The Story of the Naked

Tommy's Sweet New Ride... The Naked!

I mentioned in my last post that Tommy had decided on a '98 Daihatsu Storia.  True, except that he had first seen this 2000 Daihatsu Naked (yes, that's the actual name of the car!) and fallen in love with it. Except the salesman told him the engine was super small... like 56 cc's or something.  In Japan, they would put this in the Yellow (read: slow) Class category, which requires a special license plate.  Which, on an island that doesn't have a speed limit above 60 KILOMETERS, probably isn't a big deal, but I don't speak engine.  All I know is, Tommy thought he should get something more practical since we have #2 on the way. 

We looked and looked, but nothing else caught his eye.  He eventually settled on the Storia and we filled out the paperwork to buy our cars.

Except all weekend, he kept talking about how cool the Naked was.  He looked it up online, and it is a concept car dubbed an "urban assault vehicle."  Right then and there, I knew he wanted this car.  He kept holding out though, telling me the Storia was fine, and it was no big deal... all the while, still talking about how great the Naked was!

Over the weekend we went to the ATM 13 times (no joke) to pull out the money for our cars, which we were supposed to bring in today.  Here's the stack of cash, all in $20 bills!

Today we went in and the Naked was still there, calling his name.  I kept telling him to buy it, that it wasn't too late to change his mind. Finally he went and talked to the salesman. I could see the wheels turning in his head.  Finally he decided to buy it, and I'm so glad he did - he is so excited about his Urban Assault Vehicle!  And it's way more fun than the boring Storia. What other time in our lives will be able to buy something so impractical, but fun? Plus... who can resist a car named The Naked?!?