Bye bye old friend....
This is kinda old news already but I've never had a good track record of recounting events on this blog anyway.

The van has been sold. It was sold a week ago on the 26th of September, 2007 at approximately 7:00pm. Zippy was in its cleanest state its been for weeks and while I was driving it to the car dealer to hand it over, I wondered if I had just made a very bad decision. Zippy has been absolutely faultless since the day I bought it. A couple of oil changes, a new set of tires and a while lot of spirited driving was I what I gave it. Not once did it complain. At the very most, a yellow warning light would appear on occasion as if to say "Woah fella, I ain't got no VTEC engine inside me, go easy on the revs, please". I'd take heed and the very next time I started it up, the light was gone and ready for another drive.

Zippy was easy on the wallet, easy to drive, easy to park, easy to light up the front tires on wet roads and easy to own. It'd swallow any number of bicycles and whatever junk I needed to transport. It was responsible for helping Janice move into the West Wing and even participated in the construction of our flat when it carried half a tonne of floor tiles from Sungei Kadut back home, twice. If it wasn't for the fact that I couldn't drive Zippy into Malaysia, I'm pretty sure I would still be driving it right now. The only time I felt odd while driving it were when Janice and I were driving to wedding dinners. Wearing a suit inside it felt rather weird. I guess those were its only two faults. Can't drive overseas and not the nicest vehicle to get valet parked. Even its 70km/h speed limit didn't get in the way. I lost the patience to creep on the roads like that probably 3 days after owing it. Amazingly, I never got a single speeding ticket. Not only did Zippy have character, it had karma. Zippy, I'll miss you. I'm sorry I didn't wash you more often.

For weeks before this, I have been daydreaming about the new Civic FD2 Type-R. What a car. I bought every car magazine that had a picture of it on its cover. I read every single review that’s posted on the internet. I could recount its technical specifications in my sleep. I could literally imagine I was driving it. I once drove my cousin-in-law's Integra DC2 Type-R when I was in the army and that short 15 minute drive left an indelible impression on me. The gear shift was so precise, the steering so full of feel, the throttle so sensitive. Holding the revs at 5,000rpm in third gear, listening to the engine noise, enjoying its mechanical cacophony, dabbing the throttle a little bit more and hearing the sound intensify before mashing the pedal to the floor and letting the engine scream its lungs out. The VTEC wail would just get louder and louder and the surge of the car would get stronger and stronger right up to the redline.

That drive was more than 8 years ago and I can still remember the experience. I was so certain that I wanted the Civic Type-R and relive those emotions everyday of my life for the next 5 years. And why not? You only live once so to hell with practicality. The Civic's boot might struggle to take in a full set of golf clubs let alone a dismantled bicycle but achieving automotive nirvana would be so worth it. At least, that was what my heart was saying to me.

The head however had different ideas. I lead an active life. Janice leads an active life. Active lives means lots of gear. Lots of gear is useless if you can't bring it to places where it can be used. I might be able to get away by tacking on a bike rack onto the boot of the Civic but it'd be bloody pain in the ass every single time.

My irrational enthusiasm for the Civic Type-R ultimately became its downfall. Shy of test driving it, I thought I knew exactly what it'd feel like. No one had one available for a test drive so I did the next best thing. I watched video after video of Civic Type-Rs on Youtube. The majority of them showed them tearing around tracks in Japan, their Japanese drivers saying how bloody awesome there were to drive and that it is better than sex. I don't know a word of Japanese but I'm guessing that was what they were saying.

I was so sure the Civic was THE ONE until I chanced upon a video of two Japanese dudes driving out of the track onto regular roads. They were pootling around town at normal speeds and as if they were on the way to the supermarket. The camera angle showed the interior of the car, the two people in it and of the road beyond.

I had read in a couple of reviews that the Type-R's suspension was tuned at the track and as a result has one hell of a hard ride. The car was made to be driven hard and its damper settings and spring rates were determined in the pits rather than in a factory. It was during that video where I got to see how stiff the suspension really was. The two dudes in the care were literally vibrating during the entire journey. The were shaking in the same way you see a super modified STI or Evo, with rock hard suspension and the ah-beng inside looking like he's sitting on a box of vibrators. I know I want to enjoy the incredible peformance of the Type-R but I also know that I don't want to replace the fillings in my teeth. And with that, my dream to own the Type-R died. I'm sure I could have bought it and gotten its super stiff suspension with something softer but what would be the point in that? That goes against the spirit that went into its design. That'd be sacrilege.

So the head has won. I've gone and bought something practical. Something that the wife approves of. She even likes it as much as me, maybe even more. Until I get the keys in my hands, I'd rather not jinx it and tell the world. The world can wait but I can't. I'm dying to take delivery of it. It already has a name. I'm going to be driving the BatMobile.