Pulled over after 28 hours of ownership

[jid]

Good gawd this car gets attention. It rolled off the truck yesterday after 6p. i got to take it for a spin and then had to put it in for the night. Took it to a gas station mid-day to fill'er up... people taking pictures everywhere and asking questions. On the highway (just made a loop to get some highway miles on the car) people were driving and photographing at the same time.

Coming back from a late night jam w/ the bad, i got pulled over. Car still had out of state plates (my bad!) so he was surprised when i was local. Suffice to say i asked if i was speeding and he said "you were going about the same speed as the car in the passing lane but i've never seen one of these before in person. You seemed far more interesting." This was around midnight. I had a guitar case (with guitar) in the passenger seat. He was cool about the whole thing. He had to run to a more important call and just said "have a good night... I have to run. Cool car!". No warning... thank goodness.

Is this what I have coming? Just checking...

[MadMaxAtom]

I can get about three towns out without getting pulled over..unless it is a state cop. This is a non-Atom state,so they really figure they got me bagged..but I have a dealer plate,so it's legal. If I'm in a hurry,I never take the Atom; every time you park,there is a crowd waiting for you. What a shame some states still don't recognize the usefulness of the Atom. It makes most anyone smile!

[McFred]

It's odd for sure. I've been stopped locally about a dozen times in the Atom in 5 years. I got stopped 4 different times in the first 80 miles. Never ticketed, just one court arraignment that was for some 4' ladycop not liking me, not for me doing anything wrong. Most of my 1500 local cops/troopers are desensitised to the car. If I go out of town it's the same thing over again. The cops usually just want to see the car. Just be polite. I've been followed to work and home more than a few times. It's frequent enough that I have a loop I take before going home to see if someone's following me. When people follow you 20-40 miles you get a little weirded out. There's usually an entourage going down the freeway paying more attention to the Atom than to where they're going... I too never take the Atom if I'm in a hurry on public streets.

[bolus]

welcome to Atom ownership! I keep a couple of jugs of fuel in the garage just so I can skip the circus at the gas station.

[FrankRizzo]

The thing that amazes me is the "movie star treatment". If I'm driving to PIR or back, I'll get photographed at LEAST 5 times. I always try to wave. Coming home from the Alfa day a week or so ago there was a guy in an SUV in front of me trying to take my picture with a real camera using the vanity mirror. I changed lanes and pulled up next to him so that he could have his wife take the picture, and he could concentrate on the road.Right about the same area when I was coming home from the Shelby day at PIR, a guy in a Chevy Malibu passes on the right, and kinda smirks as he goes by. Then, I notice that his lane slows, and I'm going to pass him. As I do, I notice the window come down, and the phone come up to video me. I wave. jid, I'll definitely second what bolus said, welcome to Atom ownership. Get used to it buddy!

[bolus]

Ive had a few people follow me home, even walk into the garage after I parked it. Ive had to point out the car in front of people before they ran into it because they kept staring at the car. I've had people get out of their car at a stop light just to ask me what I was driving.

I remember once this old guy crossing the street in front of me at a stop light. he stopped right next to the passenger front tire. He pointed at me and then vigorously pointed his arm down the street telling me to gun it. I smiled and shook my head "no" but he pointed even more forcefully and gave me this look of "you better take off like a rocket or I'll kick your butt" while holding his arm out pointing down the street. Had to oblige the old guy. That was funny.

[Norm]

The questions I don't understand are "Have you taken it off road?" and "Does it get good gas mileage?", yeah that's why I bought it!

[DarthChicken]

Did I forget to mention the mob of people that were included with the sale of the car? Oh.. sorry about that, LOL.Tell them its got a prototype Saab Rotary engine, that's what I used to say. It's fixed all of the downsides of rotary engines (low fuel mileage/high heat) without sacrificing the power that goes with a rotary. Oh, and you're not supposed to talk about it, secret long term testing and all....