Cars in Real Life: 2008 Nissan 350Z at Coachella

By Tony Pierce, Los Angeles Times Blog Editor

As Los Angeles Times blog editor I don't always sit in my big fancy chair and bark out orders to people. Sometimes I get sent on assignment too. Last week I was invited to blog for both L.A. Now and Soundboard as we covered Coachella as well as we possibly could. Simultaneously I had a friend who was flying in from Canada to see the three-day festival in the desert. I asked our senior producer for autos, Joni Gray, what car I should rent to wow my visitor, because I have a '94 Nissan Sentra that would impress nobody.

"Rent?" Joni said. "How about reviewing a car for Up to Speed!"

I gladly accepted her generous offer and she went through a list of possible cars. "How about this great BMW?" she asked. I cut her off. Beemer? When I pumped gas at an all-full-serve station in Beverly Hills we had a joke about BMW drivers, comparing them to porcupines. The punch line was that porcupines had pricks on the outside.

"Jaguar?" Joni suggested. Do I look like an old lady on the way to Nordstrom? I asked.

I reminded her: desert, rock music, Prince was gonna play, twentysomething Canadian single female....

"Nissan 350Z convertible," Joni gasped. And we were in agreement.