Walking to the BART (yes even carma editors take public transportation) station last week welcomed our first 9. Early morning and waiting for the signal at Adeline I heard the distinctive loping exhaust sound of an old muscle car and then see a most beautiful thing. Goth-girl, age hard to say but guessing 20's, driving the most gothic of all autos, a black hearse. Did anyone see Harold and Maude? Okay, this in itself is pretty compatible, but I bet California alone has 5 goth-kids driving black hearses. However, this one was most uniquely and painstakingly decorated with spires and turrets and details all painted the same somber shade of flat black of the rest of the car. The topmost of all the decorations easily reached the height of your average semi-truck -- a rolling castle of the damned. We should all aspire to this kind of compatibility.

Woo hoo! Reader feedback! Well, it's from my sister (imagine dark gray Passat wagon 4-motion, baby seat in back, Golden Retriever in hatch -- definitely an 8). Still counts. Especially as it's car-related and about our Dad.

Paula writes: "Dad's new used immaculate '91 Range Rover -- Dad noticed a slight tilt to the car, making the right side slightly lower than the left. Perplexed, of course, he called a local independent Range Rover expert and explained the situation. The expert laughed and said that Dad was in fact correct. It turns out that the car was built to compensate for a 200 lb. driver; when the driver is seated, the car is perfectly balanced. He was shocked that Dad even noticed this, as no one ever does. I told Dad to watch out, because if we need to check his weight, we'll just put him in the car and make sure it's off balance -- otherwise he's pushing 200!! What the compatibility rating on this one?!"

Well, Paula, we think a 7 until Dad reaches 200 lb. Perfect mechanical balance deserves a 9. David did advance the radical concept that the dealer might have been pulling Dad's chain. After all, the question is kinda ridiculous. Was the surface the car was sitting on perfectly level? Was Dad perfectly level? Was a level used?

Onward. Feeling a little shy about handing out Carma cards. This will pass, I know. Until then, I will endure endless ribbing from my favorite business partner, David.

This Friday we drove to Sausalito for a morning photo shoot. Marnie was driving her husband's car, a 1994 BMW 328 that she affectionally calls the "Drakkar Noir Car". It's black, two door with a loud exhaust. I always feel like doing lines of cocaine everytime I'm in it, and until today I've not liked it. But we had big tasty vanilla blendeds from the SF Coffee Bean, the sun was out, the sky was blue, we had the second INXS album playing (on the tape deck!) and I rediscovered the lost joys of the push-out rear windows on two door cars.

My old Saab 900 3-door had rear windows that could be pushed out for ventialation. With those open, and the sunroof open, you get great ventailation and you can still have a normal conversation on the highway and listen to the radio. The Drakkar Noir Car has these type of rear windows and has improved my relationship with the car immensely. Sadly my 2000 Saab 9-3 3-door does not.

On the way back we gave the youngish club-owner looking guy who was driving a very new silver Audi A6 with stylin' wheels a 7. A good match, but we think his car was a bit too "old" for him. The girl in the newish silver Golf GTI only got a 4, as she was way too fabulous for such a pedestrian vehicle. She should drive a Mercedes CLK!

One rusted Alfa Spyder heading toward Market. Both the male owner (early to mid 30's, writer?) and car looked a bit weatherbeaten, car slightly more than owner. Happily this made for a compatibility rating of 7! Then on Valencia we spy a mid eighties BMW 3 series that has also seen better days. Mom (thirties, blonde, good shape) is having a day out and is putting her child in the rear baby seat (very good!). We suspect this is she and her husband's "city" car, once pampered but having suffered countless door dings and wheel scrapes, has been left as their Urban Assault Vehicle (UAV). Being a messy day today, she was also dressed appropriately. We give her an 8 and wonder how compatible she is with her "other" car.

Being a gentleman, I will not comment on Marnie's evil post from March 1st. She may love her dad, but it's only because she's a fembot that he built between launches while working at NASA.

As for the Daimler Chrysler PT Cruiser, I can only hope that Citroen makes an unlikely return to the US market and brings the lovely Xsarra Picasso with it.

I fail to find the appeal of the PT Cruiser. I must be missing something. It's a huge seller. Men with burly tattoos and large beards drive them--I like that (spotted but not metered 9:04AM on Golden Gate Ave @ Franklin—silver, dealer tags: a 7). It's won awards. And I beleive in hatchbacks. In the interest of being fair, I decide to investigate. Off on a tour of the Chrysler web site. Ah, a fun trick. Go to the PT Cruiser page and roll your mouse over the models at the bottom (first three PT/Touring/Limited) and you create a funny cartoon of the Cruiser flipping back and forth. (!) What I discovered: interior looks like a minivan (el cheapo americana), wheels have no character, not enough chrome. Versatility is good -- love the grocery bag hooks.

I did find one little bitty thing that made me like the Cruiser just a tiny bit more. The PT Woodgrain. Dick Dale. Annette! I would be seen standing within 5' of this one. Who will second me on the request to offer the VW Eurovan in a woody?

First, David -- it's the COMPATIBILITY meter, not appropriate(ness) meter. Which is what you meant when you said "my first thoughts were not appropriate at all." Which brings me to the carmic debate: is a human an "appropriate match" with their automobile or are humans and their autos "compatible." I vote compatible and I named the meter, so it's compatibility. Settled. On another note, my father (Zoltan) just announced the purchase of his latest auto. Let me preface this story with a summary of a series of phone calls we've exchanged regarding this impending purchase: "have you seen any good M3s out there {here in San Francisco}," "I found a great '87 Targa," "A cherry '92 RS America just slipped by me for $38K," -- you get the picture. Last night when I spoke to him the conversation went something like this:
Me: Dad, what's up?
Zoltan: Your mom's at work, Dave's here, we're going powder skiing tomorrow, I'm making sausage, and I bought a Range Rover.
Me: (processing for a minute) No.
Zoltan: Yes, it's supposed to dump 4 inches tonight.
Me: What year!
Zoltan: 1990. White. Corduroy seats. No sheeit. (Hungarian accent)
Me: Nice. When does she get home?
Zoltan: I pick her up from the woman who owns her tomorrow.
Me: No, I mean mom.
Zoltan: Around 8:00. And get this -- this chick's about your age {between 25 and 38 in my Dad's world} and had four cars, the Rover, a new 911, a Ford truck and a Mercedes c-class. No sheeit.
Me: Must not be a designer.
Zoltan: It's the one with the short wheel-base. Rides like an elephant.

Love that guy.