Car Porn 2008

The annual swimsuit issue of car porn arrived in the mail yesterday. Oh, joy! Consumer Reports Best & Worst Cars is a total pleasure. What could be more fun than memorizing the stats on dozens of cars with an almost savant-like passion? And like a savant, it doesn't matter if one is not so interested in actually owning the obsessed-about object, just in knowing about how it drives, what is sounds like, how it responds to various road conditions. It's all so sensual, it's almost overwhelming. Everything from horsepower to IIHS crash test results, reliability and cabin design is in here. The centerfold is of course, the ratings with their irresistible bar graphs and red-to-black doughnut-shaped icons. It's so easy to read and it makes one feel as if one actually knows something about cars! (Exactly like how reading the New York Times Book Review makes one feel well-read without even reading the books.) Go ahead, take a Peek. You know you want to.