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Today we mark the passing of an era, my friends. How could we ever have imagined this day would come. Let's take a moment and think of the good times ... how could we forget "let's get to 10,000 posts by noon!" ... ah, but a fading memory of once-happy days.
Sigh.
Now I myself must bear the two-Protege-family torch and shuffle reluctantly forward, alone, into the misty haze ahead ...
I still love ya, Larry.
This place just won't have the same vibes anymore.
Meade
was it the car or the company he got with them?
har....har.......j/k
In four years he'll trade both of the Vibes for Buicks.
And so it goes.
Meade
I owned two for an overlapping period of almost 2-3 months. Does that count?
Ohhh ...
I'd say spring for the MS MX-5 (evil grin)
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No, Tammy and I still own our 2002 Protege5 and 2000 Protege ES, respectively.
I spent four hours with Zoomster on Saturday, when we had a very nice, sunny, 75-degree afternoon, and washed, detailed and ... WAXED him!
His first coat of Meguiar's Gold Class since late last summer. My, my, is he shiny now. Finish is smooth as silk, and I swear he's Emerald-Mica'er than he was before. Real deep green. All this and zoomin' fun at 74,500 miles. We've got a long road still ahead of us.
But a Winning Blue Mazda3s 5-door 5-speed with leather IS in my future ...
Meade
it's like the midnight blue mica on my Protege, except darker and purple-er
a very nice color, i like it better than the winning blue
Metallic paints, as I learned during our exhaustive argum--- I mean, debate a year or so ago, are more durable than mica paints too.
Let the debate begin anew.
Meade
BTW, and Raymond's gonna get all over me for this since it's the color he wants, the Mazda3s I had two weekends ago was Titanium Gray Metallic. I found the color B-O-R-I-N-G.
The brochure and web site just don't do the Winning Blue justice. If you really want a good idea of what Winning Blue looks like, either see one in person or check out the post below, where I think the digital photo I took was much more representative of how deep the blue is.
(If we could only get that fat guy out of the way ...
Meade
Also, I think the Titanium makes the car look more expensive whereas the brighter colors make it look like a Matchbox Car. Not that it's a bad thing,just a different emotion it gives me. I like the expensive look over the boy racer look, at least this time around.
I am quite humored by my car, hence the Zoomster name, and my Protege keeps me feeling young. After four years with "British Racing Green" and probably one more year before he zooms off to Wholesale Heaven, I think I'd like a color that more reflects the fun of this car -- without being too boyish.
Hell, I'm just in love with that blue.
(BTW, I've had dark blue cars before -- that's all my dad had for the first 10 years I was driving, so maybe I'm just bored to tears with dark blue.)
To each his own -- let's just be thankful this isn't 90 years ago, when Mr. Henry Ford had us driving cars in "any color -- as long as it's black"!
Heck, what fun will future meets be anyway if we all show up in the exact same car? Do you think I've enjoyed being one of three green Proteges every time I've hung out with Larry?
Meade
However, that metallic navy blue ("winning blue" I think) looks pretty good on the Mazda3 and RX-8. In fact, I think the RX-8 looks better in that blue than in red.
Hmmm, maybe just living 100 miles north of the Tarheel State I'm a natural lover of Carolina Blue ... (which Winning Blue is, admittedly, darker than.)
Bad sentence construction, Dale, I know.
BTW, I think the MPV minivan looks pretty doggone good in red.
Meade
the darker blue (my favorite) is the Strato Blue Mica, or as i like to call it, deep dark sexxy purple ;-)
Of the 12 colors available for the Mazda3, four are available only on the S:
Winning Blue Metallic
Titanium Gray Metallic
Solar Yellow Mica
Lava Orange Mica
If you're going to choose an S (equivalent of the Protege ES), I say go with a color that makes that distinction by only being available on the top-end model.
But that's just my expert opinion.
Meade
Pity it doesn't come in Lapis Blue (the 6 Blue)
Actually, my favorite Mazda Blue is the Pacific Blue (available on the 6 overseas, but on no American Mazdas - ugh!). Its what I saw and fell in love with at the NY Auto Show in ye olde days (April 2002)
My 1994 MazFord B2300Ranger pickup was ... Lapis Blue.
Nice color, awful everything else. But very close to Winning Blue. In fact, the color was one major reason I liked the truck enough to buy it.
So maybe I'm feeling slighted and am ready for a WELL-MADE vehicle in that color!
Meade
(Source: 2002 DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Survey)
Meade
Pity they decided to use a pre-existing (however nice) Ford color instead of the much nicer, new Pacific Blue! But she does look awesome all washed and waxed up, as I did last weekend. Two coats on some sections. And finally - sparkly cleam wheels again for the first time in months!
Liven up your evening and join your fellow enthusiasts every Tuesday from 6-7pm PT/9-10pm ET for our Mazda Mania Chat!
The chat room opens 15 minutes before the scheduled chat time, so come early and get a good seat! Hope to see YOU there on Tuesday!
Mazda Mania Chat Room
PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards