We are down to one car, so when I planned to take my daughter, Dinora, and my grandchildren away for a few days for winter vacation, I had to rent one.

Shopping around online, a great deal for only $210 for an economy model caught my eye, with the tease of a possible free upgrade. When I arrived at the small rental office, there was a small, black Nissan parked outside in front. It was quite small, but what did I expect for only $210?

Once in the office, after turning over my license and credit card and signing my life away on forms with tiny print, the clerk handed me the key and pointed at a different car out front, which he said was my free upgrade. I stared at the prize…a shiny black Grand Am. (Or, as Hubby reminds me, its new name is Dodge Challenger.)

It looked like a race car! It had yellow trim on the front bumper, which was shaped in a semi-triangle like the front of a train. A large tail fin adorned the trunk and sparkled in the sun. I stopped in my tracks, gaping at the car. There was no way I could drive such a thing! However, with one look at the small Nissan in the front, I convinced myself to try.

 Getting into the car was slightly challenging because the front seat was so low. I finagled my bottom into the driver’s spot, and then leaned back in the seat. Sitting in that position, my arms could not reach the steering wheel. After trial and error with the push and pull of many buttons and knobs, causing the trunk and gas tank to open, and the windshield wipers to turn on, the seat finally inched forward and the back of it straightened up.

With a sigh of relief that I was able to fit, I started the car up. The engine was so loud it sounded like a jet engine, causing me to scream in surprise. When it was put into gear and inched forward, the sound amplified further, scaring me because it revved so high I was afraid it would explode. Gently pulling out into the street, the car had incredible “get up and go” and was up to the speed limit in no time.

Of course, while I was carefully driving the speed limit, lesser cars were passing me like they were on the highway. Tiny Toyotas, nice Nissans, classy Kias, sassy Subarus, and amazing Mazdas sped by me like I was standing still. Laughing at the irony of it, I was happy to get to Route 95 where I could really try the car out. It took exactly four seconds to get up to fifty-five miles per hour, roaring and revving the whole time.

No sooner did I get up to the speed limit than I had to slow down for the car in front of me, obviously a careful person like me who did not want to go over the speed limit but was overdoing it by driving too slowly. Having a little fun, I stepped on the gas to go around him. Vrooomm. Vrooomm. With a jet engine sound as loud as any of the planes taking off from the airport, my car passed him, going a respectable 60 miles an hour but feeling like it was 100.

How exciting! What an adrenaline rush! What a powerful feeling! This granny really loved driving a Grand Am!