francisco, 
  steep cliffs fall off on our left. The road is as narrow as it gets, 
  with the white stripe essentially on the edge of the asphalt. My right 
  front wheel goes just over the edge of the pavement, so I turn the 
  steering wheel slightly to the left. Suddenly the back end flies out, 
  just as it had before. No room this time. I slam the brakes, leaving 
  skid marks that at least a year later still bore silent testament to my 
  desperate effort to stop.

  But the cliff is right there. No chance. One wheel of the car hits a 
  bump, putting the vehicle into a spin as we go airborne. The MR2 lands 
  on its top, on Mary’s side, and the roof caves in. It rolls. My first 
  thought is remarkably calm: “So this is what it’s like to die.” But as 
  the tumbling slows, I begin to think it’s possible that we’ll stop 
  rolling before breaking up on the rocks below. We do — just. We hit a 
  spot where the cliff almost became level, a spot just big enough for a 
  small car. And we land upright. I’ll shortly address the importance of that.

  As the car comes to a full stop, the airbag deploys. “Thanks a whole 
  lot!” I think to myself."

  <multi-page snippage>

  "While Mary was in the hospital, I was buying her flowers at the grocery 
  store when I stopped to look at the car magazines. I was stunned to find 
  mine mentioned on the cover of the May Car and Driver. The article said 
  my model had suddenly been discontinued and replaced with a half-year 
  model. Quite rare. The reason, said the magazine, was the car’s “loose 
  hindquarters.” Specifically, “the back wheels toed-out, causing radical, 
  often terminal, oversteer.” Exactly what we experienced twice. But we 
  hold no grudges against Toyota; my next car was that half-year model, 
  and my wife owns a Toyota now."

  <more snip, that's the end of the MR2 content>





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