As you probably know, convertibles are only useful in Michigan for about 6 months out of the year, which means I’m going to be car-less come October when the sweet little 600 will be tucked away in her nice cozy garage for the winter.

But, thanks to the uncommon generosity shown by my father today, it looks like I won’t be without wheels after all. Against all odds, he somehow found it in his heart to buy me this beautiful Chevrolet Monte Carlo sports coupe! It is a little large, but then again, I used to drive a boatmobile Mercury, and this sure handles a hell of a lot better than it did, and it was no where near as fast either! She may not be brand new, but she still drives as if she just came out of the Oshawa, Ontario factory she was born in way back in June ‘97.

So here’s the rundown boys and gals:

1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo LS

129,000 miles

160 HP 3.1 liter V6

4-speed auto w/overdrive

Cloth bucket seats with console and floor shifter











This car also marks a lot of “firsts” for me:

- Newest car ever owned (not only for me, but among my entire family)
- First car with dual airbags
- First car with anti-lock brakes
- First car with more than 150 HP (by the far the fastest car I’ve ever driven)
- First General Motors car owned (I’ve now had a car from each of the “big three”!)
- First car with a V6 engine
- First car with daytime running lights
- First car with FACTORY cd-player
- First coupe
- First car with a CUP HOLDER! (THANK YOU JESUS!!)

Pretty good deal, huh? I’m sure looking forward to a good long relationship with this sleek beauty. Long live the big green Monte!

I have always had a soft spot for the Monte Carlo, they are nice cars.

So long as you don’t go "Full Monte", you’ll do fine in that car ...

Very nice. I like it! what will you do with it during the summer?
I don't really like the wheels, though. bit plain for my tastes, but, you can't have everything!

Nice

That's indeed a nice coupé, congratulations! And I must agree with marioman: with different wheels it could look even better --->

How did you do that?

I have friends in Michigan that stole borrowed your car this morning, put on the wheels, placed some bricks in the trunk and took the photo.

You must have been a very good boy!
Nice car! You will love late-90s GM cars. My 1998 LeSabre is goiing on 173,000 miles now!

If your friends will be back again there, I have some additional work for them. But annother car there will be involved.

Ingo....

Very nice looking Chevy. Congrats.

I don't have any cupholder in my 1998 Saab... And it's a GM too, the GM logo is all over the place. I was never too convinced that was a good thing though.

Most Euorpean cars don't have cup holders, becuase appearntly humans on your continent don't have the biological need to drink fluids.

Naw, they've got cupholders. It's called a handbrake. Just wedge the container between the handbrake and seat.

Hmm they rather chose between drink and drive
I guess that the need of cup holder is due to very long trips on straight lines.
Here distances between things are smaller, so you drive for less time.
I do not know for others, but usually when I drink in the car I have a plastic bottle with a cap, so not need of a cup holder for that
(and anyway I don't imagine having an open cup in my car, from how I drive in roundabounds and other turns )

Nor can I, or most other Americans. The cups we use always have a top on them, like this:

Yes indeed, I forgot (here too actually fast-food cups are like that)
I was rather thinking to metallic cans (right word?)
But the watertightness of such cup tops is not always perfect...
(as I said, long straight lines are not as long & common here than in USA )

With 9 cupholders, I have no shortage, we almost never use them all. But as antp pointed out, small trips don't require lots of storage for water or soft drinks (water is more healthy for you, Caffeinated soft drinks will dehydrate the body)



I've done that before in some cars, and it works!

And you must imagine, what happens, when you have to brake harder. Note, where the cupholder are mounted! Always in a position, where they or the fluid inside can splash into the dashboard, the glove-box or into the middle-console!

So no cup-holders for me. I'm just not sure, if my Omega has one. I've never looked for that. I prefer to take real bottles with me. there can be annother problem, which maybe is unknown for Americans: it's getting less and less in the last years, but in Europe we still have sometimes glass-bottles. And they are too heavy for a cup-holder. Even full 0.7 or 1 liter-plastic-bottles can bee too heavy for these weak plastic-rings. The 1.5 liter-bottles are too big sized either.

Yes, annother point. Note, how small some European Countries are. Not only Liechtenstein or Luxemburg - you can even pass the whole Belgium without the need to stop for a tank-stop or a pee.