This weekend - like any other weekend also - I was home in Freising. There were several things to do there, and one of the most important ones was to fix the rear tyre of Zuleikha’s bicycle.
I did however insist on going to the local Honda dealer first, because I wanted to see the FR-V (all links here are to Honda Germany, so the language is German. However, most of the models are sold world-wide, so you should find them in your local language as well).
Our local car dealer didn’t have it. But once we were there, we looked at other models as well. Mitchie didn’t like the Civic - too futuristic for her taste. But she instantly fell in love with the new Honda Jazz. And I have to admit: it’s an exceptional great and small little car. Letting the doors fall into the closed position for instance gives you that low-tuned “thumb!”, which you would expect with much bigger (and more expensive) cars, like a Mercedes or so. No - this one has it also, and starting at around 12.5k, this is real quality what you’d get for your money.
Plus, the interior concept is just astonishing. I’ve never seen such a clever layout on any car I saw so far. It’s a van, it’s a sub-compact, it’s really really roomy inside, this is an engineer’s master piece IMHO. Smarter than a Smart, if I may say so.
Mitchie tried it, because I said she had to, and it fits. She didn’t even try to move the wheel (you can, both in height and distance), or move up and down the front seat (you can do that as well). She just felt good in it, and that’s the point. I’m looking for a car which is meant mostly for my girls, and the intended usage is the city. So this seems to be the best we found so far.
Of course, Mitchie wants an automatic - that’s ok with me. I drove a (Mercedes) automatic gear box while having 12-hour-nightshifts on/in a taxi cab while I studied - and I have to admit that in-town, you just cannot beat a good automatic gear-box. You can have a cup of coffee in your right hand while rolling from the gas station to the taxi waiting area for instance - just not thinkable with a manual shifted car. Automatics are great; the top line of Toyota’s Avensis for instance (the 2.4l gasoline engine) comes *only* with automatic, just like other brands with over 200 or 300hp as well. With so many power, it just seems silly to change gears manually. And even the Formula-1 cars have at least a semi-automatic; means they shift gears with small levers on the wheel.
Ok. So far so good.
Being girls (should I say: “girlies”? 
), they have their favorite color schemes of course. At the moment, this means: pink (ewww!, hehe - well, you just can’t discuss about taste, you could only struggle over it - and struggling is not what wjls do best, like Tigger would say).
And while “phoning” (in fact that means IP-phoning ATM) with our small one, I promised to send a pic of that car in her favorite color: in pink (don’t tell her, but Honda calls that one “cool rose”). So here it is, dedicated to our small one (and to some point also to Mitchie):
At least, from the inside, you wouldn’t see much of that:
As I said: a very nice and small and cute little car.
The costs? Well I just calculated the most expensive “line”, which has everything - the biggest engine (1.4l), automatic gearbox, even a sun-roof over most of the car’s length. Plus every other thing you could think of. And that would sum up to some 22k. Lots of money for a small car, yes, but still cheaper than our friend Peter’s VW Polo “Blue Line” Diesel, which is about the same size than this one. Plus these 22k include *everything*, even the kid’s seat, sun shades, navigation, cruise control; everything. To see the actual configuration, download the pdf which was generated from the Honda site here. If you can do without all the gimmicks, and prefer a manual gear box to an automatic one, you could have more or less the same car from about 16k. Which is an exceptional value for the money IMHO.
Almost forgot to tell: the Honda site also has some very cool product videos; the first one I saw seems to be rendered, and if it is, it’s one of the best quality art works I’ve ever seen. The link to that one is here (wmv/mov, ca. 18MB). And the normal full-length product video is also very impressive; see it here (wmv/mov, ca. 42MB). Plus they have a more or less silly “Punk” TV spot for the targeted young German audience, only online here.
So.
Would I drive around in a pink car (not even a pink Cadillac)? Yes, definitely. As long as my Fireblade comes in black…
I think the future, at least in metropolitan / urban areas belongs to public transport, to something like scooters (maybe electric) and bicycles, and to small vehicles with a clever layout like this one. First hybrid, later electric, or so (Honda plans to use hybrid engines in all of their coming product lines; a Jazz with a hybrid engine *is* on the drawing board already. So what they bring in their new “Insight” next spring may be available in the Jazz until we could afford one). Companies like Toyota and Honda are definitely on the right way, and will generate lots of money. And hey, who would need all the 100hp this little thing offers - in town?
During weekdays, while I’m in Frankfurt and my girls are in Freising, this is what we do in the evenings: we’re “phoning”, so I can say good night to our small one, and she can see her daddy even if he’s almost 400km away.
